Page 6
11,1'^Jurtlanò (Obstruer
March 17, 2010
orne n m Histoiy/Careers
Extraordinary Entrepreneur Set New Style Standards
Madam Walker
was symbol of
sophistication
F a S hun N. S tyles
T he P ortland O bserver
Madam C.J .Walker started a
product line that revolutionized
the hair products industry and
changed the face o f black hair
care as we know it.
Bom Sarah Breedlove on Dec.
23, 1867, this Louisiana daugh­
ter o f former slaves transformed
hersel f from an uneducated farm
laborer and laundress into one o f
bv
Madame C. J. Walker
the 20th century’s most
su ccessfu l, self-m ade
woman entrepreneurs.
An African-American
businesswoman and phi­
lanthropist, she made her
fortune by developing and
marketing a hugely suc­
cessful line ofbeauty and
hair products for black
women, under the com­
p an y she fo u n d ed ,
M adam C .J. W a lk er
Manufacturing.
Her most popular prod­
uct was the hair relaxer.
Next time you sit in your
stylist chair and get a re-
laxer close your eyes and thank
Madame Walker. In 1917, she
was one o f the wealthiest women
in the United States by develop­
ing a line o f cosmetics and hair
products especially for African-
American women.
She trained many women to
become sales representatives.
She owned a beauty salon, a
beauty school, a line o f hair care
products and a flourishing mail­
order business. She was said to
have been the first self-made
woman millionaire in the United
States.
A lo n g w ith h er sp e c ia l
cream s, she also m arketed a
heated metal comb known as a
'pressing comb' to 'straighten' or
'press' hair. Though she be­
came one o f the most famous
African Americans o f her time,
she enjoyed her business suc­
cess for only 14 years before her
death.
W alker's accom plishm ents
paved the way for today's busi­
nesswomen. Just as important,
she used her wealth and influ­
ences to help others by making
la rg e c o n trib u tio n s to the
NAACP, YMCA and YWCA,
historic preservation projects,
b la ck c h u rc h e s, and b lack
schools and colleges.
Looking Beyond Hot Combs and Fades
Hair styles through the decades
B y F a S hun N S tyles
P ortland O bserver
Key hair styles have showcased,
shined and shaped wom en’s styles
through the decades.
The business o f beautician and
barbering has gone beyond hot
combs and high top fades.
This style, from Africa in the
1950s, might have originated
on the west coast o f Africa
centuries earlier.
• 1444: Europeans trade on the
west coast o f Africa with people
wearing elaborate hairstyles, includ­
ing locks, plaits and twists.
• 1619: First slaves brought to
Jamestown; African language, cul­
ture and grooming tradition begin
to disappear.
• 1700s: Calling black hair “wool,”
many whites dehumanize slaves. The
more elaborate African hairstyles
cannot be retained.
• 1800s: Lighter-skinned, straight­
haired slaves com m and higher
prices at auction than darker, more
kinky-haired ones. Internalizing
color consciousness, blacks pro­
mote the idea that blacks with dark
skin and kinky hair are less attrac­
tive and worth less.
• 1865: Slavery ends, but whites
look upon black women who style
their hair like white women as well-
adjusted. “Good” hair becomes a
prerequisite for entering certain
schools, churches, social groups
and business networks.
• 1880: Metal hot combs, invented
in 1845 by the French, are readily
available in the United States. The
comb is heated and used to press
and temporarily straighten kinky
hair.
• 1900s: Madame C.J. Walker de­
velops a range o f hair-care products
for black hair. She popularizes the
press-and-curl style. Some criticize
her for encouraging black women to
look white.
• 1920s: Marcus Garvey, a black
nationalist, urges followers to em­
brace their natural hair and reclaim
an African aesthetic.
• 1954: George E. Johnson launches
the Johnson Products Empire with
Ultra Wave Hair Culture, a “perma­
nent” hair straightener for men that
can be applied at home. A wom en’s
chemical straightener follows.
