Black History : Sarah Breedlove a.ka. Madam CJ Walker

[Kwaku Bendele]

I love a sister I don't care what kind of hair she has thats just me folks

 

[panafrica]

I love a sister I don't care what kind of hair she has thats just me folks

No that's not just you...it is me as well brother Kwaku (although I don't like color dye)! As sister MBA stated, a large consideration women have about hair style is what is easiest to manage. The "social implications" of the hairstyle doesn't factor into the equation. Sister Akilah was also correct when she pointed out that women in Africa also wear their hair in many different styles. In addition another sister in the health/beauty forum, barbiedoll87, pointed out that braids aren't truly "natural" hair (despite popular opinion) because most women use extensions & weaves to put them in. Indeed, we really need to educate ourselves more on what is and isn't African/Black...before we pass judgements on how people dress & behave!

 

[Isaiah]

No that's not just you...it is me as well brother Kwaku (although I don't like color dye)! As sister MBA stated, a large consideration women have about hair style is what is easiest to manage. The "social implications" of the hairstyle doesn't factor into the equation. Sister Akilah was also correct when she pointed out that women in Africa also wear their hair in many different styles. In addition another sister in the health/beauty forum, barbiedoll87, pointed out that braids aren't truly "natural" hair (despite popular opinion) because most women use extensions & weaves to put them in. Indeed, we really need to educate ourselves more on what is and isn't African/Black...before we pass judgements on how people dress & behave!

MzBlackAngel, Akilah, PanAfrica, I would venture to say that what happened in the early 20th century with Madame C.J. had very little to do with African Culture... Can I get an amen on that?(smile!)

If not, then, on the entrepreneurial tip for which we have all lauded Madame C.J., lets' look at the Luke's, P.Diddy's, and Masta P's, and Ja Rule's, and all the young and fantasitic entrepreneurial successess of the HipHop Era, and how many of them have gotten rich by denigrating African women of all hues, all sizes, and shapes... Look at how these guys have been taken to task despite all the money-making they've done, and all of the vast entrepreneurial skills they've demonstrated... It seems rather contradictory to me that we can rake these cats over the coals, but not Madame C.J..

If we are going to use her entrepreneurial success as justification for not seeing the negatives, then we need to leave these HipHop cats alone, and let them continue on unabated in their denigrations of Black Women and Black people generally... After all, they are as successful entrepreneurs as Madame C.J. was, so whatever they do should not come under criticism... That is the logic I see being used on this thread...

Peace!
Isaiah

 

[panafrica]

If not, then, on the entrepreneurial tip for which we have all lauded Madame C.J., lets' look at the Luke's, P.Diddy's, and Masta P's, and Ja Rule's, and all the young and fantasitic entrepreneurial successess of the HipHop Era, and how many of them have gotten rich by denigrating African women of all hues, all sizes, and shapes... Look at how these guys have been taken to task despite all the money-making they've done, and all of the vast entrepreneurial skills they've demonstrated... It seems rather contradictory to me that we can rake these cats over the coals, but not Madame C.J..

Now if Madame CJ Walker was denigrating black women, I'd have to agree with you. However she wasn't, she offered beauty products to make women attractive. This is in no way, shape, or form an equal comparison!

 

[Isaiah]

Now if Madame CJ Walker was denigrating black women, I'd have to agree with you. However she wasn't, she offered beauty products to make women attractive. This is in no way, shape, or form an equal comparison!

Brother Pan, that would mean that using various hair colors are not denigrating the natural beauty of African women either, so I don't understand what your particular problem with that would be... If you say it is an issue of identification with a beauty standard outside of the African norm, then straightening the hair in the context of these United States is absolutely the same as coloring the hair to achieve a European likeness... We know this, and we should not be disingenuous about it...

Of course a sister can, and will, say that she doesn't even think in this manner when she's getting her perm, but therein' lies the damage that has been done... I am sure the sister on the continent doesn't CONSCIOUSLY think she's trying to achieve a European likeness when she does the skin bleaching thing, but unconsciously(where MOST human thinking actually takes place, at the subconcious level)that is precisely what is happening...

That was NOT, however, the point I was making entirely... It seems to me that Madame C.J. gets a pass because she was a great businesswoman, and using that as a justification, only, to put folks on pedastals is dangerous, hence I put the names of those hiphop entrepreneurs out there...

We are not measuring the degree of wrong, we are measuring WRONG... Using these chemicals and straightening combs is not, nor has it ever been, a healthy thing for African women, and has, in fact, damaged more than it's share of scalps... If folks want to turn away from that sad fact, and say, "yeah, so what", then by all means, do that... Just don't ask me to do same... Don't ask me to suspend my consciousness to say that Madame C.J. was following in the path of her African ancestors when she invented her pomade... We both know that's a lotta nonsense, don't we Pan?(smile!)

That being said, I gave sister her props as an entrepreneur, and that's all she's entitled to from my perspective... Again, from MY PERSPECTIVE...

Peace!
Isaiah