Oprah Winfrey- Media Mogul

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. 

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

(5) (2019, September 7). Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey