Medium Features The Black Family Who Built America — A Legacy Two Centuries in the Making
November 2025 — Medium Publication by Val Garner (Pen Name: Amber Richards)
In a recent feature on Medium, writer Val Garner (pen name Amber Richards) shared a thoughtful and compelling book summary of The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers by Cheryl McKissack Daniel and Nick Chiles.
The article highlights the sweeping legacy of the McKissack family — a story that spans over two hundred years, from enslavement to entrepreneurship, from brickmaking to billion-dollar design projects. Garner’s summary beautifully captures the book’s core message: that resilience, craftsmanship, and purpose can build more than structures — they can build a nation.
At the heart of the story is Moses McKissack, an enslaved man brought to America in 1790 who learned masonry as both survival and skill. His descendants carried that knowledge forward, culminating in the founding of McKissack & McKissack in 1905 — a historic milestone as one of the first Black-owned architecture and construction firms in the United States.
Today, under Cheryl’s leadership as President and CEO, the company has managed over $50 billion in projects, including the Barclays Center, The Oculus at Ground Zero, and JFK Airport’s New Terminal One. But as Garner’s article notes, The Black Family Who Built America is not only about the buildings the McKissacks have constructed — it’s about the enduring values that built their success.
“Generational wealth isn’t just about money,” Cheryl explains in the book. “It’s about ownership, knowledge, and values that endure.”
Garner commends the book for its honesty and its historical depth — a rare combination that brings readers face-to-face with the realities of systemic exclusion and the power of persistence. From Cheryl’s mother, Leatrice B. McKissack, who led the company with grit in the 1980s when women couldn’t even secure loans without a man’s signature, to Cheryl’s own role breaking barriers in boardrooms today, the McKissack story continues to inspire new generations.
The Medium review closes with a reflection that perfectly encapsulates the book’s spirit:
“This is not just a story about a family. It’s a story about faith, vision, and the relentless pursuit of progress. It’s a blueprint for legacy.”
📖 Read the full summary on Medium:
Book Summary for The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers
