Madam C.J. Walker, a Black businesswoman and the nation’s first female self-made billionaire, has joined Mattel’s “Inspiring Women” line as the newest Barbie doll.
In addition to her work as a philanthropist and activist, Walker is renowned for her beauty empire, in which she developed haircare and cosmetics products exclusively for Black women.
According to Mattel, the collection honors women “who took chances and questioned the status quo” during their lives, creating new standards for subsequent generations of girls. Walker will join a distinguished group of women that also includes Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks.
Walker, whose real name was Sarah Breedlove, was born in 1867 in Delta, Louisiana, on the same farm where her parents had been slaves before becoming sharecroppers. She was the first freeborn child in her family, but by the time she was 7, she had become an orphan.
Walker started experimenting with home remedies and store-bought goods as a treatment while she was in her 20s when she started losing the majority of her hair. She finally created the Wonderful Hair Grower product, around which she founded her company.
According to a webpage about her, Walker landed in Indianapolis, where she constructed the country’s biggest inland manufacturing facility at the time. She also constructed a factory, a mani-pedi shop, and a training facility. Over the course of her career, she would hire thousands of Black people in the Caribbean, South America, and the United States.
Her self-made wealth also allowed her to carry out amazing charitable deeds, such as contributing to the Indianapolis “colored” YMCA’s construction fund. She would ultimately be persuaded by her daughter to relocate to New York City’s Harlem district, which had grown to be the hub of Black politics and culture in the country.
A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and official biographer, and Mattel collaborated closely to develop an accurate picture of Walker based on unpublished family photographs and anecdotes.
Madam C.J. Walker Barbie was added by Mattel to the “Inspiring Women” line. Mattel
“When people think of Madam C.J. Walker, their first thought is her hair. She is a lady who started a business selling hair care products “In an interview with CBS New York earlier this year, Bundles said.
In order to make the Walker Barbie as accurate to real life as possible, Mattel gave her “multi-dimensional color, a unique curl pattern, and an era-appropriate design with the twist that wraps over her head like a crown.”
Walker’s preferred hues, such as lavender, purple, and turquoise, are included in the doll’s outfit, and it even includes a miniature bottle of his well-known Wonderful Hair Grower shampoo, complete with a historically correct label and twist-off lid.