Happy Black History Month. This month is dedicated to celebrating Black history and recognizing the many underrepresented people in Black History. One story that is not often told is the story of entrepreneur and philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker. 

Life 

Madam C.J. Walker did not have an easy life. Born in poverty in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker was one of six children to Owen and Minerva Breedlove.  After the Civil War, Walker became an orphan at the age of 7 and had to live with her older siblings. To escape the abusive hands of her brother, she got married at the age of 14 to Moses McWilliams. He then also tragically died leaving her a single mother to two-year-old Lelia. 

In 1889, she got a job as a laundress and cook to support her family. Struggling financially, Madam C.J Walker started to lose her hair in 1904. She tried to use multiple products, but only one helped which was Annie Turbo Malone, “The Great Wonderful Hair Grower”. When she got married to Charles Joseph Walker she launched her own product line “Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower”.

Accomplishments

That line was the start of Walker’s flourishing business. In 1910, she built a factory and employed over 40,000 African American men and women. She also created the “Walker System” which was a national networking program that connected and advocated for Black women’s economic independence. In 1917, she founded the National Negro Cosmetics Manufacturing Association. She became the first African American woman millionaire. Breaking through barriers, Madam C.J. Walker continued to give back to the community donating to both the YMCA and the NAACP. In her will, she gave two-thirds of her future net profits to schools and scholarships.