Before Lehman Brothers became a Wall Street giant, it was a small Alabama business trading in cotton — cotton picked by enslaved Black hands.

Founded in 1844 by three German immigrant brothers, their fortune grew by buying, selling, and financing the very crops that slavery made possible. That money built the foundation for one of America’s most powerful investment banks — and yet, its origins are rarely spoken aloud.

This is the story of how human suffering was converted into generational wealth, and why these truths must be remembered.

I’m SpiritualAlkemist74, telling the stories history tries to hide. Subscribe for more histories they don’t teach in school.