As you may know, Black History Month is commemorated twice a year: February and October. It’s two whole months celebrating the achievements by the African American community and a time for recognizing their position in those arduous and horrible moments of the past–some of which still continue today. Originally, it was a week-long celebration, but it ended up being a month-long celebration. In 1976, every American president designated the month of February as “Black History Month”, which also coincided with the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Since then, many more obstacles were overcome by the African American population, such as equality in the school system, and the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Created in 1909, their vision has always been “to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race”. Click here for more. Aside from the NAACP, there were many African Americans that were very successful during, before, and after the Civil Rights Movement. But today, we’ll talk about the women specifically.
1. Self-Made Millionaire
Born on a cotton plantation in Louisiana in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker was a woman who made a vast difference in her community. She was an entrepreneur in a time where women in business were very few; it was uncommon. She created specialized hair products for African-American hair in 1905 and was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. This line of business started because she suffered from a scalp ailment that resulted in her own hair loss, and she began to experiment with both home remedies and store-bought hair care treatments in an attempt to improve her condition. She promoted her products with her husband and gave lectures, known as the “Walker Method”. Later on, she opened a factory and a beauty school in Pittsburgh. The company not only manufactured cosmetics but also trained sales beauticians, known as “Walker Agents”, they promoted Walker’s philosophy of “cleanliness and loveliness.” Click here for her full biography.
2. Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement
Dorothy Height worked outside the public eye. She was a relentless activist who spent her whole life fighting for civil rights and women’s rights. She became socially and politically active, participating in anti-lynching campaigns. Dorothy Height joined the staff of Harlem YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in 1937. After meeting the founder of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Mary McLeod Bethune, and meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, she volunteered with the council. One of her major accomplishments at the YWCA was directing the integration of all its centers in 1946. She became the president of the NCNW and was one of the leading figures of the Civil Rights Movement. She worked with the “Big Six” and was one of the organizers of the famed March on Washington.
3. Marie Van Brittan Brown
Meet Marie, the creator of the first home-security system, along with her husband Albert. From Jamaica, Queens N.Y.C, Marie was your typical nurse, working unregular hours. Her husband, Albert Brown, was an electronics technician. When she was home alone, she was concerned of the safety in her home, the crime rate in her neighborhood had grown and she feared the police would not get there in time, knowing that the police were typically slow. She and her husband devised an ingenious device which included: a motorized camera to see through three peepholes at the door; to see from tall people to small people; a two-way microphone at the door; a TV monitor in the bedroom with a radio to feed the images from the door; and a button that could either alarm neighbors, police, etc. or to open the door if it was a friend. She was very well protected!
4. Mary and Mildred Davidson
Creator of one of the most useful artifacts in life, the toilet paper holder. Mary and Mildred both credit their father for giving them the thirst for inventing. Mary invented a sanitary belt and a sanitary belt with a moisture-proof napkin pocket in 1956. The sanitary belt gave women a better alternative for handling their periods. She was rejected for the sanitary belt when the business found out that the creator was African American. She was never interested in money, she just wanted to make people’s lives better. Her sister, Mildred, was also an inventor.
5. Shirley Chisholm
First African American Congresswoman, Shirley ran for the 1972 Democratic nomination for the presidency. She fought for education opportunities and social justice. In 1983, Chisholm left Congress to teach. Author of two books during her lifetime: Unbought and Unbossed (1970), which became her presidential slogan, and The Good Fight (1973). She was the co-founder of Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn, and one of the early members of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
These women are just a few of all the vast creators, powerful, and moving women that fought for what they believed in. Even though most of them didn’t get the recognition of their acts, they do now and we could not be any happier.
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