Madam C.J. Walker Biography

Introduction

Madam C.J Walker, born Sarah Breedlove was an African-American black woman, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and civil rights activists. Madam Walker was the first woman millionaire of African American descent (Smith, Ruth 1). She was born in 1967 after the Emancipation Proclamation in Louisiana. Her Father Owen and Mother, Minerva worked at a cotton plantation and, before the civil war they had been the slaves of the South. Madam C.J was orphaned at the age of 6 and lived with her sister Louvenia who was then married. After the death of their parents, Sarah and her sister moved to Mississippi. In Mississippi, while just aged 14, she got married to Moses McWilliams who she had a daughter. The cause for early marriage was an escape from her brother-in-law brutality. Unfortunately, at the age of 20 Madam C.J was widowed and was tasked with raising her child alone (Smith, Ruth 4).

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As a single mother, life became more challenging, and she had to move to St Louis, Missouri where she engaged in various activities including Laundry and maid services to raise little cash for their upkeep. During this period, she enrolled to St. Paul African Methodist Church where she would sing.

At the end of the 19th century, she suffered from scalp infection. Her hair began to shed off, therefore, prompting her to devise ways to address this problem. Despite lack of formal education, Sarah experimented on several concoctions and ointments to treat scalp infections. She had worked as Saleswoman for Annie Turbo beauty business.

By 1905, she had cracked through with her experiments while working as a cook for a pharmacist in Denver. While in Denver, she met Charles Joseph Walker who was to be her husband. During this time, she acquired a few chemical concepts and successfully made skin and hair ointments. She began selling this products door to door, and by 1911, her business was booming. She had established a manufacturing plant in her name which was headquartered in Indianapolis . She had a multitude of sales personnel who assisted in the marketing of her products. Her entrepreneurial culture journey which was to be decorated with the success of great magnitudes had been conceived.

In her professional life, Madam Walker exerted a phenomenal influence on the way of living of African American women. She has been categorized among the preeminent feminist of the 20th century. In her early 30 's she was already an admirable public figure in a highly polarized and male-dominated environment. She earned unconditional respect from the whites and the black (Louis).

She was visionary and believed in strong work ethics. From being a washwoman, a cook and having endured the most horrible childhood and youthful life, her character was hardened. Nothing else could deter her dreams. She envisioned a better future for the colored communities. She was determined to champion for the enlightenment of the blacks in Central America, Africa and in North America. Through her, beauty culture businesses, she achieved so much for the society especially the black communities.

One notable character of Madam Walker was her courage and stoicism. She challenged the society that didn't favor her existence. She was a woman, more so a black woman. She was commanding, she spoke with great authority, she was intrepid and powerful. Not only did he suffer from the cruelty of racism but also male individuals within the black community. In 1912 while trying to express herself during the annual convention of the National Negro Business league, she was obstructed from making an address. The gatekeeper was Dr. Booker Washington. The delegates who had attended were from African American business group. Madam Walker forced herself into the congregation without minding the blatant denial from Dr. Booker, who was the most influential African American black man. She was ignored, but she candidly resisted the refusal by the Tuskegee Normal school. She was not shaken neither was she intimidated by him despite the power and respect Dr. Booker commanded among the black and whites (Smith, Ruth 14)..A person should not be viewed by the amount of accumulated wealth but rather how they spend whatever they have accumulated to enrich society. The individual life success is a function of once spiritual character, morality and their responsibilities in the communities they serve. Furthermore, she believed wealth was God-given and therefore should be used for his work. This was her philosophy in her philanthropic work. Her philanthropic work had been motivated by her childhood life of ignorance, poverty, orphanhood, and early family life. She saw it as a moral obligation to give back to society, especially to those deprived. In addition to the moral gesture for humanity, her philanthropic work was attributed to the need to promote women culture, promote their hygiene, and body cleanliness. This was an indirect way of dignifying women. The establishment of beauty industries was targeted at those women who had scalp infections and who couldn't afford their remedies. Her businesses were established on the culture of giving. All the employees were mobilized to embrace the culture of sharing with the least fortunate.

