“’I know what it means to be poor. I know what it feels like to be abandoned. I know what it feels like to not be wanted. I know what it feels like to not be loved… and yet have inside yourself a yearning, a passion, a desire, a hope for something better.’”
Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful African American woman who has prospered into making a difference in this world. She has become an inspiration for many helping not only financially but also touching many hearts; aiding the poor and influencing others with her words. Starting at the very bottom she has proved to everyone that she could become something more in this unfair world. Despite her harsh childhood, Oprah Winfrey became a successful, international mogul, creating a name for herself in history, and providing aid and hope for many people.
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. Oprah’s was born out of wedlock to a coal miner, Vernon Winfrey, and a housemaid, Vernita Lee. During the first couple of years of her life, Oprah had to live with her grandmother, Hattie Maein, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, while her mother moved to the North to find a better job to support her child. The period of time that Oprah lived with her grandmother, she learned to have love for books; she began to read and at the age of 3 and was reciting poetry and excerpts from Bible in nearby churches. Oprah’s grandma soon became ill and she moved to live with her mother in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They were tight financially; her mother worked as a maid cleaning households and depended on welfare to care of Oprah and her half-sister, Patricia.
After living with her mother for over a year, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. He gave Oprah the suitable protected h...
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...ion, to which she has donated more than $40 million toward the establishment of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. In 2002 they begin building the school for gifted girls that were from underprivileged circumstances. As soon as the school had launched itself, it the subject of a sex abuse scandal that extended universal. Winfrey responded by shuttering outside access to the school. But while headlines drew back she didn’t give up on her philanthropic goal: not just to educate her girls but also to change the course of their lives.
Oprah's commitment to children also created her to pledge the National Child Protection Act in 1991, when she give evidence before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of convicted child abusers. On December 20, 1993, President Clinton signed the national "Oprah Bill" into law.
In 1976 she moved to Baltimore and later hosts the T.V chat show people are talking. In 1984, Oprah relocates to chicago to host her own morning show “ AM Chicago”, which was renamed the “The Oprah Show”. In 1985 she makes film debut in Steven Spielberg's “The Color Purple” for which she was nominated for an academy award for best supporting actress. In 1986, OPrah launches the “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as a nationally syndicated program placed on 120 programs. In 1988, she had established harpo productions. In 1989, Winfrey stars in the ABC TV miniseries “The Women Of Brewster Place”. In 1994, president Clinton signs the “Oprah Bill”, creating a nationwide database of convicted child abusers. In 1998, Oprah received her seventh emmy as outstanding talk show host and the ninth emmy for the “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. In 2000, a company launches O, the oprah magazine which is created as being the most successful magazine launch in recent history. In 2003 Oprah's Book Club becomes the largest book club in the world and she receives the association of American publishes, AAP honors award. In 2005, she ranked number one on Forbes power celebrity list. In 2009, Oprah interviews Whitney Houston. In 2010, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” begins its 25th and final
Winfrey was born in rural Mississippi where her grandmother was so poor that she would sometimes dress Oprah in clothes made from potato sack and for that, she would get teased by her classmates. Grandma Lee was also rather strict as she would beat Oprah with a stick if she misbehaved or didn't sing the church hymns and choirs correctly. But despite being poverty stricken and strict, her grandmother was very encouraging and taught Oprah how to read the bible before the age of three.
Although she was with her mother, she had very little mother and daughter time. She, unfortunately, was neglected and at the age of nine, she began to be sexually abused by many men. After this occurred, Winfrey began to act out. She faked a robbery, stole from her mother, and much more, causing her to go live in Nashville with her father and stepmother. This change saved her life. She lived under the household of her father who had very high expectations of her. She started to excel in high school and won a contest that granted a full scholarship to Tennessee State University after her graduation. She worked at...
Oprah Winfrey is a powerful women. She has done and continues to do so much for the people around her and has been rewarded rightfully so. She displays many talents and ambitions that it would only be fair to call her a modern day Renaissance Individual. Because she is exactly that; a person who demonstrates a wide variety of talents and knowledge. And Oprah Winfrey is exactly
Those girls will appreciate Oprah for the rest of their lives because she gave them an opportunity they originally would not have had. Now more and more girls are going to school and getting the education they deserve. Without the help of Oprah, the school system would still be down and many girls would be at home doing the chores. Oprah did not make the education system perfect. There is still room for improvement. However, she gave hundreds of children a life changing opportunity. Oprah remembers her rough childhood, but the one thing she loved the most was how she was able to go to school. She understands what those children in Africa are going through and that is why she is so compelled to
Oprah has been known as “one of America’s top 50 most generous philanthropist” as she continues to contribute ten percent of her income ($385 million in 2008) to her favorite charities, related to education, youths, and literature. She had donated millions to Tennessee State University which is her alma mater as part of the scholarship funds, The United Negro Fund, to encourage young black Americans to pursue their dreams, and the Harold Washington Library, which is a program for economically disadvantaged Chicago-area young girls.
Oprah Winfrey is not only the richest woman in the world, but she is also is known to be one of the most influential black women to ever live in the United States. She is a person “who has become successful and spread it around to those who need it the most” (Oprah 76). She has opened many different foundations to help others, For example, the Oprah Winfrey foundation. As if that already wasn’t enough she made a networking site called Oprah angel, what it does is help raise money for charitable causes around the world. In 2000 Oprah Decided to not only help others with Physical and financial problems, she wanted to go one step further. She published her own magazine called “O” that would give woman advice with how she deals with the same situations that woman do in their everyday lives. One of Oprahs greatest works is a leadership Academy that she established. It is a school in Africa that will prepare students for what awaits them on the other side of those doors. “It is a place where young girls will have the opportunity improve the quality of life for their sisters, and for generations to come” (Owla 12-13).
Oprah Winfrey lived a very rough early life until Vernon Winfrey took her into good hands. She lived in Kosciusko, Missippi for the first 6 years of her life, and then she moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother who was a housemaid. When Oprah lived with her mother she was sexually molested during the daytime when her mother would work the long days. This abuse went on everyday possible for 4 years until she was out on her own at age 14. Oprah had given birth to a baby, which had unexpectedly died during infancy. After the baby had died she moved in with her Father who lived in Tennessee. “Vernon Winfrey was a strict parent, but he gave his daughter the secure home that Oprah needed. He saw to it that she met a curfew, and he required her to read a book and write a book report as well. “As strict s he was,” says Oprah, “ he had some concerns about me making the best of my ...
It all began during her visit with Nelson Mandela in December of 2000. She promised to build a high profile school for girls. Two years later (2002), Oprah teamed up with Nelson Mandela and (then) Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmai to “Build a Dream.”
During her childhood years living with her mother, Oprah had very little money and life was difficult. She wants to help as many children as possible grow up in a sound, safe, and educational environment. Oprah has changed the world with all of her organizations and charity efforts. Oprah Winfrey has helped thousands of children attend school with her scholarships that she has funded. Many of these children would never go to school or continue their college career without her amazing efforts of providing financial support to these children. Oprah also helped build homes for families through her efforts with Habitat for Humanity and her donations after Hurricane Katrina helped families start their lives over again after the mass destruction of the hurricane by providing the financial support to rebuild many communities and neighborhoods(“Oprah Winfrey”). When researching Oprah Winfrey, I now realize why she is such an incredible person. The world is a better place because of Oprah Winfrey. This is another example of a person that has worked very hard to achieve her goals in life. Oprah strived for her dreams of being able to give back to the community and world. Oprah came from nothing, built an empire and became one of the most influential people in the world. While building an empire, Oprah has influenced millions of people achieve a better way of live. Oprah has positively
Oprah Winfrey is as American entrepreneur and a popular talk show host. She was born on January 29 1954 in Kosciusko Mississippi. She was the result of a broken teenage relationship and teenage pregnancy so as you can imagine it had quite an impact on her development as she grew up. Against all odds she became a very successful woman and is currently worth 2.8 billion USD.
Oprah was born on a farm in 1954 to a poor family. Winfrey enjoyed reciting African American poetry, and became known as the "little speaker" in her town. When she was 12, Winfrey won $500 for a speech she gave at her father 's church. From then on she wanted to "be paid to talk." When Winfrey was a teenager, her dream was put on hold. Some of the trusted men of her family began to sexually abuse her. She lashed out in anger at the world by lying to her mother, running away from home, and stealing. Unaware of what Winfrey was going through, her mother sent her away to live with her father. If her mother never sent her away, Oprah 's life would have been much different. At age 17, Oprah Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and was offered an on-air job at WVOL, a radio station for the African American community in Nashville. Oprah continued to work at WVOL in her first years of college, but her broadcasting career was already taking off. She left school and signed on with a local television station as a reporter and anchor. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV News as a co-anchor. There, she co-hosted her first talk show, People Are Talking, while continuing to serve as anchor and news reporter. In January 1984, she was invited to Chicago to host a half-hour morning program on WLS-TV. In less than a year, she turned AM Chicago into the hottest show in
Winfrey has brought so much change to the world that one cannot just write a simple paragraph about. She has used her platform to discuss topics that are truly life changing such as Weight Issues, Reading, Give Big, and Taboo. Topics about weight have always interested the public, and Oprah was one individual who discussed it for the world to put their input in. She has talked about her own weight and made it clear how diet and exercise is important for the body. She strived to put the message in people’s ear’s that being healthy is what’s right. The next topic is reading, and this came from her “Oprah 's Book Club”. Oprah has always believed that reading is a fundamental skill and she wanted others to hop on the bandwagon and expand their knowledge. She started this book club for many reasons and it surely brought change to society. Give Big is the next topic of discussion and this changed society in a positive way. In 1997, Oprah wanted her viewers to make a difference in other people’s lives by donating their spare change. Shortly after that, she transformed that into the charity known as “Oprah 's Angel Network”. This charity was a huge success and has helped a lot of individuals in need. The final topics that will be discussed are taboo topics such as abuse, infidelity and addiction. These types of topics are what made Oprah Winfrey’s show such a success. She was so open about her childhood and other obstacles she had to face in her life that people began to trust
For most people growing up is filled with memories of joy and happiness. A childhood should be filled with affection and care, but Oprah did not always feel those things. Oprah did not have such a great upbringing, but despite the odds she rose up and became who she had wanted to be. Oprah had dealt with many accounts of sexual abuse, the lack of attention from her mother, and moving from place-to-place for most of her early years (Fry, web). Not only was Oprah faced sexual abuse, but she also became pregnant from one of the instances (Fry, web). This made things even more difficult for the young Oprah.
One of the most powerful women in the world is Oprah Gail Winfrey. Oprah is one of the richest businesswomen in the world, but she wasn’t always rich and successful. She had a very tough life growing up and didn’t have much money. She has always been a hard worker, and she had a passion for hosting and acting. Oprah is very good at what she does and that’s how she raised to the top of being one of the most influential women in the media.