Leaving a Legacy: A Media Experiment
The last few years more African American women are sporting their natural hair, reminiscent of the natural hair of the 70’s. In an effort to embrace their natural beauty, and redefine what is considered beautiful women are taking the steps to care for and wear their natural hair. (Which sometimes involves wearing weaves or extensions which people argue means wearing “white women’s hair”). I stumbled across this website www.mcjwbeautyculture.com which not only embraces natural hair for women of color but for women of all racial backgrounds. Not only is it about embracing your hair but it also embraces the power of Madam CJ Walkers legacy of entrepreneurship.
Through her success in business Madam C.J. Walker was able to contribute to other important causes and support anti-racist movements. I think that an important part of researching black women in business also means uncovering the history of other successful women who have come before. We know that YouTube is a way that a lot of beauty bloggers can generate additional income through sponsors and subscriptions to their channel. Scrolling through YouTube search for ‘natural hair care for black women’ shows the way that black women’s hair care is still viable, maybe now more than ever, and is a way for women to get creative when it comes to generating income.
I volunteered at an event for Ujamaa Box, and organization dedicated to supporting black businesses in the D.C. and Baltimore area. The monthly subscription comes with samples from black owned businesses in the local area and is organized by an African American woman. I think that this is a strong example of how the history of black owned businesses is continuing to influence black owned businesses today.
