BLACK HAIR
EMPIRE
The Untold Story of How Black Hair...Became Black Power
ACADEMIC ADVISORS
A'Lelia Bundles
A’Lelia Bundles is president of the Madam Walker/A’Lelia Walker Family Archives and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, the award-winning, New York Times bestselling biography of her great-great-grandmother. After a 30-year career as an executive and Emmy award winning producer with NBC News and ABC News, she currently devotes her time to writing and serving on nonprofit boards. She is president and chair of the board of the Foundation for the National Archives and a trustee of Columbia University. An accomplished and engaging public speaker, she has delivered keynote addresses at dozens of events, book festivals and conferences including Harvard University, London City Hall, the National Archives and on all the major television and radio networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, PBS and NPR. Her most recent book, Madam Walker Theatre Center: An Indianapolis Treasure, was published in October 2013. She currently is at work on the first comprehensive biography of her great-grandmother, A’Lelia Walker, whose Harlem Renaissance parties helped define that era.
Dr. Juliet E.K Walker PH.D
Founder and director of the Center for Black Business History, Entrepreneurship and Technology. She is a professor in the History Department of the University of Texas at Austin, and has written numerous books in African American history, including The History of Black Business in America. As the country’s foremost expert on black business history, Walker has made black business her business In “The History of Black Business in America,” Walker details the breadth of black business, beginning with the activities of African American slaves, among whom she marks a history of entrepreneurship. Her research has revealed that for most of the 20th century, small retail and service establishments and black hair care product manufacturers were the bedrock of black business.
Dr. Joel Freeman PH.D
Founder and Executive Director of The Freeman Institute. Dr. Freeman is a highly respected expert on racial diversity, an author of several books as well as the co-author of the book, Return To Glory: The Powerful Stirring of the Black Man, with Don Griffin. Dr. Freeman is the owner of one of a collection of historical artifacts relating to Annie Malone and the Poro Company including pictures and a variety of memorabilia. Dr. Freeman is an Internationally sought-after conference speaker and workshop facilitator. Success coach to executives, behavioral analyst, organizational culture change specialist and corporate trainer. Recipient of numerous awards, citations and honors. Motivational consultant and mentor to pro athletes. Multi-culturally astute, he has traveled to 50+ countries.
Associate Professor in the Department of Black American Studies and the Department of History at the University of Delaware. She earned a doctorate in American History at Rutgers University in 2003. Her research and teaching interests include African American History, Women’s History, the history of black entrepreneurship, fashion and beauty studies, and travel and migration throughout the African Diaspora. She is the author of “Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women's Activism in the Beauty Industry” (University of Illinois Press, 2010) which was awarded the 2010 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize by the Association of Black Women Historians. In addition, she has served as a subject editor for African American National Biography, and has had her work published and reprinted in several journals and edited volumes.
