Oprah Winfrey

Creating Change

Oprah has taken it upon herself to redirect her life and rise above hardships to become one of the most influential people in the world.

Many people are amazed that at the power she posses especially when considering that she is a woman, but not only a woman,

a Black woman.  But Oprah has not let that get in her way.  She has triumphed and continues to do so everyday.  She uses her 

power and voice to bring out the issues that are crucial to women such as domestic violence, relationship problems, post-partum

depression,  rape, business/finances, child raising issues and many other issues that everyone should know about.  She takes

real people and real issues and dissects them and is not afraid to ask tough questions and to ask those same difficult questions of 

herself.  She has grown with her audience and has changed over the years, but most importantly, she celebrates that change and

that is the main reason why she is so important.  She is an agent of change and through her own change she is changing the world

around her piece by piece and creating a better place to live with the help of so many others.  

Brief Biography

	Oprah Winfrey was born Orpah Winfrey, named after a biblical figure by her mother.  She was born out of wedlock and was 

raised by her grandmother on a farm in Mississippi for the first six years of her life.  For years she watched the hard labor of her 

grandmother and can remember knowing that her life could be better.  In an interview in 1991 Oprah said, "...I remember thinking, my 

life won't be like this.  My life won't be like this, it will be better."  

	At the age of 13 she moved to Milwaukee with her mother where her life became very difficult.  She was abused and 

molested, and even sent to juvenile hall, but unable to be detained due to lack of bedding.  After that she was forced to move to 

live under the strict rule of her father who required her to read and book and write a book report weekly.  

"As strict as he was," says Oprah, "he had some concerns about me making the best of my 

life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best."  This push towards 

becoming the best and being the best has stayed with Oprah and made a huge influence

on her life.  In adulthood, like in childhood, she has worked hard for all that she has obtained.

	Oprah's began her broadcasting career at the age of 17 in Nashville at WVOL.  She 

attended Tennessee State university and majored in Speech Communications and Performing

Arts.  Much of her ability to speak came from early experiences at church where many of the 

people would ask her to recite speeches as she did so from the early age of 3.  

	In 1984 she began to host "AM Chicago," which was not doing very well at the time,

but she managed to turn the show around, so much so that it was renamed in 1985 to be 

"The Oprah Winfrey Show."  Since then she has been given numerous awards for the 

outstanding talkshow.  

Oprah also pursued acting and starred in The Color Purple.  This desire for acting

and her interest in quality productions of entertainment led to the formation of her own production company, HARPO Productions, Inc.

	Her life was profoundly influenced by her youth and it is evident that even at a young age she had her mind set on being

someone.  The following are various pictures from throughout her life:

Business woman

	She has been “making a difference for millions of viewers,  young and old, black and white for nearly a dozen years.” 

“It is through her talk show that her influence has been the greatest.” She believes “luck is preparation meeting opportunity”. 

She is a seeker of truth in herself and others, her qualities of vulnerability, compassion, empathy, honesty, and love of people 

have made her one of the most beloved women in America.  A spirit of social consciousness can be recognized in her humanitarian 

efforts. She is like a close friend who visits over 21 million homes a day and countless others in 132 other countries.  Oprah

Winfrey revolutionized the talk show market with her unique and natural style and rose to become the host of the most watched 

daytime show on television, which boasts 22 million viewers daily (three-fourths of whom are women). She is the first African 

American to own her own TV studio. The multitalented Winfrey is also a millionaire businesswoman, a talented actress, owner of a

movie production company, and committed philanthropist.

	"When I first got a job, I was just happy to be on TV," Winfrey told Jet magazine. "But as the years evolved, I grew and 

wanted to say something without the show, not just be a television announcer or a television performer, but I wanted to say 

something meaningful to the American public and culture." In a recent press release, Winfrey noted, "I am finally at a point in 

my life where I'm doing the kind of shows I've always wanted to do, helping people see themselves more clearly and to make 

choices that lead to more fulfilled lives. Winfrey cultivated a reputation for championing causes in her programs and ventures that 

other leading media and entertainment companies ignore. 

