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VOA慢速英语--从被解放奴隶的孩子到百万富翁

时间:2016-02-29 16:47:48

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(单词翻译)

From Child of Freed Slaves to Millionaire 从被解放奴隶的孩子到百万富翁

Hers is a “rags to riches” story.

Madam C.J. Walker went from poverty -- being the daughter of freed slaves -- to being a wealthy African-American businesswoman.

She was a millionaire at a time when African-American women usually cleaned houses or worked other jobs for low pay.

Madam C.J. Walker made her money making and selling cosmetics2 to African-American women.

Her great-great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, researched and wrote a book about her: “On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.”

“Madam Walker for me was a woman who embodied3 the great American dream. A person who had an idea, and she parlayed it into a fortune. But more important, she used that fortune and she used her influence to try to make a difference in her community.”

Walker made her fortune developing and creating hair-care products for African-American women. Bundles says no one else was filling that demand. So, she says, Walker took a very small idea, and turned it into a big company.

Born to Freed Slaves

She was the first child in her family born into freedom, in 1867 in Delta4, Louisiana. Her parents had been slaves, but gained their freedom in 1865. They named her Sarah Breedlove.

Sadly, Walker was orphaned5 at 7 years old. She married at 14, but her husband died when she was 20. In 1888, she moved north to St. Paul, Minnesota. There she worked as a poor washer woman, cleaning other people’s clothes. Bundles says it was where Walker learned some of her marketing6 skills, and developed her drive to succeed.

She learned from women at church. They were involved in the National Association of Colored Women, and Walker learned about organizing and holding meetings, about gathering7 women to work together for a common cause.

“She had had to survive as a washer woman. So she had to be good at marketing her skills, even then, but she took that to the next level. Marketing her products. She traveled all over the United States after she married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker. They were in Denver and then they traveled throughout the Southern and Eastern United States.”

"A Secret Formula"

Like other early cosmetic1 businesswomen, Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, Bundles says Madam Walker embellished9 her stories about her products.

“Well, everybody said they had a secret formula that no one else could see, but it a really basic system of vegetable shampoo and ointment10 with sulfur11.”

A’Lelia Bundles grew up using Madam C.J. Walkers’ silverware on her dining room table, but never knew her. She has studied her great-great grandmother for more than four decades. She says Madam Walker was a marketing and distribution genius.

“I have to say, I’m continuously amazed, not only at the way that she can still inspire others, but at some of her really innovative12 approaches to advertising13, to marketing, to developing products, and to having really high standards about the quality of her products.”  

Marketing and Distribution

Madam Walker knew how to get the word out about her products. She would advertise in the newspapers that African-Americans read. She had cards printed with her information on them. At a time without airplanes, telephones or the Internet, she traveled across the country and spread the word of her company.

In each town they visited, she and her husband went to both the Black churches -- the Baptist and the AME, or African Methodist Episcopal, churches. That way she could speak with all the women in the different churches. She used “before” and “after” pictures in ads, to show how well her products worked -- something still done by companies today.

Empowering Women

She also employed women at the top levels of her business. That was also rare then. Walker gave women power at a time when women could not even vote in the U.S. But her factory manager, her national sales manager and her bookkeeper were all women.

“So she had a much bigger vision than just selling hair products. It was empowering women. It was helping14 them to understand their role in the community as leaders.”

And lead she did. She organized and trained women to sell her products. She had her first conference for her sales women in 1917. That management practice became well-known decades later by a later cosmetic businesswoman named Mary Kay Ash. But Mary Kay did not start her company until 1963.

When Walker held her sales conferences, she gave out prizes not just to women who sold the most. She also rewarded those who gave to charity and were involved in political causes, Bundles says.

Her sales agents discussed making money for buying real estate and educating their children, as well as giving to charity.

By the time Walker died on May 25, 1919, she had trained thousands of women in the Walker System of Hair Culture. She left tens of thousands of dollars to charitable organizations, educational institutions and political causes. 

Bundles says Walker was a “workaholic,” who was driven to succeed. When asked about the secret to her success, Walker herself said, “…whatever success I have attained15 has been the result of much hard work and many sleepless16 nights.”

But she also had a sense of humor, and she loved art and music. She liked the old and the new -- opera and the new ragtime17 music coming out at that time.

Walker owned three automobiles18 in 1913, when less than 10 percent of licensed19 drivers were women. She even shipped one of them, along with her personal driver, when she took a business trip to Central America and the Caribbean.

Charity and Political Work

With her fortune, Walker supported both the arts and political groups. She worked hard to end lynching. Lynching is when a mob, usually a group of white people, would kill an African-American person by hanging or setting them on fire, for a made-up crime they did not commit.

