By Lumyria Desma, @ilove1umy | Swansboro High School, NC
As Black History Month comes to a close, the celebration doesn’t have to. Many inventors of products that are used and sold in today’s market have gone unacknowledged.
Here are some influential inventors and entrepreneurs who have made daily life easier for consumers in the current market.
Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867 and became the first female self-made billionaire. Not only did she claim this monumental title, but she was also an African American pioneer who founded a line of black beauty haircare products.
The products she produced created a wave of other hair care products made specifically for black hair. Many companies keep her legacy alive by providing products catered to African Americans, including Shea Moisture, a top producer in the black hair care market.
Frederick McKinley Jones was born in 1893 in Kentucky and passed away in 1961. Jones was an African American inventor and entrepreneur who not only contributed to an everyday appliance but also used his invention to benefit our country and the military.
He revolutionized refrigeration and transportation by developing a portable refrigeration system, earning over 50 patents. This system was used to help move blood during World War 2 and transport groceries without them perishing.
Marie van Brittan Brown was born in 1922 in New York and passed in 1999. The age of the ring and other home security systems would be impossible without Marie Van Brittan Brown.
Brown invented the first home security system, laying the groundwork for the ones we use today. She pursued ideas of two-way communication and remote monitoring when building this system, and her ideas persist in our current day and age.
The products and inventions we use, see and buy daily carry a long history of revolutionary development and persistent innovation. As Black History Month comes to an end, continue to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts and ideas of past African Americans that have made everyone’s lives easier, and continue to build a better future.