	She is most interested in productions that no one else will do because the topics are not sensational enough. She 

addresses issues that are of direct importance and of crucial consequence to women. She is a teacher who educates a devoted 

audience about countless important subjects. This past year alone her subjects have been as varied as sex, sexual abuse, 

divorce, decorating, shopping, makeovers, weight loss, chemical addictions, survival, advice, family secrets, finances, follow ups, 

parent’s & children’s issues, giveaways to celebrations. 

Oprah Show Guests

	Guests on her show have included Tom Hanks, Celine Dion, Tatmu O'Neal, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan 

Sarandon, John Travolta, Barbara Walters, Barry Manilow, Janet Jackson, Gwyenth Paltrow, Jude Law, Bill Clinton, The Judds, 

Lionel and Nicole Richie, Sharon Stone, George Michael, Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, Maria Shriver, Liza Gibbons, Julia Roberts, 

Brad Bitt,Dolly Parton, The Wayans, Alicia Keys, Mike Meyers, The Backstreet Boys, Bono, Bernie Mac, Russell Crowe, 

Tiger Woods, Whitney Houston, Jim Carrey, Muhammed Ali, Cameron Diaz, Melissa Ethereidge, Dr. Phil, and countless others.  

O-The Oprah Winfrey Magazine

In April 2000 Winfrey was highly successful in launching a lifestyle magazine for women called O, The Oprah 

Winfrey Magazine, with a subscription base of 2.5 million readers. According to  Winfrey's Website, O "gives 

confident, smart women the tools they need to explore and reach for their dreams, to express their individual style, 

and to make choices that will lead to happier more fulfilled lives." One of the most influential projects Winfrey has

tackled is literacy. 

Oprah's Book Club 

	
	The on-air reading club she started in September 1996, "Oprah's Book Club," boosted book sales so dramatically that 

Winfrey quickly became the most important book marketer in any communications medium. Books featured on her show have often 

been catapulted to the top of the best-sellers list--all the more significant because her choices are often "literary" novels that would 

not normally attract a mass audience. "Doing this book club has given me the courage to pursue the things I care about," Winfrey 

told Life magazine. That courage has led to many philanthropic endeavors. 

Oprah's
Angel Network  

She established Oprah's Angel Network in 1997. When establishing the network Oprah said, "I want you to open your 

hearts and see the world in a different way.  I promise this will change your life for the better."  In its inaugural year, 

Oprah's Angel Network raised over $3.5 million to fund college scholarships for students with financial needs.  The 

network is currently helping to build rural schools in foreign countries including India, Tanzania, and Nicaragua.  

To date the network, in conjunction with viewers and some celebrity sponsors, has managed to raise over $17 million.  The

money is used to fund a variety of programs including 150 college scholarships of $25,000.00 each.  The network's administrative

costs are fully funded by Oprah so that the network is able to give 100% of the funds raised directly to charitable organizations.

	Beginning in April 2000, the Angel Network has been handing out "Use Your Life" awards every Monday on Winfrey's 

television show.  The awards of $100,000 each are given to people who use their lives to better the lives of others. So far, Oprah has 

given out 50 "Use Your Life" awards.  In creating this award, Oprah has shown that she not only wants to help others live happier 

lives, but she knows that she cannot do it alone and is helping many other people to help her on her mission to change lives for the 

better.  

 Donations for Oprah's Angel Network

Philanthropic
Work

	Winfrey has also entered a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, which has 10,000 volunteers helping to build houses 

for impoverished Americans throughout the country. She is helping minority students get a better education through her involvement 

with A Better Chance, a Boston-based privately funded program that provides bright inner-city youth with the opportunity to attend 

college preparatory schools. She established the “worlds largest piggy bank” and people all over the world contributed spare 

change to raise more than $1 million (matched by Oprah) to send disadvantaged kids to college. She gives proceeds from her 

inspirational video "Oprah: Make the Connection" to A Better Chance. In June 2001 Winfrey did a tour of self-help seminars entitled 

"Live Your Best Life."  Winfrey once told Ms. magazine that "I'm starting a minority training program ... specifically to bring more 

people of color into the film and television industry as producers."  