The Equal Justice Initiative says that nearly 4,000 African-Americans were killed by lynching in the U.S. between 1877 and 1950.  

Walker’s company still survives to this day, but it is owned by a different company, Sundail Brands. Last Tuesday, the company announced it will start selling a new line of Madam C.J. Walker hair care products. Beginning in March, they will be available at Sephora stores in the U.S. They have new ingredients, but, the company says the products carry on Walker’s spirit.

Richelieu Dennis is CEO of Sundail Brands. He said these products continue Madam C.J. Walkers’ legacy20 to help every woman feel sure of herself. “It’s also a dream come true not just for us, but for the millions of women who have been touched by the legacy of Madam C.J. Walker and the millions more who will be inspired to reach their own levels of greatness by hearing her story.”

Madam Walker “absolutely was a woman ahead of her time,” says her great-great granddaughter. She was a rich and successful businesswoman when women -- especially African-American women -- could not get high paying jobs.

And, she made the hair-care products not just to build her own fortune, but also to use that money to help her community.

Words in This Story

rags to riches – phrase. someone who was poor and then became wealthy

cosmetics – n. beauty products and make-up

embody21 – v. to represent something in a clear and obvious way

parlay – v. to use something to get something else of greater value

fortune – n. a very large amount of money

orphaned – v. to cause a child to lose its parents

embellish8 – v. to make something more attractive or appealing

ointment – n. a smooth substance that is rubbed onto the skin to heal a wound or reduce pain or discomfort22

sulfur – n. a yellow chemical element used in medicine or gunpowder23

genius –n. a very smart person

innovative – adj. introduce or use new ideas or methods

bookkeeper – n. a person whose job is to keep financial records for a business

workaholic – n. a person who chooses to work a lot, and always thinking about work

legacy – n. something that comes from someone in the past, how the person is remembered


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1 cosmetic qYgz2     
n.化妆品;adj.化妆用的;装门面的;装饰性的
参考例句:
  • These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
  • Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品,所以请尽情微笑吧!
2 cosmetics 5v8zdX     
n.化妆品
参考例句:
  • We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
  • Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。
3 embodied 12aaccf12ed540b26a8c02d23d463865     
v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 );象征;包括;包含
参考例句:
  • a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
  • The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 delta gxvxZ     
n.(流的)角洲
参考例句:
  • He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
  • The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔,形成了一个三角洲。
5 orphaned ac11e48c532f244a7f6abad4cdedea5a     
[计][修]孤立
参考例句:
  • Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
  • He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。
6 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销,在市场的买卖,买东西
参考例句:
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
7 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
8 embellish qPxz1     
v.装饰,布置;给…添加细节,润饰
参考例句:
  • I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。
  • Can you embellish your refusal just a little bit?你可以对你的婉拒之辞略加修饰吗?
9 embellished b284f4aedffe7939154f339dba2d2073     
v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 );装饰;修饰;润色
参考例句:
  • The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句
10 ointment 6vzy5     
n.药膏,油膏,软膏
参考例句:
  • Your foot will feel better after the application of this ointment.敷用这药膏后,你的脚会感到舒服些。
  • This herbal ointment will help to close up your wound quickly.这种中草药膏会帮助你的伤口很快愈合。
11 sulfur ps4wC     
n.硫,硫磺(=sulphur)
参考例句:
  • Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
  • Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。
12 innovative D6Vxq     
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的
参考例句:
  • Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
  • He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。
13 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
14 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
15 attained 1f2c1bee274e81555decf78fe9b16b2f     
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况)
参考例句:
  • She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
  • Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。
16 sleepless oiBzGN     
adj.不睡眠的,睡不著的,不休息的
参考例句:
  • The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
  • One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上,我听说了一个传闻,把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。
17 ragtime 7kJz0m     
n.拉格泰姆音乐
参考例句:
  • The most popular music back then was called ragtime.那时最流行的音乐叫拉格泰姆音乐。
  • African-American piano player Scott Joplin wrote many ragtime songs.非裔美国钢琴家ScottJoplin写了许多拉格泰姆歌曲。
18 automobiles 760a1b7b6ea4a07c12e5f64cc766962b     
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
19 licensed ipMzNI     
adj.得到许可的v.许可,颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
  • Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗?
20 legacy 59YzD     
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
  • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。
21 embody 4pUxx     
vt.具体表达,使具体化;包含,收录
参考例句:
  • The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
  • Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。
22 discomfort cuvxN     
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便
参考例句:
  • One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
  • She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。
23 gunpowder oerxm     
n.火药
参考例句:
  • Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶,火药传入欧洲。
  • This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

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