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| This photo is from the podcast where the "Media Mogul" talks about her tips on leadership, philanthropy, and finding your calling. |
Born on January 29, 1954, Oprah Winfrey is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist.Winfrey is most well known from her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her popular show was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history for 25 years from 1986 to 2011. Along with this, she was the richest African American of the 20th Century and North America's first black multi-billionaire (5). Because of these amazing accomplishments, along with many more, she has been known as one of the most influential woman.
Although Oprah Winfrey is known for the outstanding accomplishments she has made throughout her life, it was not easy for her to get to this point. She was born into poverty in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a single mother. Growing up in a small farming community, Winfrey was sexually abused by multiple male relatives at a young age. Oprah spoke out about the sexual assault, saying, "I was raped at 9 years old by a cousin, then again by another family member, and another family member (1). At the age of 14 years old, Winfrey was pregnant and gave birth to a premature baby boy, who did not survive the birth. Because of the abuse that had occurred, Winfrey moved to Nashville to live with her father, who she claims, saved her life. This childhood did not hold her back from where she wanted to end up. In 1971, she attended Tennessee State University, where she began working in radio and television broadcasting.
If you were to look up Oprah Winfrey on the internet, you would come to find that many of the searches that come up when typing her name into Google have some type of relationship with her speaking on women's rights. In the attached video, Winfrey starts the speech off by asking, "What's all this talk about women's rights?" She continues speaking on the topic by discussing how men think women need them and depend o them for simple tasks. She quotes a woman by the name Sojourner Truth, saying, "I tell you ain't nobody helped me into no carriages and I ain't been helped over a nary mud puddle...I done worked as much in it as any man..." After she finishes speaking on Truth's behalf, she continues on by making the point that even 168 years later, these types of rights are still being talked about, yet nothing has changed.
Winfrey has has numerous accomplishments that stand for woman all around the world. However, these accomplishments do not just stand for woman. She also is a role model for the African American community. She was the first woman to do many things, along with also being African American. In 2018, Bloomberg ranked Winfrey at 494 out of 500 for the ranking of the richest people in the world. With that being said, this made her the first black female entrepreneur on this list. At the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, Oprah Winfrey was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which recognized "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment." Winfrey was the first African American woman to receive the award in its 66 years of history (2).
(3) (2019, August 28). Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/media-figure/oprah-winfrey
(4) (n.d.). Oprah Winfrey Biography. Retrieved from https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html
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| At age 49, Winfrey became the first African American woman ranked on Forbes Magazine's "Worlds Richest People" list. |
Winfrey has has numerous accomplishments that stand for woman all around the world. However, these accomplishments do not just stand for woman. She also is a role model for the African American community. She was the first woman to do many things, along with also being African American. In 2018, Bloomberg ranked Winfrey at 494 out of 500 for the ranking of the richest people in the world. With that being said, this made her the first black female entrepreneur on this list. At the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, Oprah Winfrey was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which recognized "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment." Winfrey was the first African American woman to receive the award in its 66 years of history (2).
In conclusion, Oprah Winfrey is considered a role model to many due to her tough childhood, outstanding charity work, the schools she has opened, the beliefs she fights for, and the relationships she shares with her fans. She often stands out more than many for more than one reason. Some may say it is because of her admirable charity work, and others may say it is because she stands up for things and has a voice that is heard, for the people who may not be able to. Oprah truly fits the phrase "Warrior Woman" and in my opinion, takes the cake for the most inspiring woman in our century.
References:
(1) Corinthios, A. (2015, December 2). Oprah Winfrey Reveals the Name She Chose for the Premature Baby Boy She Lost at Age 14. Retrieved from https://people.com/tv/oprah-winfrey-reveals-name-of-premature-baby-she-lost-at-age-14/
(2) Dambrosio, C. (2019, January 22). 9 things Oprah did first. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/things-oprah-did-first-2019-1#winfrey-was-the-first-black-female-recipient-of-the-cecil-b-demille-award-8(3) (2019, August 28). Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/media-figure/oprah-winfrey
(4) (n.d.). Oprah Winfrey Biography. Retrieved from https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html
I really enjoyed reading your blog! I learned more about Oprah,especially that she was born into poverty to a single mother. I also never knew that she was sexually abused,this was really eye opening to read. I do not like that the font is super small, it made it really hard to read. I also never knew that Oprah was big into women's rights,or that she was the first African American in 66 years to win an award. Really cool to learn different things!
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed this article, Oprah was always a role model of mine growing up. My mother and I would watch her show together all the time, and I can honestly say that she had an influence on making me who I am today. I also would have made the font slightly larger to aid in an easy read. Overall, very well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Oprah was a great choice for this assignment. She came from nothing and created an empire for herself. She is one of the best known activists for women's rights. Not only that, but she runs multiple charities and gives back to the community. She has personally been a role model for me for many years.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I love that Oprah is one of those people who started making something of herself at a young age and she used everything bad that ever happened to her and made it motivation. She became an amazing woman despite her past. She is an icon for all women.
ReplyDeleteOprah is a big name into today's society that almost everyone knows. I enjoyed getting to know about her background and how she grew up. These were things I didn't know about her.
ReplyDeleteThis blog brought to me, a completely different outlook on Oprah. I have learned that she did have a rough upbringing, yet I did not know how rough that upbringing was. To be put through such tremendous trauma at such an early age, it was really inspiring to see how she made her struggle her story. Really helps to keep things in perspective sometimes. Awesome blog!
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