Black Capitalists: Race, Wealth & Redefining Power with Dr. Rachel Laryea | The Soul Story® Show

What does it really mean to be a Black capitalist?

In this powerful episode, host Brooke-Sidney Harbour sits down with scholar and author Dr. Rachel Laryea to unpack her book Black Capitalists: The Story of Race, Identity, and the Making of Black Wealth. From redefining capitalism through a communal lens to the radical framework of the undercommons, this conversation challenges assumptions about race, money, and power—and offers a grounded roadmap for building generational wealth with integrity.

What You’ll Learn

• How Dr. Laryea defines “Black capitalist” (and how it differs from simply “participating in capitalism”)

• Why abundance mindset + community must replace scarcity and individualism

• The undercommons: leveraging institutions’ resources for marginalized communities

• Diaspora insights: Ghana’s Year of Return, pan-African investing, and a global Black wealth lens

• Is education still the path to generational wealth—or is that belief shifting?

• Will AI and crypto accelerate or entrench the racial wealth gap?

• Case study: Esusu & reporting rent to build credit—using “the master’s tools” for equitable outcomes

• Tactical wisdom: authenticity vs. strategy in rooms not built for us

Chapters (Timestamps)

0:00 Intro — Welcome to The Soul Story® Show

1:12 Meet Dr. Rachel Laryea & Black Capitalists

1:30 The soul of the book: personal + communal reasons it had to be written

3:12 “Black capitalists don’t exist?”—why this discourse matters

5:03 Education, immigrant grit, and access—Dr. Laryea’s early story

10:19 Defining Black capitalist vs. Black capitalism (Nixon-era vs. her definition)

12:39 Abundance, community, anti-extraction: re-orienting how we use capital

16:02 What the research revealed (diaspora throughline, Africa focus)

18:43 Year of Return (Ghana), pan-Africanism, and global Black futures

21:02 Why private equity & real estate—and why culture matters too

22:30 The Undercommons (Moten & Harney): resistance, refusal, radical possibility

24:55 Undercommons in practice (e.g., JPMorgan African Alliance, social/human capital)

27:01 Strategy versus “fitting in”: navigating power spaces without losing yourself

30:18 Is education still the pathway to Black wealth? How the landscape is shifting

33:38 AI & crypto—accelerators or new gatekeepers? Implementation + access questions

35:24 Building wealth with values first: culture → profitability (the Esusu model)

39:27 “Master’s tools” debate—can tools be neutral?

40:15 Rapid Fire: books, models of excellence, one word for the future, a song, $100M play

43:37 Closing, links, and how to connect

Guest Info: Dr. Rachel Laryea

🔗 Website: https://rachellaryea.com

🔗 Instagram: https://instagram.com/drlaryea

🔗 LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dr-rachel-laryea-83a44aa1

📖 Book: Black Capitalists: The Story of Race, Identity, and the Making of Black Wealth — https://amzn.to/4nUwIBf

Resources Mentioned

The Undercommons — Fred Moten & Stefano Harney (framework referenced): https://amzn.to/4nLhX3C

Esusu — rent reporting to credit bureaus; building credit for renters – https://esusurent.com/

Books:

Forensics of Capital — Michael Ralph: https://amzn.to/46pET2I

The E-Myth Revisited — Michael E. Gerber: https://amzn.to/46BYhYX

Black Marxism — Cedric J. Robinson: https://amzn.to/4gMrpBy

The Color of Money — Mehrsa Baradaran: https://amzn.to/4pG8zA4

Ghana’s Year of Return (2019) — diaspora reconnection and investment context

Song: “Billionaire’s Club” (Wizkid, Darkovibes, Olamide) – energy of the episode

Key Ideas to Share

• “It’s one thing to be a Black person participating in capitalism; it’s another to be a Black capitalist who refuses extraction and builds with community in mind.”

• “The undercommons is where we leverage institutional resources for collective benefit.”

• “Tools can be neutral—it’s how we use them that determines whether they reproduce harm or create equity.”

Connect & Next Steps

✨ Loved this conversation? Like, subscribe, and share with a friend.

📝 Ready to write your transformative book? Book a Soul Story® Strategy Call: https://bit.ly/BJHbookchats

📩 Media and Speaking inquiries: [email protected]

🎧 Listen on Apple, Spotify, iHeart or your favorite podcast platform

#BlackWealth #BlackCapitalism #GenerationalWealth #RachelLaryea #SoulStoryShow #Undercommons #PanAfrican #AIandEquity #Crypto #bookcoach #authorcoach #booktube #booktuber #writerscommunity #authortube #authortubers #bookstagram #bookreview #ghostwriter #writer #author #attorney #booklover #booklovers