I don’t need a guide for staying at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. I’m doing my part to help flatten the curve. How? By limiting non-essential social gatherings and outings. Instead, I’ve ventured out only for long walks in my neighborhood, revisited homemade soup recipes, and finally enjoying some streaming services: the best binge, Netflix’s new series on Madame C. J. Walker.
The Netflix mini-series titled, Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madame Walker – the portrayal focuses on Walker’s trailblazing experiences starting in the early 1900s and ending at her upstate New York mansion.
Every Black girl knows of Madame C. J. Walker as the first African American millionairess. The Netflix four-part limited series scratches the surface of the entrepreneur’s resilience and innovation in developing her “Madame C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower.”
The film does delve into colorism still plaguing the African American community. And the question of whether Madame C.J. Walker was the first African American millionaire. And what about Annie Malone?
My concern, when productions portray real people, is it necessary for dramatization? Or should the inconsistencies give us inspiration to research the truth?
We will get to know Madame, but who was Annie Turnbo Malone (1869-1957), born in Illinois with a background in Chemistry from Poro College? Poro College, the first beauty culture school, founded by Annie dedicated to the study and teaching of black cosmetology. Annie discovered and developed a revolutionary straightening solution called The Great Wonderful Hair Grower at Poro College.
Annie Malone was Sarah’s role model. Sarah became a local Poro agent selling Malone’s beauty products, after using the solution to help her hair grow. Malone believed that if African American women improved their physical appearance, they would gain greater self-respect and achieve success in other areas of their lives.
In 1905, Sarah (1867- 1919) Breedlove stepped out of the shadows of Malone by relocating to Denver, where African Americans migrated to after Reconstruction for jobs. In Denver, Sarah met and married her third husband, ad man Charles J. Walker; she changed her name to Madame C.J. Walker. The title, Madame, adopted by women pioneers of the French beauty industry.
Perhaps it was Walker’s brand that catapulted her to being the perceived first African American millionairess. According to the PBS website, “Of course, would-be entrepreneurs start with a dream. The reason we’re still talking about Walker is her presence and her success in the span of just a dozen years.
In pumping her “Wonderful Hair Grower” door-to-door, at churches, and club gatherings, then through a mail-order catalog, Walker proved to be a marketing magician, and she sold her customers more than mere hair products. Madame offered them a lifestyle, a concept of total hygiene and beauty that in her mind would bolster them with produce for advancement”.
It’s worth noting the expansion of Madame C.J. Walker into New York City during the Harlem Renaissance in 1913. By this time, Madame divorced her third husband, and she founded her beauty culture school. As a celebration of her success, the hair tycoon built a 34-room Italianate mansion, Villa Lewaro, in Irvington, New York. The home built next to John D.Rockefeller’s cost $250,000 in 1918.
Madame died in 1919 at the age of 51 from kidney failure and complications of hypertension. Walker inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. In 1998, the U.S.Postal System issued a Madam Walker commemorative stamp as part of its Black Heritage Series.
On March 4, 2016, Sundial Brands, a skincare and haircare company, launched a collaboration with Sephora in honor of Walker’s legacy. The launch, titled “Madame C.J. Walker Beauty Culture,” comprised four collections and focused on the use of natural ingredients to care for different types of hair.
You got more than you bargained for in this post. I took advantage of delving deeper into the Netflix series on Madame C.J. Walker, for making sure I know the truth about her pioneering start in the beauty industry. As well as celebrate the Madame’s accomplishments for Women’s History Month.
As always, thank you for reading. Stay safe and have a fabulous week.
