the women who made self-care political
madam cj walker and annie malone taught black women they didn't have to "fix" themselves to be accepted
raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by white, eurocentric beauty standards! i’ve dyed my hair blonde, starved myself till i was more bones than skin, i even sucked in my lips in photos for a whole year. there hasn’t been much of a time in history where whiteness wasn’t the ideal beauty standard to aspire to - aside from like 2016-2019 which feels like a fever dream - but there also hasn’t been much of a time in history where we knew we were aspiring to whiteness. it just felt like the norm and any deviation would be inconsiderate, or worse, disrespectful.
entrepreneurs annie malone and madam cj walker understood this delicate balance of assimilation and empowerment. in the early 1900s, black women faced intense discrimination in every aspect of their life, including their appearance. straightened hair was often a way to access jobs, safety, and social mobility, yet the harsh chemicals being used to straighten hair (such as bacon grease) were extremely damaging!
the two women - often mistakenly seen as rivals - both created a hair and self-care empire that did not make their customers “look white” - rather, gave their customers the tools to care for their own appearance and set them up for success, in a world that actively wanted to see them fail.
most of us know of madam cj walker - especially cause she has a netflix show dedicated to her - but annie malone is less known, if not known at all. however, annie malone’s contributions set the stage for madam cj walker’s success.
annie was born in 1869 in illinois, the tenth of eleven children. she went to school but never graduated, and it was there she discovered her aptitude for chemistry. in her time spent out of school, annie became obsessed with hair (she’s just a girl!) at the time, black women were using goose fat and bacon grease to straighten their hair which was - surprisingly - not great. annie used her chemistry acumen to invent her own non-damaging product to straighten black women’s hair. she called it the “great wonderful hair grower.”
in 1902, annie moved to st louis missouri to sell her product to the city’s growing black population. mainstream retailers were racist and didn’t want to carry her product, so annie resorted to door-to-door selling and even giving away some treatments for free. her efforts worked, and at age 33, annie opened her first shop in st louis. as her products grew in popularity, annie used the money to launch advertising campaigns and tour states in the south. she also hired fellow black women and trained them to sell her products.
by the time world war 1 ended in 1918, annie malone was a millionaire and one of the most successful black women of her time. annie was famously generous with her money and gave to many african-american organizations, including the st louis colored orphans’ home, today known as the annie malone center. in 1924, annie malone paid an income tax of $40,000 - one of the highest in the state.
annie malone established the poro college in st louis, a cosmetology school that offered black women a place to advance themselves.
one of her students was madam cj walker.
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madam cj walker - born sarah breedlove - was born in 1867, on the same plantation where her parents were enslaved before the end of the civil war. seeking a way out of poverty and living with an abusive brother-in-law, walker married at the age of 15 and had her first child, lelia, at 17. after the death of her husband, a 20-year-old sarah went with her two-year-old daughter to st. louis in 1889. there, she worked as a washerwoman - someone who washed clothes by hand.
the strain of poverty, parenting, and physical labor took a toll on sarah’s health and she began losing her hair in patches. eventually, she came across annie malone’s haircare products.
ever felt unlovable when your hair was greasy and then when you washed them, you felt like the hottest baddest most confident woman on earth? then you understand the power of hair. and you also understand how sarah’s life drastically took a turn in 1904, after using annie’s hair grower.
sarah married a man named cj walker and changed her name to “madam cj walker” - which i’ll now refer to her as. she joined annie’s team of black women sales agents. in 1910, she divorced her husband and moved to indianapolis, where she began developing her own product.
facing the similar racist challenge of not being able to sell in major markets, madam cj walker became somewhat of an IRL influencer. she’d tell rowsing stories of her hair troubles to captivated crowds eager for their own glow ups. eventually, she was able to sell enough products to establish the walker manufacturing company. madam cj walker assembled her own team of avengers, employing up to 40,000 black women and men to be licensed sales agents and earn good commission.
does this all sound very similar to what annie malone was doing? sure! but when history paints the two women as rivals, it feels soooo scarcity mindset. there can only be one black female millionaire who donates to charity and trains her community to advance their careers and find meaning in their lives! just one!!
yet almost 100 years later it’s madam cj walker who is remembered while annie malone is largely unknown. why? it could be because of the great depression and - surprise, surprise - a man. annie’s husband. in 1927, her husband asked for a divorce and demanded half of her business. the high-profile dispute resulted in a settlement of $200,000 - about $3.7 million today. seeking a fresh start, annie moved her business headquarters to chicago in 1930, yet financial troubles continued to follow her. the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash hit the company hard, as did a series of lawsuits. either way, it wasn’t because of madam cj walker.
madam cj walker on the other hand was a master of her own fate. she dubbed herself the “first self-made female millionaire” - a title that has been debated but at the time, it had a nice ring to it. kind of like how jojo siwa claims to be the inventor of gay pop. okay maybe madam cj walker was a little more accurate than that!
madam cj walker was all about the personal brand, putting her name and her image in front of her products. she fit neatly into the “rags to riches” story that america loves. annie malone, on the other hand, was more reserved and emphasized her products and poro college above her own name. she also faced financial troubles, and nobody likes public failures.
madam cj walker louder and more individualistic and annie was more reserved and cooperative. yet both deserve recognition independent of each other. both were revolutionaries who created large-scale economic opportunities for black women. at a time where black women’s work was largely confined to domestic and farm work, they opened up new opportunities for business ownership, sales, and working for one’s self. both taught black women that their hair wasn’t something to be fixed - it deserves its own tailored care. their salons and beauty schools became important places to gather, talk, and support each other. they both used their wealth to give to black institutions, civil rights causes, and community development.
in a world where there are 23 ceo’s named john, there’s more than enough room for multiple black female millionaires!
sources: womenshistory.org, national museum of african american history and culture, historic missourians, madam cj walker.com, the netflix tv show, self-made (although this is a loose, fictional adaptation)
thank you for teaching us ❤️❤️❤️
Great read! I really liked how you emphasized that annie malone and madame walker's personalities were different but still deserved their share of limelight and success