Dr. Rachel Naa-Du Laryea, US-based academic, dual PhD holder and Asset Wealth Researcher at JPMorgan Chase, has called on Black communities globally to rethink their relationship with capitalism, arguing that the system can be engaged differently for collective benefit.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, the author of Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What is Possible challenged the notion that capitalism is inherently exclusionary to Black people.
“I think what’s important to remember is that the tools of capitalism are race-neutral, but they have been racialized,” she stated.
Dr. Laryea, who holds a dual PhD in Black Studies and Anthropology from Yale University, explained that race has historically shaped capitalism, particularly in Western contexts.
“Especially when you consider the creation of Western capitalism in an American context that was created through the transatlantic slave trade. It was created through the legalized enforcement of Black people working to build the infrastructure of the economic system,” she said.
According to her, while Black labour was foundational in building capitalist systems, Black communities have not been primary beneficiaries.
“And so it was the case that white people back then and even today have been the greatest beneficiaries of capitalism, even though the folks who labored to actually build the infrastructure… have never been the primary beneficiaries of it,” she added.
However, she believes disengagement is not the solution.
“The greatest form of critique is creativity in terms of how do you actually stay in it, but shift it so it does something different,” she noted.
Dr. Laryea emphasized that individuals can begin by reconsidering their role as consumers and economic actors.
“We are all consumers, right? And so the money that we have, the power that we have… that is a very powerful position. We get to decide where we attribute value to,” she said.
Her book, which is just under 200 pages, draws on years of research, including interviews with hundreds of Black finance professionals on Wall Street and in Ghana.
It explores how Black professionals have used the tools of capitalism in “really subversively in a really interesting way to not only benefit themselves, but their communities outside of that space as well.”
Dr. Laryea revealed that the research journey began in 2017 during her doctoral studies and culminated in the book’s publication in 2025.
She is set to embark on The Black Capitalists European book tour later this month, with stops in Amsterdam on 21 March, Brussels on 22 March, Paris on 25 March and London on 27 March.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
