“A major contribution on the Black Metropolis as a black business movement, a black public sphere, and visions of freedom in the city.”--Quincy T. Mills, author of <i>Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America</i> "Weems (Wichita State) and Chambers (Univ. of Illinois) provide a detailed look into the forces and people who shaped Chicago's black business and metropolis since the 1800s. . . . Recommended."--<i>Choice</i> "<i>Building the Black Metropolis</i> is an insightful and informative book that will appeal to a wide general audience, and hopefully all who read it will be inspired to continue to support African American entrepreneurs and their ongoing business ventures throughout the country." --<i>Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society</i> "<i>Building the Black Metropolis</i> is a solid collection. Taken as a whole, these essays reveal how racial segregation has created inequality, generation after generation--and the limits of racial solidarity to overcome it." --<i>Journal of American History</i> "A work that examines history in its own skin. At a time when scholarship is praising immigrant entrepreneurship in America, it is great to see a book that says, 'Black America has been there, done that, and got the T-Shirt.' A work that should bind the past with the future because it recreates a model of business success that holds the key to the future. An American Story well done."--John Sibley Butler, author of <i>Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Among Black Americans: A Reconsideration of Race and Economics</i>