# Madam CJ Walker’s Gospel of Giving

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/madam-cj-walkers-gospel-of-giving/
- Published: 2021-09-29T23:55:18+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow**

_Madam C. J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving_ tells the story of the origins and evolution
of one woman’s generosity, but it was (and is) not her story alone. It is also the
story of a people and how their generosity helped them navigate and ultimately overcome
powerful and externally imposed constraints. This book  provides a window into the
evolution of black women’s philanthropy during the critical turn-of-the-century 
period, which sets the stage for the coming civil-rights movement and provides the
historical grounding for giving by African Americans today.

_Madam C. J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving and Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim
Crow_ presents the first comprehensive story of Walker’s philanthropic giving arguing
that she was a significant philanthropist who challenged Jim Crow and serves as 
a foremother of African American philanthropy today.

Born Sarah Breedlove (1867-1919) to formerly enslaved parents on a cotton plantation
during Reconstruction, Madam C. J. Walker became a beauty culture entrepreneur known
as America’s “first self-made female millionaire.”

A great African American and American philanthropist who practiced a distinctive
racialised and gendered approach to giving that relieved immediate felt-needs in
her community and thwarted the systemic oppression of the Jim Crow system in America,
Walker’s “embodied” philosophy of philanthropy as a “gospel of giving” started in
her twenties when she was a poor, suffering migrant in St. Louis, and expanded as
she gradually acquired wealth and other resources over time. 

Ultimately, Walker worked to give to black people—particularly black women—some 
of what Jim Crow had taken away from them. In the process, she became a significant
American philanthropist and a foremother of black philanthropy today.

## About the author

![Tyrone McKinley Freeman, kneeling, smiles with pleasure as he holds up a copy 
of his book in front of bookshelves in a bookshop in Princeton, New Jersey. Photo:
Tyrone McKinley Freeman](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2021/09/tyrone-mckinley-
freeman-1024x682.jpg)

**Tyrone McKinley Freeman**

[Tyrone McKinley Freeman](http://twitter.com/MckinleyTyrone) is an award-winning
scholar and teacher who serves as Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies and
Director of Undergraduate Programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School
of Philanthropy. His research focuses on the history of African American philanthropy,
philanthropy in communities of colour, the history of American philanthropy, and
philanthropy and fundraising in higher education. 

![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2021/09/tyrone-mckinley-freeman-with-his-
book-in-princeton-768x1024.jpeg)

The author finds his book in a bookshop in Princeton NJ

## Reviews

“When my book, _On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker_, was
published almost two decades ago, I hoped there would be other scholars who would
expand on what I had written. I intentionally included voluminous endnotes with 
citations and primary sources as breadcrumbs for those who wished to learn more 
and who had the curiosity to dig more deeply. Freeman has exceeded my expectation
by exploring new dimensions of Walker as a philanthropist and as an educator. His
work opens the doors for a more inclusive and more meaningful analysis so that black
philanthropy is a feature rather than a footnote of American philanthropy.”

**A’Lelia Bundles**
**Award-winning journalist, news producer, and Madam C. J. Walker’s
great-great granddaughter**

Author of [_On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker_](https://www.amazon.com/Her-Own-Ground-Walker-Paperback/dp/0743431723/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=on+her+own+ground&qid=1602019975&sr=8-1)

“This is no simple story of Madam Walker’s charitable giving. Instead, by spanning
the course of Walker’s remarkable life from the daughter of enslaved parents to 
beauty culture mogul, Tyrone McKinley Freeman’s brilliant and impeccably researched
book demonstrates that wealth did not drive Walker to give, but that she was the
embodiment of a much longer, though often hidden, tradition of black philanthropy.
This book will forever change the way we understand Walker’s importance and provides
a much needed context for contemporary calls for economic justice.”
**Tiffany Gill,
author of _Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women’s Activism in the Beauty
Industry_**

 https://twitter.com/lgreesor/status/1443351564836605956

## Awards

> Excited to win the 2021 Terry McAdam Book Award for Madam CJ Walkers Gospel of
> Giving from ⁦@AllianceforNPM⁩. Incredible recognition from capacity builders dedicated
> to liberation in the nonprofit & philanthropic sector! 🙏🏾 [#BPM2021](https://twitter.com/hashtag/BPM2021?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#MadamWouldBeSmiling](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MadamWouldBeSmiling?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/jallqptTxR](https://t.co/jallqptTxR)
> — Tyrone McKinley Freeman (@MckinleyTyrone) [October 12, 2021](https://twitter.com/MckinleyTyrone/status/1447985917059375109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

## WATCH: Madam C.J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow

More at [Gospel of Giving](https://gospelofgiving.com/).

## LISTEN: Interview on The Philanthropisms Podcast

> 📢OUT NOW 📢
> On the latest episode we talk to [@MckinleyTyrone](https://twitter.com/MckinleyTyrone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> about Madam C. J. Walker and the history of Black philanthropy in the US.[https://t.co/OaoXYv4owV](https://t.co/OaoXYv4owV)
> [pic.twitter.com/PTwzuZh6Yd](https://t.co/PTwzuZh6Yd)
> — The Philanthropisms Podcast (@Phil_isms_pod) [May 5, 2022](https://twitter.com/Phil_isms_pod/status/1522122370210795520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)