OPRAH WINFREY

OPRAH WINFREY

The Richest - African American

Beautiful as Always

OPRAH'S EARLY LIFE 

Oprah growing up was very poor.

• Oprah Gail Winfrey  was born January 29, 1954  to an unmarried teenage parents.

• Her mother, Vernita Lee, was a housemaid and her biological father was Vernon Winfrey was a coal miner turned barber turned city councilman who was in the Armed Forces

when she was born. • Decades later, Mississippi farmer and World

War II veteran Noah Robinson Sr. claimed to be her biological father.

• After her birth, Winfrey's mother traveled north.

She then lived with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee. 

Hattie Mae Lee was so poor that Oprah often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which

the local children made fun of her.

But that did not keep Oprah down.

She kept on praying and being good.

If Oprah misbehaved, her grandma would use a whip to beat

her.

At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother. Her mother was less supportive/less encouraging than her grandmother had been. This is due in large part to the long hours Vernita Lee worked as a maid.

Oprah and her mother, Vernita Lee.

Winfrey has stated that she was molested by her cousin, her uncle, and a family friend,

starting when she was nine years old.

At age 13, after suffering years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home. When she was 14, she became pregnant, but her son died

shortly after birth.

At the age of 14 her mom was very frustrated so she sent Oprah to go live with her dad in Nashville, Tennessee.

Oprah and her dad,Vermon Winfrey

 Vernon was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority.

But thanks to that, Oprah became an honor student at East Nashville High School and was voted Most Popular Girl. She joined her high school speech team and placed second in the

nation in dramatic interpretation.

She also won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a

historically black institution. She studied communication.

In following of that  

Oprah won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant. She also attracted the

attention of the local black radio station, WVOL, which hired her to do

the news part-time.

Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show,

AM Chicago. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984.

 Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue

as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. It was renamed The Oprah

Winfrey Show, expanded to a full hour, and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986.

Summary of Oprah's AchievementsIn the year 1987, Oprah won her first Emmy Award for

talk show host and best show.            

 Oprah received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Entertainer of the Year Award in 1989. 

Oprah testified before the US Congress and initiate the National Child Protection Act in 1991.

In 1995, Oprah not only won an Emmy for Best Talk Show and Best host for the second time in a row but also kick started the Oprah online on AOL in partnership with ABC.

Oprah became the first woman and the only black on the Forbes List of the 400 Richest Americans in the same year.

In the year 1996, Oprah received the prestigious George Foster Peabody's Individual Achievement Award.   In the same year she co-authored the book A Journal of Daily Renewal: The Companion to Make the Connection.

Another one of Oprah's really big succes/accomplisment was, OPRAH'S

ANGEL NETWORK.  

Oprah Angel Network

Oprah's Angel Network was created in 1997 to inspire people to use their lives to help others in need.

    With Free The Children, Oprah’s Angel Network has built more than 55 schools in 12 countries, providing education for thousands of children in rural areas throughout the world.    

In 2005, Oprah’s Angel Network provided more than $1 million worth of school

supplies, including school uniforms and shoes, to 18,000 impoverished South

African children

Oprah’s Angel Network built the Seven Fountains Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal,

South Africa. Opened in 2007, the school serves more than 1,000 boys and girls and serves as a

model for teaching and learning throughout Africa.

Oprah’s Angel Network introduced the Use Your Life Award on “The Oprah Winfrey

Show” in 2000. From 2000 through 2003, more than 50 organizations that were making a

difference in the lives of others received awards

 Oprah's Impact Oprah Winfrey isnt just popular in being rich and famous but she is also smart and wise. She found away to connect with the world and help others. To show people that if you have a big heart you can use that big loving heart and make a difference, and not only just help others but help your self. Help your self understand that the sky is the limit, and theirs no one in the way of stoping you from being the best of the best. No one in the way of stoping you from becoming the number #1 star.  

Oprah Gail Winfrey didnt just show us that with her success but with her life, her heart

breaking but yet life teaching story. She showed us how to be strong and not to let

anyone bring us down. Dont give up. Keeping on trying cause their will be an end of the

road. And if you didnt give, well you have just reach your blessing.

Oprah isnt just rich, smart and beatifull she is much more than that, she also our

inspireation our teacher our God sent.

Her impact is her life her understanding and her impact on us is that what ever you believing and you know its right you should go for and don't let anyone pull you down.

sources:wikipedia and OPRAH'S ANGEL NETWORK.