The GI Bill created 8M white homeowners after WWII.
Black veterans: denied by local banks. Locked out by design.
That one policy built a 3-generation wealth gap compounding daily.
Your grandparents weren't broke. They were robbed.
Now build what they couldn't.
Today's Black American (Freedmen) inventor is Charles B. Brooks. In 1896, Brooks patented the first self-propelled street sweeper truck.
Unlike earlier mechanical sweepers that relied on horse-drawn power, his version integrated the sweeping apparatus onto a motorized chassis, eliminating the need for animal or manual labor. His design introduced groundbreaking features such as synchronized rotating brushes, a conveyor-driven collection system for storing debris, and interchangeable scrapers that served as an early snowplow attachment. The fundamental architecture of modern street sweepers is based on his 1896 innovation. #BlackHistoryMonth