Madam Walker, as part of the first generation out of slavery, really was inventing the way that she operated in the world.
For more than three years, I'd been part of a complex and frustrating dance as my nonfiction, fact-based material was translated from book to movie by scriptwriters whose visions, goals and sensibilities often were quite different from mine.
We didn't sit around the dining table talking about Madam Walker, but the silverware that we used every day had her monogram on it and our china for special occasions had been Madam Walker's china... and the baby grand piano on which I learned to read music had been in A'Lelia Walker's apartment in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance.
I've often been accused of dressing too well. I've always been fascinated by fashion, though I don't think I'm particularly fashionable.
I don't do dinner parties. I have people come to share the food I've cooked for the family.
I don't go to the openings of shops or parties given by people I don't know.
Personal adornment is the only cultural form that everybody in the world takes part in.
My only piece of advice is that all of you consider every single text and Snapchat that you ever make as also being shared with your partner, because they all check your phones all the time - trust me on this one.
In fact, everybody should wake up smelling nice. I go further, there is not an excuse, ever, not to smell nice, particularly your feet.
The part that makes you unique is the bit people will like or fear, fall in love with, or try to avoid.
