“ I didn’t know that there was a language, there were words for what had happened to me or that any other human being on earth had experienced it,” she said. “That’s the power of books.”
Oprah Winfrey
Introduction
Oprah Winfrey is an iconic figure in the USA and across the globe. An inspirational figure of black history and culture, Oprah remains a powerful voice in speaking out about social and political issues and a woman who has steered her way through poverty, personal turmoil and the poisonous cancer of racism to spread her wings and become a woman of substance, a shining light of optimism and a champion of black femininity. She is the joy of life’s storm. Wise, sophisticated and sassy. She lights up a room with her presence and has her finger on the pulse of the ebb and flow of a fast-changing world which still struggles to live in harmony. We may live in a modern society, but many problems that have dogged it for generations remain. An America that still refuses to elect a female President and one where so many still struggle to make ends meet. It is one of the world’s most influential and wealthiest nations, but it struggles to shake off the ghosts of its past.
Through Oprah’s Eyes
Oprah Winfrey was born in 1954 on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents, Verity and Vernon, separated shortly after her birth, and her grandmother raised her. Yet, this young, black girl stood out from an early age. It is reported that she learnt how to read as young as two-and-a-half, but that didn’t stop her from experiencing the brutal force of abject poverty. Moving to Milwaukee at six, she lived there until she was twelve. First, she lived with her father in Tennessee, and then, as a teenager, she returned to her mother’s home in urban Milwaukee.
It was during this time that a family member, a cousin, horrifically raped her. From age ten to twelve, this 19-year-old cousin made her life hell. A horrific secret that left Winfrey dazed and confused, unaware of what sex was at the time. She just accepted that a girl-child was not safe in a world of men. It wasn’t till years later that she finally opened up about this terrible time when she visited a school that she had set up in South Africa and heard first-hand accounts of children whose family members had abused her. A pain and suffering eased by a friendship with the writer and poet Maya Angelou. A woman who Oprah described as an “incredible role model” and someone who helped her come to terms with and embrace the ageing process. She is an author who was first inspired as a 15-year-old when she read her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Winfrey describes a moment when the whole world fell away from her. So influential was this book, one where the central character was black and encouraged her to have the confidence to speak out about being raped as a child in later life. A book that gave a voice to her silences, secrets, and words, as well as to her pain and confusion.
The Journey
Yet despite this early trauma, look how far Oprah has come. A star student who won a scholarship to Tennessee State University. Invited to a youth conference at the White House, crowned Miss Fire Prevention, hired to read newscasts at a local radio station, and she won Miss Tennesse and Miss Black Nashville titles. At age 19, Winfrey landed her first television job at WLAC-TV (now WTVF), a CBS station in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1976, she transferred to WJZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. But after struggling to maintain the objectivity required to report news, she defected to a new, morning talk show called People Are Talking, which aired in 1977. Winfrey’s casual, improvisational style helped her develop a natural rapport with guests, who felt comfortable telling their personal stories. By the decade’s end, the show beat Phil Donahue’s programme in the local ratings.
She moved to getting a half-hour morning talk show slot on WLS-TV in 1984 which developed into her own hour-long show in 1986, inspired to do so by the film critic Roger Ebert. A show that would go on to run until 2011. A philanthropist who gained billionaire status at the age of 49, Winfrey is also noted for her performance in the film The Colour Purple and her numerous charitable work, helping support the safety, empowerment, and education of women, children, and other disadvantaged groups.
