Photography provided by Giphy

Hello everyone and welcome to the first day of #DEBlackHistory! This is a new segment we are doing this year in support of Black History Month! Everyday for the next 28 days we will be posting about something dealing with Black History along with the help of The Buzz on HR’s #BlackBlogsMatter blogging activity they are hosting and taking part in from their blog as well this month. Why are we highlighting Black History Month? Well, if you do not know already, DE is a black owned service. This is very important, and personal, for us to highlight any accomplishments within our community right now or from the past in a positive light so others can learn and take part in any activities being done or services being offered. I want everyone to always remember when visiting DE this February, this is in no way an attempt to steer other races away from our business or service. We do not discriminate and we do invite everyone to take part in our blog site. We wish for everyone to take part in the activities we will post about and we also want everyone to be respected when commenting on any posts provided. This is in no way an attempt to make one race seem better than the other, and this is not an attempt to discourage any other race’s accomplishments or achievements.

Digital Illustration created by @K_DougDE

The first day of #DEBlackHistory is on the topic of business. First person to come to mind when I think of the word business and Black History would be the queen herself, Madame C.J. Walker. Mrs. Walker, also known as Sarah Breedlove, was born in Louisiana on December 23, 1867 to two sharecroppers whom were slaves around the time of the Civil War. After marrying her husband Charles Joseph Walker, she set out to begin her own business in a search to cure her own hair problems which were causing her hair to fall out from the scalp. After much hard work and dedication, she founded and created Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower scalp conditioning and healing formula. Growing up, I was always told that Mrs. Walker invented the straightening comb and hair relaxer, but after further research I found this to not be true. She really initially invented what you would call hair grease for women of color at the time to use in order to grow back their hair back due to scalp dryness. Huge accomplishment I must say, as we all still use hair grease and hair oils to this day. Walker began the Madame C.J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of America convention, one of the very first national meetings of businesswomen in the country. In other words, Madame C.J. Walker invented the whole concept and idea of having a business convention too. By the time of Walker’s death she was known as the first self-made African American billionaire.

Check out our new #DEBlackHistory collection with new artwork featuring Madame C.J. Walker created by @K_DougDE at our Society6 Storefront below!

Upcoming Business Events for Black History Month 2018

• February 03, 2018: Black Business Expo from 1pm until 6pm Eastern Standard Time at the Carole Hoefener Center at 615 E. 6th Street in Charlotte, North Carolina; Free Entry. Click here for more information.

Credits
Things to do in Chicago during Black History Month
PBS

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