Erica J. Ball, associate professor of American Studies at California State Fullerton, is the author of To Live an Antislavery Life: Personal Politics and the Antebellum Black Middle Class (2012) and coeditor with Kellie Carter Jackson. Reconsidering Roots: Observations on the Fortieth Anniversary of a TV Mini-Series that Changed the Way We Understood American Slavery (forthcoming).
. . . a concise and revealing biography of hair- and skin-care
entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919) . . . Ball persuasively
links Walker's self-reinvention as a sophisticated entrepreneur to
the transformation of formerly agrarian Black Southerners into a
style-conscious and politically active urban Black working class.
This brisk and informative account serves as a worthy introduction
to a trailblazing businesswoman and social justice advocate.
Erica Ball has written the most nuanced interpretation of Madam C.
J. Walker--a woman who understood the power of reinvention for
public consumption and capitalist success.
Erica Ball has applied the keen eye of a historian through her
meticulous research and the ability to extract what is hidden
between the lines in archival records about Madam C.J. Walker's
amazing life. Readers will understand how Sarah Breedlove, later
Walker, wielded transformation as a tool personally,
professionally, and politically. Walker's physical appearance,
institution building, and strategic philanthropy allowed her to
transform the lives of ordinary black folk domestically and abroad.
In her short life, Madam C.J. Walker served as a flesh and blood
exemplar of what was possible by centering Black women and
ultimately, a Black nation.
The current struggle for Black entrepreneurship makes a new book
chronicling the life of Madam C.J. Walker especially relevant. Ball
has done a masterful job reconstructing the context in which Walker
grew her company. The book shines a light on the world Walker lived
in, the structural barriers she overcame, and the barely traveled
pathways she utilized to arrive at icon status. If one wishes to
learn marketing strategies from a true pioneer, Ball meticulously
documents Walker's playbook--one that Black entrepreneurs would do
well to read at this moment in history. If one chooses to draw
inspiration from Madam Walker's commitment to Black institutions,
Ball provides plenty of examples of it. As so many Black-owned
businesses close up shop, Walker's story is evidence that
triumphant success is possible--and a reminder to support the Madam
C. J. Walkers of the future.
This is an exhaustively detailed account of the life of Madam C.J.
Walker, an early twentieth-century self-made entrepreneur who built
an international conglomerate by selling beauty and hair-care
products specifically designed for African American women. In the
early 1900s, Walker celebrated natural beauty during a time when
other companies were pushing skin lighteners and straightening
lotions. Like her contemporaries Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth
Arden, Walker shrouded her early life in mystery, but author Ball
combines the few known facts with political and social history to
create a credible backstory. Once Walker adopts her professional
moniker in her mid-thirties, Ball relies on a profusion of
testimonials, company advertisements, media releases, and
interviews that document her business acumen, storied philanthropy,
and copious work for racial uplift. Ball parallels Walker's life
with national events, demonstrating how Walker's efforts supported
young women of color as they explored their expanding options. An
epilogue explores the evolution of Walker's legacy. The daughter of
formerly enslaved people, Walker described her life as a journey
"from the wash tub . . . to the boardroom." This addition to the
Library of African American Biography tells the story of this
remarkable woman.
This slim volume--147 pages--would be a wonderful addition to a
high school class or an undergraduate course. And though there are
no footnotes, Ball has included a thorough Note on Sources at the
end with references to the significant historical and archival
collections that she examined.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
