Oprah Winfrey born in 1954 in Kosciusko, Miss. is one of the most influential women in the world and with a net worth of reportedly $2 billion is the richest African American woman in the nation. She is a media executive, owner of her magazine and television network, both named OWN, as well as a philanthropist, who has founded several schools in Africa and provided homes for Katrina victims flooded out in New Orleans.
Dubbed as the Queen of All Media, she is best known for the Oprah Winfrey show broadcast from Chicago which was the highest-rated TV program of its kind and ran in syndication for 25years. IN 1985 she also made her debut as an actress in the Color Purple. Born in poverty, she had a difficult early life which was marred by sexual abuse that started at age nine, but after moving to Tennessee to live with her father his strict upbringing helped Oprah to overcome the obstacles in her path.
In 1987 I was able to spend the day with her riding with her in her limousine when she discussed her new future. In my entire life, I had never met anyone with the confidence she had. She was just beginning syndication and she said that she saw no reason that her new show would not succeed because “I try to show people the light in me. That is the only goal I have.” She was entering a media that was both racist and sexist, but that didn’t bother her either. She said that she was part of a great legacy from Harriet Tubman to Madam C. J. Walker. ‘’It is because of them I live the dream. I intend to bear great fruit.”
She also shared with me that she had once contemplated suicide. And she told me exactly what she was going to be, more than an actress, more than a talk show host. ” I have got to move on from millionaire to mogul.” She also explained that being God-centered helps her to fear nothing and no one.
In this interview, she shared with me her road to success. To study it more closely, you can go to my website: www. Reynoldsnews.info to obtain my book, And Still We Rise, with her interview and those of other famous black role models.
Her professional and personal life combines a commitment to excellence seen by millions who watch The Oprah Winfrey Show each week, or who saw her performance in The Color Purple. But she is also community-minded. She offers herself as a role model for a small group of teenage girls from Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing area. These young ladies from poorfamz’lies join her regularly for slumber parties and conversation at her Chicago home. She has developed her own production company, Harpo, and hopes to produce movies. Comments by Winfrey appeared on the USA TODAY Inquiry page Feb. 10, 1987.