Community Link: The 'Story' of Madam Walker Legacy Center - Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Each week on Community Link, Carolene Mays discusses an organization or business that is making a positive impact in the community.

With a mission to inspire, engage and empower, the Madam Walker Legacy Center engages diverse audiences and fosters creativity.

This week, Mays was joined by Kristian Little Stricklen, president of the Madam Walker Legacy Center.

Stricklen first shares a brief story, or “her story,” of Madam Walker, the world’s first self-made millionaire who amassed her well-earned wealth in Indianapolis after moving to the city to distribute her hair products. .

He adds that Walker was the first donor to the Senate YMCA, the first black YMCA in Indy, and supported Bethune-Cookman College.

“His legacy is so much more than hair care,” Stricklen said. “She was not an artist, but she enjoyed the arts. She tried to go to another movie theater here in Indianapolis and they charged her a ‘black tax’, which she refused to pay. She sued, she won and also, at that point, she decided it was time for us to have a place of our own.”

Stricklin says the Legacy Center building and theater were part of the mission to promote diversity and give Black people a place of their own.

After several name changes, the center was given its current name to elevate and preserve “his entire legacy” in Indianapolis.

“We want to highlight the fact that yes, she was an entrepreneur. Yes, she enjoyed the arts. Yes, she was also a philanthropist. And she does a lot for women,” Stricklin said.

It also explains how its work on diversity and creativity has changed over the years and discusses the centre’s four-pillar strategic plan.

To find out more, watch the full interview above.