Madame C.J. Walker, Much More than a Pressing Comb...

By Fred Jones, Jr.

and Vivian Randolph

Sarah smile. Smile, for though you have been born poor, you have been born free...Not even her poor and difficult beginnings stymied Madame Walker's road to greatness; born December 23, 1867, roughly two years after the alleged emancipation of her race, she was an orphan at seven, a wife at fourteen, a mother at seventeen and a widow at twenty.

The woman, who would come to be known as the first self-made, female millionaire, and the greatest benefactress of her race, was born the daughter of Owen and Minerva Breedlove, poor ex-slaves, living on a cotton farm in Louisiana. Of course, with a name like Sarah Breedlove (also spelled Briedlove), greatness was inevitable. Though Breedlove was the slave name passed down from her parents, their choice of the name Sarah seems, in hindsight, to be clearly prophetic.

The biblical Sarah was the wife of Abraham, mother to a nation who would eventually give birth to, or "breed" Jesus, a walking representation of God, who is Love. Sarah breed Love. Sarah, give birth to God!

Indeed, Madame Walker lived up to this divine calling, for those born out of the womb of her spirit and vision, those who follow in her footsteps, are equipped with the ability to do as a God would do: create something from nothing, bringing to fruition whatsoever they will, in the midst of the most trying circumstances and for the good of others.

For the love of her race, Madame accomplished -against all odds- not only what no one had ever done, but also, what no one believed could be done; in so doing, she ruined every possible excuse for failure.

A washerwoman by trade, at the age of thirty-three, in 1900, she began selling a product door-to-door, which she had formulated to remedy her own hair loss. She pinpointed the root of her hair problems, which was the scalp, and created a hair care product, and a system of hair maintenance that focused on the need for a clean and healthy scalp for maximum hair growth.

She then extended the value of cleanliness by incorporating it into a concept she called "Beauty Culture" which emphasized the overall appearance, conduct, and character of the black woman.

By setting up a beauty college, first in Pittsburgh, PA, and later New York city, then on Black Wall Street (Greenwood) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a manufacturing facility in Indiana, Madame was able to further establish and promulgate her program of Beauty Culture which trained the black female in three areas: First, the black woman was taught the proper presentation of herself; she was to be clean, neat, properly attired, and well mannered. Second, she was taught how to use Madame's hair care system on customers, and third, she was taught how to sell Madame's hair care products to customers. Amazingly, Madame C.J. Walker provided a solution to the root of the black woman's demise. She raised the black woman's self-esteem and confidence about her own beauty and intelligence, and she empowered the black woman economically, thus freeing her from white servitude.

This accomplishment is even more amazing when put in the context of the time in which these things were done, and in the context of Madame's own background.

The time, one historian called the "Nadir", or lowest point, in the history of the Black race, outside of slavery itself. The blessing of "freedom" was now marred by the blatant terrorist acts of the Ku Klux Klan, and those likeminded individuals working in collusion.

The harsh reality faced by the vast majority of Blacks living in this era, was that the number of lynching's peaked during the early nineteen hundreds, as did the other backlashes sparked by Reconstruction, such as the burning of black schools, and the establishment of Jim Crow laws. During this dark period, most black women were either sharecroppers, or washerwomen and house servants for Whites.

Madame Walker was no exception, but she was more than a pressing comb, she was exceptional.

Thanks to Vivian Randolph, Madame C. J. Walker Enterprises Indianapolis, Indiana for supplying me with this information for more info or to order Madame's products logon to: www.madamewalker.net

fjones@theoklahomaeagle.net  vrandoplh@madamewalker.net