Mary Ellen Pleasant: Black Capitalist (featuring Touré, Diamond Stylz, and Jody Simms)

Can you name the 19th century Black woman entrepreneur who funded hundreds of Black people to flee from slavery?  Mary Ellen Pleasant reported in 1875 a net worth of 30 million US dollars. Which today would be worth just shy of one billion dollars.  Join the students at Drapetomaniax Agricultural and Technical State University School as they learn all about this self-made millionaire abolitionist.

Drapetomaniax is created by Michael Harriot in collaboration between OtherTone, Sony Music Entertainment and Queer Media.

This episode features:

Professor MX Fa Rizzle               Diamond

Black Billionaire Aspirant Guy  Toure

City Girl                                          Jody Simms

Special thanks to our voice actors:

Mary Ellen Pleasant    Leila Gray or LaPorshe Thomas

Aunt April                      Ola Ronke

Aunt May                       Kim Baum

Aunt June                    Allegra White

Free person of color  John Etienne

Quaker Friend              David Easton

Marie Laveau               Sabine Blaizin

Bank Teller                   Noleca Radway

Executive Producers Pharrell Williams, Scott Vener, Noleca Radway, and Moses Soyoola

Senior Producer Janicia Francis

Managing Producer JoAnn DeLuna

Production Coordinator Homero Radway

Production Assistant Gilianne Roberts-Atkinson

Writers Taylor Le Melle, Dallas Rico, Roderick Morrow, Danielle Solomon and Randolph Terrence

Audio Engineer  Toni Paulsen

Fact checker LaPorsche Thomas

Music Supervisor  Patricia Kihoro

Theme Song  Freedom by Pharell Williams

Songs featured in this episode include: Wicked Cinema – Cold Case, Hitstreak – Michael Briguglio, Messages and Portraits – O Mio Babbino Caro, come to find out. – Le Melle, Ethos by Johannes Bornlof, Learn to Let Go – Ben Elson, El Baile del Barrio – El Equipo Del Norte, 80’s Horror Movie by DJ Denz The Rooster, and music by Chad Milner

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