Buy, Hold, Sell

Clutch the cultured pearls; cede the composite armor.

Standing at the Scratch

Line (Penguin Random House, 1998) is the debut novel from Guy Johnson, son of Maya Angelou. Homeric in scope, it tells the story of a young Black man in the early 20th century. After fighting

valorously with the Harlem Hellfighters in a segregated U.S. military, he returns to America and confronts many adversaries: organized crime in Harlem, the

KKK in Louisiana, the threat of the Red Summer in Oklahoma’s newly prosperous Black townships. Johnson’s exceptional writing style gives the reader an authentic lens into the richness, diversity and perseverance of the Black community. I give this book to as many young people as I can, particularly young Black men. It articulates how business ownership can be a means of building self-respect, investing in your community and strengthening the fabric of your family—all of which have been core

tenets in my life.