Octavia Spencer, plays the role of Madam CJ Walker, on Netflix’s four-part series ‘Self-Made’. The series tells the unknown story of America’s first Black female millionaire. In 1867, Sarah Breedlove (aka Madam CJ Walker) was born in Louisiana to former slaves. At the age of 14, she married Moses McWilliams. The two had a daughter after Moses’ death.
Madam CJ Walker was more than the pioneer of hair and her famed product “Madam C.J. Walker’ Wonderful Hair Grower”.
According to Howard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., “More than any other single businessperson, Walker unveiled the vast economic potential of an African- American economy, even one stifled and suffocating under Jim Crow Segregation”.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=user/ManiBenita15
Before she died at the age of 51, she was considered the first woman to become a self-made millionaire. She left behind an impact on the hair industry and to female entrepreneurs everywhere. She also had a lasting impact on the NAACP through her donations and her philanthropic work. Self Made is available for streaming on Netflix.