In addition to her philanthropic work, Madam Walker utilized her fame and power to push for political activism. She pushed for the end in colonialism, imperialism, and racism. She supported the black movements that advocated for the rights of the black people. Her contributions included financial assistance. Consequently, she pushed for the plight of the black soldiers who had returned after world war 1. She participated in the anti-lynching movement, an organization which fought against oppressive of the African American people. She worked closely with Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican civil right activist who led the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Plain).

She valued quality education as a genuine driver in the liberation of black society. She perceived that all African American persons were entitled to access education. Her passion for education had driven her to enroll for night classes and ensured that her daughter gained knowledge through schooling, an opportunity she was deprived in childhood days. Being born from parents who had been slaves, she had spent her first years ignorant and illiterate. She was determined to read and write. After establishing her cosmetic and hair businesses, she knew the success of any business franchise was dependent upon the quality of human labor. She enrolled her workforce into training programs to develop their economic strengths. She understood the necessity of empowerment of Adults who missed education in their early days.

These vocational training to the adults contributed greatly to the transformation of society. Empowered ignorant adults developed a new sense and the perception of society. The culture of inferiority complex among the African-American and feeling of oppression by the white supremacist had changed as they were able to speak up and fend for themselves. Through education, blacks had gained self-dependence.

The women of African descent benefitted from these vocational training programs. The scope of their minds was opened and becoming exposed to a broader spectrum of economic opportunities. The women became competitive in a male-dominated environment. Her industries had created jobs for more than twenty thousand. Majority of the employees in her beauty company were women of African descent.

Also, the reason for her success can be linked to her innovativeness. She saw an opportunity in an embarrassing situation the women of her generation had been plagued with for a long time. Despite the lack of a substantial foundation life, she was able to come up with ideas and experiments on concoctions which led into a successful cosmetic business.

Madam Walker portrayed many traits of leadership qualities. First was the ability to organize and manage her company, training institutions, and philanthropic work. The second was her mobilization for the formation of hair and beauty trade union comprised of the African American manufactures. She made connections to market her products. She was principled, ambitious and persistent in the push for the black liberations from the whites and the government. This was demonstrated through participation and organization of anti-lynching movements and other organizations which agitated for the civil rights. She took part in National This was a risk-taking affair since, during early days of the 20th century, the hostility among the black and the white was intolerable. This could have caused a negative influence on her business career as it would have faced a rebellion from the white consumers and the government (Plain).

Despite her immense contributions to philanthropy and social activism, history has failed to recognize her initiatives. It is unfortunate that little work in research has been accomplished despite the greatest strides in her patronage for education for the blacks, her charisma, and innovative mindedness. C.J Walker rather has been described in terms of her wealth as the "self-made "female millionaire. Her race, her gender, her wealth, her businesses and her entrepreneurial achievements have been emphasized with little information given on the milestones she undertook in Philanthropy. Madam Walker triumphed when the society faced many social, economic and political challenges, the era in which male chauvinist dominated incorporated with adverse racism and economic turmoil.

Conclusion

In summary, Madam C.J. Walker contributed to the well-being of the African American people. She soared at great heights the men of that era couldn't. She conquered where no black woman dared to. Madam Walker wrote a will which outlined the distribution of wealth after her death in 1919. She had donated two-thirds of her property as charities. These donations were a continuation of her philanthropic culture (Freeman 1-30).

References

Freeman, Tyrone McKinley. Gospel of giving: The philanthropy of Madam CJ Walker, 1867-1919. Diss. 2014.

Louis, Henry. "Madam Walker, The First Black American Woman To Be A Self-Made Millionaire | The African Americans: Many Rivers To Cross | PBS." The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2019.

Plain, Keisha. "Madam C.J. Walker Wasn'T Just A Force For African Americans. She Pioneered Global Black Activism." Timeline. N.p., 2017. Web. 11 Mar. 2019.

Smith, Ruth Queen. "Madam CJ Walker (1867-1919) African American Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Social Change Activist, And Educator Of African American Women." (2007).