Black History Month is a time to celebrate black excellence. Madam C.J. Walker, born with the name Sarah Breedlove, was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. She did this by creating special hair products for African American people. 

Madam C.J. Walker was born on December 23, 1867. She grew up near Delta, Louisiana on a cotton plantain. Her parents were just recently freed slaves, making Walker their first free-born child. Her parents both died within a year of each other and left Walker without parents at just seven years old. At that age, she was forced to move with her sister and brother-in-law. They moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1877. There is no real record of Walker working, but it is predicted that she began doing household work in her sister’s house.

From the time she moved in with her sister to the age of 14, Walker endured mistreatment from her brother-in-law. To finally escape this, at age 14, she married a man named Moses McWilliams. On June 6, 1885, Walker gave birth to her daughter, A'Lelia. Two years later, her husband died and she moved with her daughter to St. Louis, where her brothers worked as barbers. She began working as a washerwoman and had enough money to send her daughter to school.  Walker herself attended public night school whenever she could. When she was in St. Louis, she met Charles J. Walker, who she would later marry. 

During the 1890s, Walker developed a scalp condition that resulted in major hair loss. This caused her to experiment with home remedies and store-bought hair treatments in an attempt to help her condition. In 1905, Annie Turnbo Malone, a black businesswoman and hair-care entrepreneur, was interested in Walker’s remedies. Walker was hired as a commission agent. Her products were very popular and she ended up moving to Denver, Colorado to further promote her products. She traveled around the country giving demonstrations and lectures.  It was such a hit she eventually established Madame C.J. Walker Laboratories. 

She died May 25, 1919. Her legacy does not go unpraised. Although her manufacturing company ceased in 1981, you can still find products under the name Madam C.J Walker Beauty Culture in beauty shops such as Sephora. Walker paved the way for many more African American women to become successful. She showed that African American women are also able to make it big.

Citations:

Biography. “Madam C.J. Walker.” Biography, 28 Feb. 2018, 

www.biography.com/inventor/madam-cj-walker. Accessed 8 Feb. 2021.

George, Alice. “How Business Executive Madam C. J. Walker Became a Powerful Influencer of the Early 20th Century.” Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-business-executive-madam-c-j-walker-became-powerful-influencer-early-20th-century-180971628/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.