Oprah Gail Winfrey is a remarkable woman that should be recognized in Black History Month. She has made a huge difference and impact on so many lives. Often times people cannot express their gratitude and thankfulness for her. She is an idol for so many people. CNN and Time Magazine named Winfrey “the most influential woman in the world” from 2004 to 2011. Time Magazine even named her “the most influential black person of the twentieth century”. Two of the countless ways Winfrey has affected America and the world is her major support for educational programs and financial support for charities. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She lived with her grandmother until she was six years old, and was so poor that she had to wear dresses made out of potato sacks to school. When she was six, she moved to Milwaukee with her mom. A few months later, her mother died from a cocaine overdose. Due to several kinds of abuse, Oprah ran away from home when she was thirteen years old, and a year after she got pregnant. Her newborn son died shortly after. A li...
Winfrey’s early life was filled with arduous hurdles from the beginning, she was raised in a small podunk town in Mississippi that was anything but safe for a young girl, but on top of that she was raised by a single mother who was not around nearly enough. However the most formidable part of her upbringing was, she was sexually abused by ‘family friends’ and relatives on multiple occasions starting from the age of just nine. At twelve she was sent away to middle Tennessee to live with her father, there she realised her passion, she began giving speeches in front of her church and ultimately came to the conclusion that she wanted to speak for a living. Without her parents divorce Winfrey might have never figured out her passion of speaking to people until it was too late, this was a hidden advantage in the making of her success. However all too soon she had to leave the comfort of her father’s home where she could pursue her interest and journey back to her mother, where she was sadly yet again
In Oprah Winfrey’s early life her name on her birth certificate was actually spelled like “Orpah,” but many people just kept mispronouncing it and so she stuck with it. Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, with a teen mother. Her mother, Vernita Lee, was a housemaid and her biological father, Vernon Winfrey, was originally a coal miner, and had many positions throughout his life, at the end, he had been in the Armed Forces when she was born. Later on, Mississippi farmer and World War II veteran, Noah Robinson Sr., has claimed, then, to be her biological father.
Around this time, Lee had given birth to another daughter ( Winfrey's half sister) she died at age 43 because of a cocaine addiction. After that tragic incident Oprah was sent to live with her dad in Nashville, Tennessee. While Oprah was living in Nashville, her mom gave birth to a 3rd child, also she gave birth to a boy named Jeffrey who later died of AIDS related causes in 1989. At 9 years old Oprah stated that she was molested by her cousin, uncle and a family friend. Oprah didn't want be a mother because she wasn't mothered well. At age 13, after suffering years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home. When she was 14, she became pregnant but her son was born prematurely and he died shortly after birth. She began going to Lincoln High School, and soon got transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School, where her poverty was rubbed in her face on the bus. Oprah began to steal money from her mom, her frustrated mother once again sent her to live with Vernam in Nashville, Tennessee, Vernam was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority. She then became an honor student, she was
Winfrey was born on January 29th, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She was born to “young, unwed parents, Vermon Winfrey, and Vernita Lee. He father served in the army as a solider at a local base” (Early 2-3). A little while after Oprah was born her mom found a job in
Winfrey, Oprah, and Bill Adler. The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in her Own Words. New York: Carol Pub. Group, 1997. Print.
Oprah Winfrey is an inspiration to many all around the world. She did not have a very good home life up until the age of 14. She was abused as a child and did not see her mother very often because she was a housemaid who was gone almost every day all day. Vernon Winfrey, Oprah’s father, was a big service in her life when it came to keeping her in a nonviolent manner. Oprah also had her career going for her when she became Miss Black Tennessee at age 17. When Oprah became Miss Black Tennessee she was offered a radio broadcasting job and a full scholarship to Tennessee. Oprah had quite a few talk shows yet she made the most money off her own show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and now has her individual network called The Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah Winfrey’s influential style greatly impacted those who came after her in the entertainment industry.
“In 1998 Oprah Winfrey was listed one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by the editors of Time magazine” (“Winfrey, Oprah”). Oprah Gail Winfrey was born to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey on January 29, 1954. Currently, Oprah is a successful chairwoman and CEO of The Oprah Winfrey Network: OWN since 2011.
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”). Oprah had a rough childhood (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”). She constantly moved from her mother’s house to her father’s house (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”). When Oprah lived with her mother she was raped (Lies, 2011). When Oprah lived with her father, she excelled (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”). Oprah’s rough childhood and thriving high school and college years definitely influenced her contributions to the world later showing ethical leadership (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”).
This essay I have decided to write about Oprah Winfrey. This is because Oprah had many serious life events. These life events must have implemented her key development stages or the other.
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.
Despite being successful women, Oprah and Ellen were not always as well known as they are today. Oprah Winfrey grew up in Milwaukee, Mississippi, whereas Ellen DeGeneres was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. At a young age, Winfrey was sexually abused by various men. She eventually escaped the toxic environment she was exposed to when she went to live with her father. When Ellen was younger, her family moved around quite a bit and she learned to use comedy as a way to fit in with the new peers she encountered. When she was a teenager, her parents got a divorce; she used
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
Her father was very strict and cared a lot about school and wanted her to get high marks. At high school she was a brilliant student, she loved being in the drama club and the student council. After she graduated in 1971 she received a four year scholarship to Tennessee State University. She began to develop broadcasting career at seventeen while working for WVOL radio in Nashville. While still at university Oprah at nineteen became the youngest and the first African-American female news anchor at WTVF-TV in Nashville, this shows us today that you can conquer anything you put your mind to, I mean she went through such a hard childhood but yet still conquered this. In 1976 Oprah took the job to be a co-host on an early morning talk show called People are Talking. In 1984 Oprah moved to Chicago and got chosen to host a talk show called AM Chicago. The show became really popular during the time of seven months and was then extended to be a one-hour show. In September 1985 after all the show’s success it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was on TV for twenty five years. Oprah interviewed and engaged with her audience a lot and talked about her childhood on the show. Her show ended in 2011. After her show ended Oprah published the Oprah Magazine and then set up her own cable television network named Oxygen in 1999. Oprah started collecting funds for charities and children that couldn’t afford to go to school and then established the Family for Better Lives
Despite all of her troubles, Oprah is now very successful. Although when she was young Oprah was faced with many difficult problems, she stuck to her school-work and pursued her love of teaching (Fry, web). One thing that Oprah is known for is her love of reading, teaching, and learning. This passion has helped her move forward and help others that are less fortunate than herself (Fry, web). These troubling things that Oprah was faced with turned her i...
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother, Vernita Lee, gave birth to Oprah when she was only a teenager. Vernita was a maid. Oprah’s father is Vermon Winfrey he was a __________. Oprah’s mother left ________ to find a job while Oprah stayed with her grandmother named Hatti Mae Lee where she lived in poor conditions.