On January 29th, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey was born. She lived a troubled life growing up, which consisted of her being sexually abused by male relatives and friends of her mother. She has also disclosed giving birth at age fourteen, but her child died in infancy. Eventually, she moved in with her father in Nashville. Little did she know, her life would turn around quickly; she was going to be an American television host, actress, producer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. Oprah’s career began at the age of eighteen when she entered into Tennessee State University. She began working in radio and television broadcasting. A local CBS TV station in Nashville offered her a job as a co-anchor, but she turned it down three times.
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In 2002, she concluded a deal with the network to air a prime-time complement to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Throughout the next ten years of her show, until it ended in 2011, it was viewed on over 200 U.S. stations and more than 100 countries across the globe.
Soon after, she made her own TV network in 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and joined with Discovery Communications. Despite a financially rough start, she aired the show with an interview with Lance Armstrong. During the interview, Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing substances throughout his cycling-career. The interview brought in millions of dollars in revenue to the Oprah Winfrey Network. In the final season of her show, Oprah made ratings soar when she revealed a family secret: she has a half-sister named Patricia. After a four year ride, Oprah decided to downsize the network in …show more content…
According to Forbes magazine, Oprah was the richest African American of the 20th century and the world’s only Black billionaire. She has been named the most influential woman of her generation, the greatest Black philanthropist in American history, among the 50 most generous Americans, etc. Her actions include raising more than $50 million for charitable programs: girls’ education in South Africa and victims of Hurricane Katrina. She is a dedicated activist for children's rights, hence her childhood. In 1994, President Clinton signed a bill into law that Oprah had proposed to congress, which created a nationwide database of all convicted child abusers. Also, she founded the Family for Better Lives foundation. In 2002, Oprah was named the first recipient of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. In 2013, she received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was awarded by President Barack Obama for her contributions to this country. Early in 2018, Oprah became the first African-American woman to be honored with the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. In a powerful speech, she emphasized the importance of a free press and the power of speaking the truth. Most of us know it as the ‘#metoo speech.’ The speech called for Oprah to run for president in the next election. More recently, in
In 2002, she concluded a deal with the network to air a prime-time complement to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Throughout the next ten years of her show, until it ended in 2011, it was viewed on over 200 U.S. stations and more than 100 countries across the globe.
Soon after, she made her own TV network in 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and joined with Discovery Communications. Despite a financially rough start, she aired the show with an interview with Lance Armstrong. During the interview, Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing substances throughout his cycling-career. The interview brought in millions of dollars in revenue to the Oprah Winfrey Network. In the final season of her show, Oprah made ratings soar when she revealed a family secret: she has a half-sister named Patricia. After a four year ride, Oprah decided to downsize the network in …show more content…
According to Forbes magazine, Oprah was the richest African American of the 20th century and the world’s only Black billionaire. She has been named the most influential woman of her generation, the greatest Black philanthropist in American history, among the 50 most generous Americans, etc. Her actions include raising more than $50 million for charitable programs: girls’ education in South Africa and victims of Hurricane Katrina. She is a dedicated activist for children's rights, hence her childhood. In 1994, President Clinton signed a bill into law that Oprah had proposed to congress, which created a nationwide database of all convicted child abusers. Also, she founded the Family for Better Lives foundation. In 2002, Oprah was named the first recipient of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. In 2013, she received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was awarded by President Barack Obama for her contributions to this country. Early in 2018, Oprah became the first African-American woman to be honored with the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. In a powerful speech, she emphasized the importance of a free press and the power of speaking the truth. Most of us know it as the ‘#metoo speech.’ The speech called for Oprah to run for president in the next election. More recently, in