Icon Oprah Winfrey's Speech

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, King asserts that the war in Vietnam is a “symptom” (7) of a much larger disease that affects the “American spirit” (7). The disease King mentions is causing destruction where ever it is found, and in the case of the Vietnam war, it has led to their oppression and the death of people. In the section, Strange Liberators, King states, “They move sadly and apathetically as we heard them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs” (8). King believed that the disease was leading the United States to take drastic actions against the Vietnamese people. The U.S.

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball was a famous actress on the CBS network, starring in the nations most beloved show ever, “I Love Lucy” and continued to be on countless television show and movies, such as “The Lucy show”, “The Lucy Desi comedy hour” and many many more. She is funny, inspiring, a hard worker, interesting, pioneer.

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” This was said by Rosa Parks. She was an enormous inspiration to the African American Race. She was one among many who lived in a rough time for African Americans. She lived in a time when equality wasn’t really equal. When African Americans were scared/ weren’t allowed to state their opinions on different matters. However, Rosa Parks was an individual who stood up for herself. Rosa Parks helped the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans gain equality mainly through her courage and refusal to move.

Racism has always been a major problem in America. However, it was known to be the most problematic in the late 1950s. On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his infamous speech “I Have a Dream” to America. His dream highlighted the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans that took place in this nation every single day. Dr. King inspired thousands despite the color of their skin, to take a stance against racism, with his powerful way with words. In his speech MLK efficaciously uses, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos by using allusions, developing credibility, in his speech to persuade all Americans to be aware of the problems with racism.

Oprah Winfrey has had an outstanding career and has emerged as the most significant female African American of her generation and those following her. From her early childhood Oprah has faced many obstacles and family distortions such as

When Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist and wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died in 2006, her friend, author and activist Maya Angelou, eulogized her. In her eulogy, Angelou employs anaphora, personal anecdotes, and connotative diction in order to strengthen her pathos and memorialize and celebrate Mrs. King’s long and illustrious life.

Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks were inspirational leaders that contributed greatly towards the civil rights movement. With racial discrimination surrounding King and Park, growing up as an African American made it hard and colored people were unfairly treated. Both King and Park knew the inequalities and sought education to aid themselves in their unfair life. Despite this, Park and King were brought up responsibly by their parents, King was an active civil rights activist, participating in the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott’, ‘March on Washington’ and lead the ‘Selma to Montgomery march’. Rosa Parks was an influential figure contributing to the civil rights movement as she was the chosen ‘test case’ the NCAACP were looking for.

She displays Oprah as the generous and admirable person that she is. She stresses that Oprah strives to make anything she likes known to everyone else. Lofton writes, “She is a pitchwoman of her own consumption; her consumption is her commodity” (Lofton 21). Another strength is that Lofton really shows how Oprah plays a huge religious role. Oprah offers regular rituals that show people the reality of life, give people some direction, give people hope for redeeming themselves, and offers them an outreach program. Lofton does a good job of tying in how Oprah incorporates religion to social and economic aspects. She states, “Winfrey, the talk show preacher, is a ‘story dramatizer’ with her confessional prodding, with her attempts to ‘heal the guest and the greater society whose ‘problem’ he or she supposedly represents’” (Lofton 117). By referring to Oprah as the talk show preacher, it further shows the reader the impact that Oprah can have religiously. Another highlight of the book is how Lofton places Oprah within the group of traditional African-American preachers as well as with the group of strong women evangelists. This helps the reader view Oprah as more than just a TV celebrity, but also as an extension of a cultural tradition that we are unfamiliar

The session that I attended was Dolores Huerta speech, which was very interesting. Dolores Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, she is a labor leader and civil rights activist who, along with Cesar Chavez, co-founded the national Farmworkers association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers, immigrants, and women’s rights. She is truly a leader, working tirelessly to help the poor and women and children. She talks about war, genocide, Mass incarceration, and poverty. During her participation in non-violent protest she was arrested 22 times trying to make changes in society. Her main question was what can we do as people to solve things in the

Rosa Parks, a very important and influential black woman in history. When a student is learning about Blacks fighting for equal rights, it is almost certain that the name “Rosa Parks” will be mentioned. The story that students are taught is that she was a quiet woman who had had enough and refused to give up her seat on the bus, which is not entirely true. Yes, Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man because she was sick and tired of being treated in such a horrible way, but she was not as quiet as everyone was taught to believe. Some might even say that history got the great Rosa Parks story wrong. An author by the name of Jeanne Theoharis definitely agrees to that. She agrees strongly that she wrote an article titled “How History Got the Rosa Parks Story Wrong”.

As Farber explains in his book “The Age of Great Dreams” the 1960s were a rough time for many types of people, color, homosexuals, woman, veterans, almost everyone that disagreed with the government had a tough time throughout the 60’s. At the beginning of the sixties everything seems to be fine. Automobiles were being sold, household appliances such as dishwashers, and ranges as well, almost everyone had money except for colored people. For African Americans the 1960s were not so easy going, they were treated unfairly even beaten and chased out of towns, and restaurants. Until mid 1960 African Americans were not allowed to vote. Once they were allowed to vote they had rules and limitations to be eligible to vote. It was the government's loophole

First, Theoharis uses Parks’ character, including her determination, willingness to speak out, and ability to confront oppression all of her life in the fight for racial equality, to strengthen her argument. For example, Theoharis expresses Rosa Parks’ determination when including Rosa’s quotes such as, “Freedom fighters never retire,” and, Parks’ “determination never to accept

Rosa Parks, as Malcolm X, in a revered way. Rosa Parks a Woman Who Changed

Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C on August 28, 1963. The speech is one in which has gained much recognition over the years and virtually won Dr. King the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent approach towards racism. Mahatma Gandhi was one of King’s prominent inspirations for his nonviolent movement. Gandhi, decades before Dr. King, practiced non-violence acts and civil disobedience. The will and strength that Gandhi possessed while advocating for peace and non-violence during the terrible events that had taken place in India moved Dr. King to find the path he had to take during his own strides to create a better America, primarily for African Americans. Although

In today’s day and age one of the most influential women and people is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has had a big impact on today’s society and played a huge role in advancing it. Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, producer, actress and philanthropist who are widely respected around the world. By becoming one of the biggest names in talk show history Oprah has paved the way for others and became one of the more popular women in talk show history. Her willingness to help others and to be sure others are guided in positive light shows how much passion she has to see the greater good in others. Oprah’s biggest role comes from helping to pursue the advancement of young women and girls. Oprah has taken the time to see to it that young women are out of poverty and opening up a brand new school for underprivileged females to see to it that they have the same opportunity that children in America and other parts of the world have. Being that African- Americans, let alone women were not seen as marketable, Oprah helped to change this dynamic early in her career by using her platform in communication to open doors for other people. Winfrey’s work over a number of years is the single most evident reason why she has been able to be successful in the field of mass communication. Oprah is one of the most influential women of our time because of how well she is able to contribute to the human rights of women and advancing them in today’s society.