Annie Malone

Black folks continued to innovate with their own hair, though, and by the early 1900s, that innovation would turn into full-fledged empires.

[upbeat music] Let's start with two women: Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone, the first pioneers in Black haircare as an industry.

They took the hodgepodge of hair straightening methods floating around and turned them into an actual system.

Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone became very wealthy by selling the idea of straight hair, but not with chemicals.

They used hot combs and worked them through the hair with pomade to get a sleek, straight look, but more importantly, they built an entire industry and economy around Black haircare that didn't exist before.

You have to remember that during slavery, Black women were not given time to really pay attention to their hair in terms of, like, really taking care of it.

Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone were both really good at creating a beauty culture around hair for Black women, and so it would be like, "We're gonna wash your hair.

We're gonna massage your scalp.