Self Made – Inspired By The Life Of Madam C.J. Walker, Audiobook Online By: A’Lelia Bundles
Now a Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer, Self Made (formerly On Her Own Ground) is the first full biography of “one of the great success stories of American history (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Madam C.J. Walker – legendary African American businessman and philanthropist – by her great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles.
The daughter of slaves, Madam C.J. Walker was orphaned at age 7, married at 14, and widowed at 20. She spent most of the next two decades doing laundry work for $1.50 a week. Then – with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for Black women – everything changed. When she died in 1919, Walker managed to overcome incredible hardships: Building a long-established beauty empire from the ground up that would be run by four generations of Walker women until being sold in in 1985, accumulated an unprecedented fortune for Black women and devoted her life to charity and social activism. Along the way, she befriends great political figures of the 20th century such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington.
“A’Lelia Bundles always knew, on some level, that this story was hers to tell. And she told it with a controlled passion and integrity that would make Mrs. Walker proud” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “Well-paced and well-written…as well as social and biographical history, filled with detail and texture of culture and politics” (The New York Times), Self Made is enriched added thanks to the author’s exclusive access to personal correspondence and records from the family’s collection. Bundles also shows Walker’s complicated relationship with her daughter, A’Lelia Walker, a famous Harlem Renaissance hostess and famous friend of both Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.
“More than a history lesson in her rise to fame, On Her Own Ground inspires women – regardless of race – on how to succeed despite all odds” (Chicago Sun-Times).
I enjoyed reading Bundles’ work. This is a must-read for anyone interested in an academic yet interesting account of Mrs. Walker’s life and times. The author has done much justice to her ancestors in portraying her role as a major player in early 20th-century racial leadership and elevation.
I love it! Author and reader A’Lelia Bundles is very thorough in her writing. she paints a clear picture of CJ Walker’s life and the racial environment she lived in. If you want more specific information about CJ Walker with less information about the racial environment, then I recommend reading the book African American Achievements about her, also by A’Lelia Bundles. If you want to know as much as possible, this is the book. Or just get both, my personal choice.