• 1962: Actress
C ice ly
T yson
w ears cornrow s
on the television
drama “East Side/
West Side.”
• 1966: Model Pat ________ ___
Evans defies both Cicely Tyson
black and white
standards ofbeauty and shaves her
head.
• 1968: Actress Diahann Carroll is
the first black woman to star in a
television network se­
album “ B ad u izm ”
ries, “Julia.” She is a
w ith
h er
head
darker version o f the all-
wrapped, ushering in
A m erican g irl w ith
an eclectic brand o f
stra ig h ten e d , cu rled
Afrocentrism.
hair.
• 1998: Carson Inc.,
• 1970: Angela Davis
creator o f Dark &
becom es an icon o f
Lovely and Magic
Black Power with her
Shave for black men,
large afro.
acquires the black-
• 1971: Melba Tolliver
owned beauty com­
Diahann
Carroll
is fired from the ABC
pany Johnson Prod­
affiliate in New York for
ucts o f Chicago in
wearing an afro while covering Tricia 1998. L’Oreal purchases Carson two
N ixon’s wedding.
years later and merges it with Soft
• 1977: The Jheri curl explodes on Sheen.
the black hair scene. Billed as a curly • 1999: “People” magazine names
perm for blacks, the ultra-moist hair­ lock-topped Grammy award-win­
style lasts through the 1980s.
ning artist Lauryn Hill one o f its 50
• 1979: Braids and
Most Beautiful People.
beads cross the color
• 2001: Rapper Lil’ Kim wears
line when Bo Derek
a platinum blonde weave,
a p p ea rs
w ith
w hile singer M acy G ray
cornrows in the movie
sports a new-school afro.
“ 10.”
Some black women perm,
• 1980: Model-ac­
some press, and others go
tress G race Jo n es
with natural twists, braids and
sports her trademark
locks.
flat-top fade.
• 2003: New Bedford, Mass.
• 1988: Spike Lee ex­
D ance
te a c h e r
Amy
poses the good hair/
Fernandes’ refuses to allow
bad
h a ir
lig h t-
4-year-old Amari Diaw to par­
s k i n n e d / d a r k - Grace Jones
ticipate in her ballet dance
skinned schism in
recital along with the other
black American in his
children in her class who
movie “School Daze.”
have been practicing for the
• 1990: “Sisters love
exciting event because she
the w e a v e ,” “ E s­
requires the girls to pull back
sence” magazine de­
their hair into a bun. Amari ’ s
clares. A variety o f
mom put Amari ’ s very curly
natural styles and
hair into cornrow s and
locks also becom e
pulled it back into a bun.
more accepted.
Fernandes, how ever, in­
• 1997: Singer Erykah
sisted that the braids be re­
Badu poses on the
moved and that Amari ’ s hair
cover o f her debut
be pulled back straight into
Amari Diaw
a bun.
• 2006: Baltimore Police Depart­
m ent’s new, more rigid professional
appearance standards prohibit such
hairstyles as cornrows, dreadlocks
and twists. These natural hairstyles
are deemed to be “extreme” and a
“fad” by the department.
• 2007: MSNBC Radio Host Don
Imus loses his job when he calls the
Rutgers’ wom en’s basketball team
“some nappy-headed hos.”
• 2006: Black hair-care is a billion-
dollar industry.
THE
NEW YORKER
The New Yorker
• 2008: “The New Yorker” draws
heat when a cover photo portrays
Michelle Obama with an Afro and
an AK 47 machine gun and and
Barack Obama in a turban doing the
fist bump. Many felt the cartoon
reinforces negative stereotypes
about both Muslims and natural
hair.
• 2009: Comic Chris Rock unveils
“Good Hair” at the Sundance Film
Festival, exploring the way black
hairstyles impact the activities, pock­
etbooks, sexual relationships, and
self-esteem o f black people.