Gen Z Highlight: Oprah Winfrey
Born on January 29, 1954, Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist.
Oprah was born to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her name was originally meant to be Orpah, from the Bible, but after the increasing difficulty of spelling and articulation, she was known almost from birth as Oprah. Winfrey's unmarried guardians separated not long after she was born, leaving her to be taken care of by her maternal grandma. She learnt to read under the stern supervision of her grandma when she was two and a half years old. Winfrey even skipped kindergarten after writing a note to her teacher on the first day of school saying she belonged in the first grade. After that year, she was promoted to third grade. At the age of six Winfrey was sent north to join her mother and two half-brothers in the Milwaukee ghetto, an incredibly impoverished and violent community.
At twelve, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Feeling secure and cheerful for a brief period she started making addresses on social occasions and churches and one time earned five hundred dollars for a discourse. She knew at that point that she needed to be "paid to talk." Winfrey, once more, was called back by her mother, and she had to move back to her mother's place. The destitute, urban way of life had its negative impact on Winfrey as a youthful youngster, and her issues were compounded by rehashed sexual manhandles, beginning at age nine, by men that others in her family trusted. Finally, she was sent back to live with her father. Winfrey has said before that her father saved her life. A few years later Winfrey became Nashville’s first African-American female co-anchor of the evening at 19 years old and a sophomore in college.
Oprah Winfrey has many amazing accomplishments, starting from when she was a teenager until now. In 1973, she became the first African-American news anchor for WTVF-TV. Ten years later, Oprah started working at an unpopular morning show, ‘AM Chicago’, and transformed it into the highest rated interview show in Chicago that soon after got turned into the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’. In 1987, she was awarded an Emmy for best talk show, which she won again in 1995 and also in 1998. In 1996, Oprah also won the George Foster Peabody's Individual Achievement Award. In 2005, she was put in Time Magazine for one of the top 100 influential people in the world. Oprah was voted 9th place for greatest American. Oprah has co- authored some books, and created her own magazine called ‘O Magazine’. She has starred in numerous movies, such as ‘The Color Purple’, ‘Beloved’, ‘The Women of Brewster Place’, ‘Princess and the Frog’, and ‘The Butler’. Winfrey also has her own network called the Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah Winfrey became the first Black female billionaire in the United States in 2003. Oprah's accomplishments show the world that no matter what race you are from; no matter how you start out in life, you can always achieve your dreams.
In Oprah Winfrey’s many years of success, she has given us several valuable quotes:
"For each of us that succeeds, it's because there's somebody there to show you the way out."
"I don't believe in failure. It's not a failure if you enjoyed the process."
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."
"Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is just another stepping stone to greatness."
"The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance - and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning."
"What I know is, that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, all the rest will follow."
"You know you are on the road to success if you would still do your job if you weren’t paid for it."
"Excellence is the best deterrence to racism and sexism."
"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."
The Oprah Winfrey Show, often referred to as The Oprah Show or simply Oprah, is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Oprah Winfrey, it remains one of the highest-rated daytime talk shows in American television history. The show was highly influential to many young stars, and many of its themes have penetrated into the American pop-cultural consciousness. Winfrey used the show as an educational platform, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events.
Oprah Winfrey is incredibly influential due to the milestones she has surpassed. She attained heights that most of us have only dreamed of and showed us that there is possibility in achieving anything. Oprah’s strength and passion for her career is incredibly inspiring. She has also made it her mission to help as many people as she can all over the world, not only by donating to various charities, but also by establishing her own foundations and creating programs to help underserved communities, which is something we all should strive to be able to do one day.
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