Oprah Winfrey

681 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay for philanthropy

Oprah Winfrey, the greatest Black philanthropist by Business Week in 2005 has made her way to her viewers’ hearts and has become a role model citizen for everyone. Her selflessness and charitable character has caused her to continuously raise and donate millions of dollars. Oprah was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 25, 1954 to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. When she was born, her parents were not married so she lived with her grandmother and completed her secondary education at East High School in Nashville.

After a trip to the White House, a local radio show asked her for an interview regarding it. Her voice and speech delivery impressed the radio show so much they offered her a job at the age of 16. Winfrey also won a public speaking contest. She studied speech and acting at Tennessee State University and was then given the job as a news reporter. At 19, Winfrey already made a statement with being the youngest television news anchor and the first African American anchor as well. For 8 years, she was the co-host of “People Are Talking”. In 1984 she hosted A.M Chicago. Her work as Sofia in “Colour Purple” earned her an Academy Award nomination. In 1986 she started the iconic talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Later with her continued success in the 1980s she bought the show and started Harpo Productions becoming the third woman to own a major production studio. Winfrey also won two beauty contests. She then launched her own magazine in 2000 and then in 2008 her own television network. Oprah Winfrey soon enough became the first African American female billionaire.

Despite her endless success, Winfrey went through struggles equally as tough. When she was 9 years old, her 19 year old cousin raped her and over the...

... middle of paper ...

...out a voice. She has had a hand in launching 35 schools in Haiti, India, China and other South American schools. Her Angel Network has raised over $17 million. Her primary belief is that “Women will change the world”.

For her generous donations and admirable charity donations, Winfrey has earned numerous awards and recognitions. Amongst those include the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Presidential Medal for Freedom which is the country’s highest civilian honour. Oprah Winfrey’s journey starts from being in the lows and not bright yet with her dedication, hard work and perseverance she has been able to overcome all the obstacles in her way and to achieve the success she has today. Winfrey is the ideal global citizen and her contributions and selfless acts will surely engrave her name in history as one of the major inspirational philanthropists of time.

Show More
Related

  • Who Is Oprah Winfrey?

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Famous People of Mississippi

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oprah Winfrey, born January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, MS: is recognized a very popular talk show host and proprietor of HARPO Industries and actress. She stared in a key role in “The Color Purple” written by Alice Walker. This movie also depicted the life and times of people in the South and won many awards for the performances. Oprah retired her show after over ten years to return with the OWN TV (O...

    Read More

  • Why Is Oprah Gail Winfrey?

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oprah was born on January 29th, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to her mother Vernita Lee, a single teenager who works as a maid, and her father Vernon Winfrey, a coal miner, barber, and city councilman. Her name was supposed to be pronounced as ‘Orpah’, from the bible, but because of the difficulty as the pronunciation, she was known as Oprah almost from her birth. Oprah’s parents were unmarried and soon separated after she was born, then left her in the care of

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey: A Brief Biography

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey As A Renaissance Person

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Orpah Gail Winfrey, better known as Oprah Winfrey, was born on January 29, 1954 in the bustling city of Kosciusko, Mississippi. She was born into a complicated family, with her mother, Vernita Lee, being only 19 when Oprah was born and her father, Vernon Winfrey, making just

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey Outlier

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey’s Influence on Philanthropy

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2007, Oprah organized the Oprah Winfrey Foundation which supports the education and empowerment of women, children, and families in the United States and around the world. She then opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg in South Africa, helping young African American girls get an ed...

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey’s Journey Through Life

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey Ethical Leader

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey Case Study

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of The American Dream

    2198 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Communication Style Of Oprah Winfrey

    2675 Words  | 6 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Oprah Winfrey: An Inspirational Role Model

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • A Brief Biography of Oprah Winfrey

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Oprah Winfrey

Open Document