*I think the aspect of my artist statement that has been the most successful for me is the way I put my writing into the format, because a lot of people think that my format should not be in the way it is. I decided to write a biography at Madam CJ Walker then write a biography at me, because I feel like we relate with our backgrounds and we have stories that we can show to the world, but I think I might still have a lot to work to do.
*I think the writing tips that have helped me might be the Loop, because I think that with the format I have makes the loop at the end beause the reader is not really sure about what the story is about.
*I think the most challenging part is tryinng to make it more "story-like" because Randy thinks that I am kind of clueless about what I really trying to talk about.
*I think trying to tie all of the tips into my paper because it would be better and I would be able to grade myself better.
*I am currently workinng on ALL of it, so if you can help me leave a comment!
Madam CJ Walker: born into a world of hate, racism and differences. Shyana Nicole Brown: born into a world of hate, racism and differences.
Two different people but both with the same dream: to be successful and change the world.
Madam CJ Walker was born as Sarah Breedlove in December 23, 1867. She became an orphan when her parents died when she was only seven. To escape an epidemic of the yellow fever, which caused the death of her parents, and having to deal with an abusive brother-in-law, she married her first husband, Moses McWilliams at the age 14. She later became pregnant with her first child Leila (later known as A ‘Leila Walker.) When Leila was two years old her father Moses died. This made Madam CJ marry again to John Davis in 1894. That marriage ended in 1910 and then she married once again to Charles Joseph Walker. Madam CJ was a strong and devotional woman. She moved to Denver, Colorado were she started to realize a small baldness problem, which she knew other African-American women were going through because of the lack of products made for black women, because of racism. She had started to work on a solution not just for her but for all African-American women who faced this problem. In 1906 her and her husband toured the country promoting their products and their training sales agents. From 1908 through 1910 Charles and CJ operated a beauty training school, the Leila College for Walker Hair Culturists. She was soon known as the first African-American millionaire. She became inspirational to many black women because of her wealth and success, and she made it possible for all those who couldn't walk on their own two feet. After the bloody East St. Louis Race Riot of 1917, she devoted herself to make lynching a federal crime. In 1918 she was the keynote speaker at many NAACP events helping raise funds for the anti-lynching movement across the Midwest and East. She also encouraged other African-American to support black veterans in WWI. She helped support schools, organizations, individuals, orphanages, retirement homes, YWCA's and YMCA's.
I was born on August 18, 1994. I was forced upon a single mother, with three other kids. My siblings and I were all left with no father, but one strong African-American mother who knew how to give her kids the strength, faith and hope they needed to succeed. From the age of seven years old to the age ten, I was molested by a friend of the family. Even with the burden on my shoulders she managed to get through life with no regrets or revenge. Going through many different situations from not having food in my house to meeting new people that would just hurt me; I had one devoted mother who refused to let her children grow up being a "lost black child" in America. I only saw her father once when she was little. I thought about why God made her father-less and why every other little girl could be called daddy's little girl but not me. Was it the way the I looked, my mother or maybe it was him?
When I was only five years old I experienced a situation which could have changed my entire life. My oldest brother Michael was running away and Ethel (Her mother) and Ethel's boyfriend and I went looking for him. When we found him and were on our way home he was being lectured and- being the type of person he was- he didn't like it. I was very close to my brother, as Ethel was screaming and exiting the freeway, Michael jumped out of the car while I was hooked to his shirt. As they both were rolling on the freeway’s ground, I knew my mom could only think one thing ‘Are my children okay?!’ Even though this could have fatally hurt me, I survived. God put me on the earth and he wasn't going to take me out so quick. I have been through quite a bit but with the clear mind that she was given, nothing can stop her.
Everyone is put into the world for different reasons, some good and some not so good. It is that small group of people that can make a change.
I am is still in the process of growing up and, as I get older, looks around the world to see African-American women that came from nothing to becoming someone successful. I want to be as strong as my mother was and as wealthy and devoted as Madam CJ Walker was. I want to pass my lessons learned down to children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. I will be the first child of Ethel graduating from high school and the first to college. That is my success. Just knowing that what I am is doing, going to be the first to graduate, is of great importance. With the help and love of the strong people around me, I will make it and become someone that people look up to like Madam CJ Walker.
"Giving up, a fear bigger than any bullet that could hit and destroy."-Shyana Nicole Brown
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