Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth – How Black Labor Shaped American History and the Struggle for Racial Equity

“Ford’s overlap of past and present, narrative and commentary is masterful, and makes this volume all the more valuable to those readers wise enough to allow the past to inform the future. Of Blood and Sweat is a myth-busting work of genius that will stand as the last word on this vital subject for a long time to come.”—Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of A Slave in the White House and The Original Black Elite

In this, provocative, timely, and painstakingly researched book, the award-winning author of Think Black tells the story of how Black labor helped to create and sustain the wealth of the white one percent throughout American history.

Clyde W. Ford uses the lives of individual Black men and women as a lens to explore the role they have played in creating American institutions of power and wealth—in agriculture, politics, jurisprudence, law enforcement, culture, medicine, financial services, and many other fields—while not being allowed to fully participate or share in the rewards. Today, activists have taken the struggle for racial equity and justice to the streets. Of Blood and Sweat goes back through time to excavate the roots of this struggle, from pre-colonial Africa through post-Civil War America. As Ford reveals, in tracing the history of almost any major American institution of power and wealth you’ll find it was created by Black Americans, or created to control them.

Painstakingly researched and documented, Of Blood and Sweat is a compelling look at the past that holds broad implications for present-day calls for racial equity, racial justice, and the abolishment of systemic racism, and offers invaluable insight into our understanding of Black history and the story of America.

This groundbreaking work of American and Black history reveals:

The Central Role of Black Labor: Follow the untold story of how the labor of enslaved and exploited Black Americans built the foundational wealth of the nation—wealth they were never allowed to share. The Origins of Systemic Inequity: Discover how major American institutions in finance, policing, and jurisprudence were not just built by Black hands but were often created specifically to control them. A Direct Line to Today: Connect the dots from the country’s earliest days to modern calls for racial justice, making a powerful, evidence-based case for understanding our present through our past. Uncovering White Privilege: Examine the historical concept of “freedom dues” and how their denial to Black Americans became a cornerstone of generational wealth and privilege for others.