Lee en espanol
With a brush and paints in hand, a couple of rulers, a sketch and a clear goal, María Madrid Reed spent over two weeks bringing a mural dedicated to great African American entrepreneurs to life in downtown Phoenix.
Painted on the walls of the Torres Multicultural Communications building, on the corner of Washington and Eighth streets, are the profiles of Madam CJ Walker, Mary Ellen Pleasant and OW Gurley — all Black entrepreneurs from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
For the second year in a row, the Shining Light Foundation hired a group of 20 artists to create 28 murals around Phoenix in celebration of Black History Month. Madrid is one of them.
Across the street from Madrid’s work is artist Debra Jones’ mural painted on the wall of Nanny’s Fried Chicken restaurant, which pays tribute to Black entertainers Sammy Davis Jr., Josephine Baker and Dorothy Dandridge.
And at the corner of Grant and First streets in downtown Phoenix, another piece was painted by Jennifer White and Lucretia Torva. That mural depicts Wendell Scott, the first full-time Black NASCAR driver and first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, sitting in front of a race car.
Unveiled: Mural honors Wendell Scott, 1st Black driver to win NASCAR Cup race
The idea of having a series of murals sparked when, during the summer of 2020, Phoenix denied a request from the organization to paint a mural in front of Footprint Center in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement.
For Madrid, 36, this would be her first solo piece and one that carries far more personal meaning than a simple commissioned project.
Her son identifies as Afro Latino, and teaching him the history of the Black and Latino communities of Arizona and the US is more important to her than ever.
“Especially (in Arizona) that (Black history) is not taught in-depth in schools … talking only about Martin Luther King Jr.,” Madrid said to La Voz. “There is so much richness and figures that we need to learn about.”
A Mexican muralist in Phoenix
Madrid was born in Becadehuachi, México, a small town located in the mountains of Sonora. As a teenager, Madrid began painting murals at the kindergarten and library in his hometown.
The youngest of three children, she moved to Phoenix in 1999 when her parents, María Auxiliadora Galaz and Leobardo Manuel Madrid, decided to immigrate to the US in pursuit of the “American Dream.”
“My parents brought me here when I was starting high school. They wanted a better life for us. My dad had several jobs when he came here in cleaning, as a gardener, a mechanic. And my mom took care of us children and that’s how they got us ahead,” Madrid said.
She studied graphic design at Phoenix College, graduating in 2007, and went on to pursue a career in that field, landing a position with the Phoenix Suns in their marketing department.
Soon she would open her own photography studio, where she currently works and also does design and illustrative works that she promotes on Instagram. Her promoted work on social media was something that drove Torva, art director at Shining Light, to seek out Madrid for the 28-mural project.
“Lucretia liked that I could paint people’s faces in a real way … that’s why she chose me because she wanted to capture the characters as they were,” Madrid said.
Once selected, Madrid met with the rest of the artists and organizers to decide on the theme of each mural. Each artist selected an area to focus on, ranging from sports to science, and then chose great historical figures to have represented in their pieces.
As an entrepreneur, Madrid’s choice of subject matter wasn’t difficult. Getting the chance to learn about such important people was a plus.
“I think (Black) history must be honored because it is a part of the United States. … We have to tell these stories and give them the importance so that we can move forward, little by little — give space to these conversations,” Madrid said.
Together with her husband, Derrick Reed, 42, she seeks to teach her son, Dominic, 4, the history of those who came before them — Blacks, Latinos and Afro Latinos.
“The Afro Latino community must be more recognized so that the new generations see (our identity) as something normal. So that they do not ask: Are you from here or are you from there? No, we belong to both cultures … both must be recognized so that there is more union. Because we both benefit from the causes,” she said.
‘We still have a lot of work to do’
For Madrid, her work on this mural signifies the effort, work and dedication of three great African American figures who changed the lives of many.
At the center of the mural is Madam CJ Walker, a self-made millionaire and the first Black woman recorded in history as such. In the early 1900s, she created her own line of hair products, which she promoted in African American communities in the South. She devised a type of entrepreneurial academy, helping other Black women come up as she did.
“You say, ‘How have I not heard of this person?’ If I would have heard about her when I was little, I would have said, ‘Wow, that’s a person of color during that time, a millionaire?’ … I thought that Oprah or other people were the first, but no, she is in the Guinness World Record as the first African American woman entrepreneur who became a millionaire,” Madrid said.
Mary Ellen Pleasant is also depicted in Madrid’s work. In the early 1800s, she helped enslaved people escape through the underground railroad and was a leader in the abolitionist movement in New England.
Her entrepreneurial path would take her to California during the Gold Rush era, when she established several businesses where she employed mostly Black people. She was also an avid investor in real estate and mining stock.
“One of the things that she did is that, despite having a lot of money, she continued to work and infiltrate social circles where she would not normally be received. She learned how to invest, where it was convenient for her. … Quite a master,” Madrid said.
And last but not least, there is Ottawa W. Gurley, the creator of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the early 1900s, Gurley bought property and established several businesses that would lead to the creation of the Greenwood District, a Black-only area of Tulsa. His work in the area was short-lived, as all of his businesses and countless others were destroyed during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
“The three figures were entrepreneurs and built their empires from scratch. So I said, ‘I’m going to focus on that,’ but I didn’t know anything about them or how inspiring their stories were going to be,” Madrid said.
Madrid’s piece is accompanied by the words “Black History Matters,” alongside a famous quote from Madam CJ Walker: “Don’t sit down and wait for opportunities to come. Get up and make them!” — a quote that Madrid identifies with.
“We still have a lot of work to do. For me, it is very important to talk to my son about these characters, what really happened, take control of the situation and say if they are not going to teach it in schools, we have to give them the information and the opportunity to learn about them,” she said.
Reach La Voz reporter Nadia Cantú at [email protected] or on Twitter @nadia_cantu.
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