In 1910, Madam C.J. Walker, the black haircare pioneer and business mogul, became America’s first female self-made millionaire. Note that she did not become the first black woman millionaire, but the first WOMAN, American-made millionaire.

The daughter of former slaves, Madam Walker was born into freedom, just a few years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by US President Abraham Lincoln, abolishing slavery as America approached its third year of a bloody Civil War.

The four-part series is inspired by the biography,’ On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker’, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. Actor Octavia Spencer stars as the iconic businesswoman, Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, and Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia.

The series will premiere on March 20 on Netflix. Watch this interview of A’Lelia Bundles about Madame Walker by economist, writer and syndicated columnist Julianne Malveaux.