	Winfrey has used her popularity and influence to advocate for political causes as well. In 1991 the 

tragic story of a four-year-old Chicago girl's molestation and murder prompted Winfrey, a former abuse 

victim, to propose federal child protection legislation designed to keep nationwide records on convicted 

abusers. In addition, Winfrey pursued a ruling that would guarantee strict sentencing of individuals convicted 

of child abuse. The result was a bill signed by President Clinton that allows child care 

providers to check the background of prospective employees.

	Winfrey has made generous financial contributions to hundreds of charitable organizations and institutions. She volunteers 

personal time with a variety of nonprofit organizations, churches, shelters, and youth programs. 

	In September 2001 she co-hosted a memorial service held at Yankee Stadium for the victims of the terrorist attacks 

on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  Her shows, for 3 months post 9/11 helped to heal a nation. 

http://tapesandtranscripts.oprah.com/StorePage.asp?Name=store_list_200410

Awards
and Recognition 

	She has received many awards and recognitions. In 1986 Winfrey received a special award from the Chicago Academy for 

the Arts for unique contributions to the city's artistic community and was named Woman of Achievement by the National Organization 

of Women. The Oprah Winfrey Show has won numerous Emmys for Best Talk Show, and Winfrey was honored as Best Talk Show 

Host. In 1993 Winfrey won the Horatio Alger Award "given to those who overcome adversity to become leaders in their fields," 

according to Jet magazine. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the George Foster Peabody 

Individual Achievement Award, one of broadcasting's most coveted awards, following the 1995-1996 season. Further, she received 

the IRTS Gold Medal Award, was named one of America's 25 Most Influential People of 1996 by Time magazine, and was included 

on Marjabelle Young Stewart's 1996 list of most polite celebrities. In 1997 Winfrey received TV Guide's Television Performer of the 

Year Award and was named favorite Female Television Performer at the 1997 People's Choice Awards. In 1998 Entertainment 

Weekly named Winfrey the most powerful person in show business.

	"My prayer to God every morning on my knees is that the power that is in the universe should use my life as a vessel, or a 

vehicle, for its work," Winfrey told Redbook. "I feel positive about the future, but I do believe that we are in a time where there are 

forces of good and evil in TV making themselves known," she commented in Good Housekeeping. "I'm always trying to figure out 

how to take the power I have and use it." Her 1997 comment to her TV viewers is perhaps the best summary of Winfrey's approach 

to her work: "The opportunity to have a voice and speak to the world everyday is a gift. And I thank you for allowing me this gift.”

Phenomenal Woman

This poem is by Maya Angelou and is Oprah's favorite.  Oprah can relate to the poem because of the many struggles that the 

woman in the poem went through and then finally realized that she herself if phenomenal just the way she is.  Many women relate to 

Oprah and watch her show or read her books because Oprah has not lived the perfect life and has worked very hard for everything 

that she has.  She truly is a phenomenal woman.  

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.   

For the poem's full text click here: Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

	

Above information excerpted from the following:
http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/winfrey_o.htm

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0int-1

Other Oprah Winfrey Links and URLS:

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0int-1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001856
http://www.fembio.org/women/oprah-winfrey.shtml
http://www.topix.net/who/opray-win
http://talkshows.about.com/od/oprahwinfrey/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey
http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/oprah-winfrey-htm
http://www.eonline.com/Facts/People/Bio0,128,16930,00.html
http://p.webring.com/hub?ring=amazingawesomeop
http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/people/oprahwinfrey1.htm
http://www.sirlinksalot.net/oprah.html

FURTHER READINGS