Maggie Walker believed in the strength of the Black dollar. She knew how powerful Black minds could be and with access to more capital, they could provide real change in their communities.
But it was the 1900s – the segregation era. Anti-Black violence was at an all-time high. Discrimination was well-protected under the law.
So many Black Americans created their own businesses to achieve economic freedom and to escape poor working conditions – and Walker was no different.
Maggie was a woman and, after a terrible accident, a wheelchair user. Both meant barriers in her way, but neither kept her from dreaming big.
She started a newspaper and a department store, but her most important move was still to come.
Walker believed that chartering a bank meant she could provide financial independence and promote Black employment – and she was right!
Walker wasn't the first Black American to open a bank but she was the first woman – a feat of untold determination in those years.
Walker’s dedication to fighting Jim Crow laws, racial injustices and the poor treatment of Black women is a reminder to all of us that we have to fight for what we believe in regardless of where we come from or the barriers placed in front of us.