They invented the traffic light, the gas mask, the home security system, and components in pacemakers that save lives today. So why don't you know their names?

Between 1865 and 1965, brilliant Black inventors didn't just create breakthrough technologies—they fought fierce legal battles to claim them. While Thomas Edison's name became synonymous with innovation, inventors like Granville T. Woods battled Edison himself in court, winning repeatedly yet fading into obscurity.

The Patent Warriors uncovers the explosive untold stories of African American innovators who transformed American industry while fighting a system designed to erase them. From Reconstruction's broken promises to the Civil Rights Movement's triumphs, these pioneers wielded patents as weapons against institutional racism, defending their intellectual property in courtrooms across America.

Discover:

How Garrett Morgan's inventions saved countless lives, yet racism nearly prevented their adoption

Why Elijah McCoy's name became slang for "the genuine article"

The shocking corporate theft that nearly destroyed Dr. Percy Julian's pharmaceutical breakthroughs

How a century of patent battles laid groundwork for modern civil rights protections

This meticulously researched narrative exposes the systematic erasure of Black genius from American history and celebrates the resilient innovators who refused to be silenced.

Their inventions built America. Their battles changed it forever.