African American Millionaires

Sullivan, the author of two previous volumes in Wiley's Black Stars series (African American Inventors; African American Women Scientists and Inventors), highlights the rags-to-riches stories of black millionaires, from William Alexander Leidesdorff (who became one of California's founding fathers) and Annie Minerva Turnbo (whose cosmetics empire predated Madame C.J. Walker's) to Tyra Banks and Eldrick ""Tiger"" Woods. Sullivan's simple prose skims along with thumbnail biographies and careful attention to his subjects' philanthropy: lawyer Crispus Attucks Wright (1913-2001) donated $2 million to USC for need-based scholarships, for example, while rap mogul Russell Simmons co-founded a nonprofit dedicated to helping underprivileged kids get better access to the arts. With its topical sidebars and occasional bullet-pointed definitions (""Vocational means training in a special skill for a job in a certain field""), this book is serviceable but dull, a quick look at people whose lives warrant (and have often gotten) greater attention on the page.