Oprah Winfrey was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954 as an only child to unmarried parents who soon separated, leaving her with her grandmother. At age 6, she went to live with her
Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was born in the same cotton plantation that her parents had been enslaved in. She worked at the plantation with her parents until she was seven, which is when her parents died. Afterwards,