Oprah Winfrey Turning Point

Oprah is saying, that Rosa Parks actions influence the community, by giving us hope and courage. In her own words “And in that moment when you resolved to stay in that seat, you reclaimed your humanity and you gave

“The best of humanity's recorded history is a creative balance between horrors endured and victories achieved, and so it was during the Harlem Renaissance.” A quote stated by Aberjhani in his novel Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made out of Poetry channels the significance and impact of the Harlem Renaissance as a movement that gave African Americans their first opportunity to express themselves. With the continuous, yet advanced expansion of African American impact on society in this new era, indeed we are in the midst of a new Black American Renaissance. As a renowned business woman, talk show host, actress, producer and more, Oprah Winfrey has influenced this new renaissance with her contributions of literature, performing arts, media entrepreneurship, taboo topics, and discussions on race relations as well as philanthropy.

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

Being an African-American female I have been faced with many obstacles in life. These obstacles have consisted of being faced with stereotypes because of my gender and race. Despite these challenges I have learned to always embrace my ethnicity and culture, and use these stereotypes as motivation to not only better myself as a person, but to prove those who doubted me wrong.

Many black entertainers believed that they needed to advocate against racial discrimination and white supremacy for every nation since it wasn’t just a problem for the U.S.. They believed that their efforts could achieve decolonization of other nations and promote independence for all. In response to violent events that were overtaking the U.S., black women activist-entertainers used their platform to expose the injustice of racial discrimination and promoted the civil rights movement. For example, Miriam Makeba used her platform and created music to broadcast content and their own perspective on the global racial issues toward their consumers. Another example would be Cicely Tyson, a high-fashion model who used her position to expand the boundaries of black beauty by using her hair and clothing as valuable props. She challenged what it meant to be a black woman and how race and sexuality played intersecting

For example, Bleeding Kansas was the start of the Civil War and the Civil War is what ended slavery, since slavery has been ended many colored men and women have become a big part of our nation. The past eight years we have experienced our first black president, Barack Obama. Now, it is not uncommon to see most news headlines with an African American name being the subject or even the reporter being colored. Also, most celebrities that provide us with entertainment through TV, music, or even books are African Americans. Beyoncé has become a big hit to teen girls throughout the United States. She is sending out the message that you don’t have to be skinny to be beautiful, curves make you beautiful as well. She is becoming most young teens hero because of society’s image of a perfect women to be almost impossible to achieve. The world has made an evolution to how we address and treat African

Rose Kennedy coined the famous statement: “life is not a matter of milestones, but of moments”. Black History month focuses on specific African Americans whom have made an overall national difference within each Americans’ life. However, this month often forgets to praise those African Americans whom have made and are still making a difference within the lives of the people in their community. There is one specific African American lady whom has made a difference within the members of my small community, along with continuing to make a major impact within my life. Her name is Albertnetta Hamilton, and this is her story.

Oprah Winfrey is an American entrepreneur, TV show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Oprah Winfrey owns her own network called OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) and she is the chairman of Harpo Inc. She is a self-made billionaire. She is the ONLY African American female billionaire with an estimated net worth of 3.1 billion. Winfrey is the first black woman to own and run a television network, The Oprah Winfrey show was the highest rated, most seen talk show in history and was watched in 110 countries. Oprah has been honored with awards in broadcasting, including the Peabody award and the IRIS Gold Medal award and 39 daytime Emmy awards.

Imagine being taunted for having to wear potato-sack dresses because of poverty, or growing up in impoverishment American housing projects. Two of the most famous people had to go through those trails in their life, but made it out VERY successfully. Oprah was raised being taunted for having to wear potato-sack dresses because of her poverty. Oprah now has a television network called OWN. She is a talk-show host, a book club president, an actress, a producer, a magazine owner, a satellite radio station owner, a philanthropist, a lifestyle guru, and a single-handed president picker. The other is an African-American born into impoverished American housing projects, Jay-Z. He is now the current CEO of Roc Nation and his net worth is an estimated $450 million. Even though neither of these people hadn’t come from lovely backgrounds, they had various trials, and tribulations, but they made it through and became some of the most successful people in the world. Growing up in a rough environment can be extremely hard. It can either make or break a person. From home life, to schooling, to jail systems, and the streets being an easy backup. growing up in this environment can be huge deals in the success of young African Americans.

Her ability to consistently attain successful work throughout her life elevated her status in the community. The work that allowed her to achieve standing also served as the catalyst for her initial questioning of her surroundings, and allowed her to fully realize the extent that the system was stacked against black Americans. However; this realization led to an empowerment capable of fighting the forces that worked against her, rather than the fearful subservience of fellow members of the Black community, including her mother and younger sister.

Considering the process of change for the struggle of African-American equality in the USA for the period 1877-1981, how far could the Second World War be seen as a key turning point?

For another example, in the article “The Power of Positive Role Models” written by Mark Mathabane, Mark was headed down the wrong road until an African American tennis player by the name of Arthur Ashe. Ashe’s character was the factor that led to the turnaround of Mark’s life. Having a role model helps younger individuals and even older individuals know that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. Many people fall under the impression that only Caucasian people have the successful careers. That’s when role models come into play.

When I think of influential people, especially those of African American descent, so many names flash through my mind but my main inspiration would have to be Madam C.J. Walker. Many know her as the first female, of any race, self-made millionaire in America. While I may not a business major, I still draw much inspiration from her story. She was the first free-born member of her family and was raised in the Jim Crow South. She literally spent half of her life doing back breaking work by washing other people’s clothes seven days a week and only made $1.50 each week. She came from next to nothing but that didn’t dampen her spirit or dreams. Women, especially black women, in the late 1800s into the 20th century had few options to make money and their opinions were overlooked by the males that dominated society at the time. While women today are not nearly as oppressed as during Walker’s time we still have mountains to climb to obtain the true equality so many women crave.

Life is not always easy as we think, each and every one had a bad experience in your life that teaches you a lesson for us in order to win the journey of our life. In the essay, "Graduation", Maya Angelou states about the unfair treatment of whites against the African Americans during the graduation. There are situations in life where we feel discriminated but no matter what we have to gain the strength to prosper.

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.