Good afternoon peeps!

I finally got around to watching Self Made adapted from Madam C.J. Walker's Biography.

Apart from the obvious storyline of a woman who dreamt big and made her way to the top from nothing, I was also very interested in the marriage dynamics of the Walkers and juxaposed it with the Ransoms (her PA/EA/CFO/Lawyer/Gbogbonise).

It is often said that husbands do not support their wives/ husbands don't like their wives becoming better than them/ or simply put 'they don't like independent strong women.' The 'them' depends if the 'sayer' has something against men or 'black men' or 'Nigerian men.'

The Walkers: (C.J. & Sarah Walker)
This was Sarah's third marriage; 1st husband died, 2nd was abusive before C.J.
C.J. was a man who with better management would have been the perfect shoulder for Sarah to lean on. He left his job and followed her to Indianapolis, continued providing support (physical, emotional and forgoing her duties) despite her constant disrespect to him and her son-in-law (who was a bumpkin). Even after his father started putting ideas into his head, he kept at it till he was fed up and Dora Oyoyo saw an opportunity and took it. Sarah never accepted any of C.J.'s intellectual inputs and was very selfish about the business. It is 'her business', 'her this', 'her that' even though she knew C.J. had nothing outside the business because he left it all when he followed her to Indianapolis. She constantly ensured everyone knew it was 'her idea, her business, her money' etc. etc. She respected Ransom more than her husband. She also did not care about the running of the home. If she could, fine; if she couldn't, doh! She also was not willing to support her husband to succeed. He wanted her to show his adverts in Harlem to get a boost; she decided NOT to go with it and did not tell him.

Like he said, she broke him. And like a drowning man gasping at straws, he started an affair with Dora and sold Sarah out to Addie and naturally ended badly and drowned in the sea of life.

It was hard been Sarah's husband.

She was however a visionary woman and an astute entrepreneur.

The Ransoms:
Gentleman Ransom! That man did made his wife feel very important although she wasn't directly contributing to his career. When Sarah came to their house, he told her: 'I might have the degree, she has the brains.' See hyping! That told anyone that they were both stakeholders and the husband's success was the family's success. When he was travelling with Sarah around the world, he assigned his cousin (Sweetness) to look after his family in his stead. He did not leave them hanging or alone. That is responsibility.

Ransom is the kind of assistant to have anytime, anyday. He had a huge belief in Sarah, was loyal and always willing to help.

Ransom's method surely worked; good at home, good at work; good in the society giving him the enablement to fly.

Fela Durotoye once said bosses/leaders need their followers to believe in/trust them. They would not ask for it, however would instinctively be 'difficult' when they don't get it from their followers.

P.S.: I scouted NL to ensure I wasn't creating a thread already existing.

let me take a sit

Bukatyne, you didn't leave people anything to work with.
The piece is...definite.
Or are you recommending we see the movie?

I watched it too and I was in awe of this woman's determination, strong personality and success. A GREAT WOMAN. Very inspiring. She did what very few people can do and she overcame many hurdles and left a legacy most women, black or white, could not even dream of back in the day.

My perception of her marriage and her husband is different. His 'intellectual' input wasn't intellectual but shallow and I am glad she went against his idea of using a white woman as a template to advertise her products. Her products were made for black ladies after all. Only fools refuse to take any criticism and are eventually left behind like he was. I felt sorry for him, he wasn't a bad man but he refused to develop himself and she has finally outgrown him.

What I would love to know is whether the conversation with Booker T. Washington and Rockefeller was anything like in the series for real.