In today’s Moment in Black History, we will highlight Madam C.J. Walker. Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867, on a cotton plantation in Delta, Louisiana, to parents who had been enslaved, Sarah was the first in her family born free after emancipation. Orphaned by age seven, married at fourteen (to Moses McWilliams, with whom she had daughter Lelia, later A'Lelia), widowed at twenty, she worked as a laundress and domestic in St. Louis, facing hardship and scalp issues that caused hair loss from harsh products and poor conditions.
Seeking solutions, she learned from Annie Turnbo Malone's methods before developing her own "Walker System”… safe scalp treatments, pomades, and heated combs tailored for Black women's hair. In 1905, she moved to Denver, married Charles Joseph Walker (a newspaperman who helped with ads), and rebranded as Madam C.J. Walker. Starting with $1.25, she launched Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower and built a national empire: manufacturing in Indianapolis by 1910, training thousands of Black women as agents who sold door-to-door, earning independence in a discriminatory era.
Her business created jobs, pride, and wealth…making her America's first self-made female millionaire. She donated generously to the NAACP, anti-lynching efforts, YMCA construction, and education, advocating for civil rights and economic freedom.
Diagnosed with kidney issues, she died on May 25, 1919, at age 51 in her Irvington-on-Hudson estate, Villa Lewaro, leaving a legacy of resilience and upliftment.
Fun fact: Madam Walker once said, "I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations."
Madam C.J. Walker showed us that determination, innovation, and giving back can turn struggle into success and open doors for others.
Remember…Education is freedom of mind and never should be colorblind.
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