
Madam C.J. Walker, an early 20th-century black woman who built a hair company - magda_wang
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/madam-walker/
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linuxkerneldev
I found this article difficult and confusing to read. It says stuff like:
"beauty standards that placed a high value on lighter skin and hairstyles that
imitated white looks,"

then says: "began offering skin-lightening and hair-straightening products to
compete with white companies that marketed these items to black consumers"
"Walker rebuffed a reporter in response to an article that derisively referred
to her as the “de-kink queen.” "

I couldn't figure out if the article was saying Walker was a black woman who
supported natural hair for black women (which I imagine would be a good thing
for black women, and good for the planet as well given the toxic chemicals in
hair straighteners, and general waste of resources on hair) or if the article
is saying she just built a hair company and provided whatever the masses
wanted even if it was damaging to their own self-image and communities?

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Maken
The article states that the company started selling these kind of "looking
more whiteish" products after she has already passed away, not during her
leadership. Her marketing was focused in making women look more healthy, not
more white.

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pma
magda_wang, God bless you for bringing this piece to HN.Keep it up.

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WalterBright
> men like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller—who cornered emerging
> industries and amassed incredible wealth at the expense of the public and
> their employees.

That implies that it was a zero sum game. This is far from correct. Standard
Oil, for example, drove the price of kerosene down 70%, which was of
considerable benefit to the public.

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mynameishere
Creating the steel industry? Creating the oil industry? Pffft. How does that
make anyone proud of their hair? You tell me! Heck, Rockefeller didn't even
have any hair, and Carnegie, precious little.

Seriously, how can anyone get past that first sentence in all its brazen
stupidity?

~~~
dang
It's an interesting historical article about someone remarkable. It's
unhelpful to flame the entire thing based on one sentence you don't like, and
your comment adds nothing but lighter fluid to the GP's observation.

