Architects & Builders: The Business History of the Global African Diaspora Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/architects-builders-the-business-history-of-the-global-african-diaspora Architects & Builders explores the entrepreneurs, merchants, industrialists, executives, investors, and institutions that shaped business across Africa and the global African diaspora. Through documentary storytelling and historical research, the series examines the people, enterprises, and economic ideas that continue to influence today's founders, investors, and business leaders. © 2026 Black Executive Journal™. All Rights Reserved. Black Executive Journal™. 5b14f6f0-2c51-567b-8d6f-ec36bc85583e yes en Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:35:26 -0700 Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:38:18 -0700 https://www.blackexecutivebrief.com https://img.transistorcdn.com/g_yYB_u-XeAXGiECm0bFeqEx2nO5_czhbGTqOgxh-0Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NjFj/ZDdkMWZhNmQ2ZmEz/NTE4MDA3MGZiOGFj/Y2YxMy5wbmc.jpg Architects & Builders: The Business History of the Global African Diaspora https://www.blackexecutivebrief.com episodic BEJ Audio Network Architects & Builders explores the entrepreneurs, merchants, industrialists, executives, investors, and institutions that shaped business across Africa and the global African diaspora. Through documentary storytelling and historical research, the series examines the people, enterprises, and economic ideas that continue to influence today's founders, investors, and business leaders. Architects & Builders explores the entrepreneurs, merchants, industrialists, executives, investors, and institutions that shaped business across Africa and the global African diaspora. black history, black business history, african business history, business history, The Black Executive Journal info@blackexecutivebrief.com No No Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate full 05aac9ec-56c7-4752-8e7c-42e8a753a859 https://share.transistor.fm/s/dc25bcbe Read full Article Here:  Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Enslavement to the Grandmother of Los Angeles

The script recounts the life of Bridget “Biddy” Mason, born into slavery in the early nineteenth century, who became the wealthiest Black woman in California and a foundational builder of Los Angeles. 

In 1848 she walked nearly 1,700 miles from Mississippi to the American West with a wagon train—pregnant, illiterate, enslaved, and caring for three daughters—while working as a cook, laborer, cattle herder, and midwife who delivered dozens of babies using knowledge passed among enslaved women. 

Though California was a “free state,” she remained illegally enslaved for five years until she sued for freedom; in 1856 a Los Angeles judge freed her and fourteen others. 

She then worked as a nurse and midwife, saved money, invested in Los Angeles real estate, amassed major wealth, and funded churches, schools, and aid for the poor, before being buried in an unmarked grave and later rediscovered through documented history.

00:00 Unnoticed No More
00:30 A Road In Chains
00:55 Midwife Knowledge
01:11 Suing For Freedom
01:40 Real Estate Destiny
02:03 Wealth With Responsibility
02:19 Erasure And Return
02:43 Legacy And Call To Read

Read the Full Story Here: 

Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate

]]> Read full Article Here:  Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Enslavement to the Grandmother of Los Angeles

The script recounts the life of Bridget “Biddy” Mason, born into slavery in the early nineteenth century, who became the wealthiest Black woman in California and a foundational builder of Los Angeles. 

In 1848 she walked nearly 1,700 miles from Mississippi to the American West with a wagon train—pregnant, illiterate, enslaved, and caring for three daughters—while working as a cook, laborer, cattle herder, and midwife who delivered dozens of babies using knowledge passed among enslaved women. 

Though California was a “free state,” she remained illegally enslaved for five years until she sued for freedom; in 1856 a Los Angeles judge freed her and fourteen others. 

She then worked as a nurse and midwife, saved money, invested in Los Angeles real estate, amassed major wealth, and funded churches, schools, and aid for the poor, before being buried in an unmarked grave and later rediscovered through documented history.

00:00 Unnoticed No More
00:30 A Road In Chains
00:55 Midwife Knowledge
01:11 Suing For Freedom
01:40 Real Estate Destiny
02:03 Wealth With Responsibility
02:19 Erasure And Return
02:43 Legacy And Call To Read

Read the Full Story Here: 

Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate

]]> Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:56:36 -0700 BEJ Audio Network BEJ Audio Network 194 Read full Article Here:  Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Enslavement to the Grandmother of Los Angeles

The script recounts the life of Bridget “Biddy” Mason, born into slavery in the early nineteenth century, who became the wealthiest Black woman in California and a foundational builder of Los Angeles. 

In 1848 she walked nearly 1,700 miles from Mississippi to the American West with a wagon train—pregnant, illiterate, enslaved, and caring for three daughters—while working as a cook, laborer, cattle herder, and midwife who delivered dozens of babies using knowledge passed among enslaved women. 

Though California was a “free state,” she remained illegally enslaved for five years until she sued for freedom; in 1856 a Los Angeles judge freed her and fourteen others. 

She then worked as a nurse and midwife, saved money, invested in Los Angeles real estate, amassed major wealth, and funded churches, schools, and aid for the poor, before being buried in an unmarked grave and later rediscovered through documented history.

00:00 Unnoticed No More
00:30 A Road In Chains
00:55 Midwife Knowledge
01:11 Suing For Freedom
01:40 Real Estate Destiny
02:03 Wealth With Responsibility
02:19 Erasure And Return
02:43 Legacy And Call To Read

Read the Full Story Here: 

Biddy Mason: From 1,700-Mile Trek in Chains to California's First Black Female Real Estate Magnate

]]> black history, black business history, african business history, business history, No