The Black Rose
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"Born to former slaves on a Louisiana plantation in 1867, Madam C. J. Walker rose from poverty and indignity to become America's first black female millionaire, the head of a hugely successful company, and a leading philanthropist in African American causes.".
""I got my start by giving myself a start," Madam C. J. was fond of saying as she recounted her transformation from the uneducated laundress Sarah Breedlove to a woman of wealth, culture, and celebrity. Madam C. J. was nearing forty and married to a maverick Denver newspaperman when the wonder-working hair care method she discovered changed her life.
Seemingly overnight, she built a marketing empire that enlisted more than twenty thousand bright young African American women to demonstrate and sell her products door-to-door." "A dynamic, brilliantly creative businesswoman, Madam C. J. also became a tireless activist in the fight against racial oppression and a key figure in the antilynching movement. A stalwart "race woman," she worked with black leaders like Booker T. Washington, and her legacy inspired poets like Langston Hughes."--BOOK JACKET.
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The Black Rose is the lightly fictionalized story of the life of Madame C. J. Walker, America's first black female millionaire. Tananarive Due seems to have taken over the project from Alex Haley, the acclaimed late co-author of Malcolm X's autobiography. Due is a wonderful storyteller; many biographies I've read have been dry and uninteresting, but The Black Rose is technically a novel, and kept my attention through the entire book. Madame Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, is an incredibly charismatic figure. She was born to former slaves just after the Civil War - the only member of her family born free - and the book chronicles her entire life. From her parents' deaths, to her early years working in a cotton field, to being a washerwoman, cook, then finally an entrepreneur. According to Wiki she had four brothers; the book only mentions one. Wiki also mentions a marriage in between her daughter's father and CJ Walker; that one wasn't mentioned in the book at all. So there are some differences.
The Black Rose is an engrossing look at an influential woman whose name seems to be largely forgotten. Or perhaps it's only forgotten because we're not taught nearly as much African-American history as we should be in this country. Madame Walker's company was a path to economic freedom for thousands of black women in the early 20th century. Besides the jobs she created, she also made many charitable donations and was active in politics and civil rights, participating in marches and, once, visiting the White House to speak with the president. (According to the book, the president declined to speak with her group, though.)
This is a good example of why I'm trying to diversify my reading. I didn't know the name C. J. Walker. I had no idea where she came from, or the scope of the company she built and the people she helped.
Excellent, educational book.
You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.
