American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist Oprah Gail Winfrey was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954 to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. Vernita and Vernon had Oprah at a young age and never were married to each other during the time of Oprah’s birth. Oprah Winfrey had a difficult adolescents living with her mother, she was sexually abused by male relatives and friends of her mother. Oprah ran away from home and was sent to a juvenile detention center.
Around this time she gave birth to a premature boy that died soon after his birth. Later she became under the supervision of her strict father Vernon Winfrey in Nashville. While Oprah was in high school, she began her broadcasting career as a newswoman for a Nashville radio station. In
...1971, she entered Tennessee State University, and shortly later became a television news anchor for a Nashville station. In 1976, Oprah went to Baltimore and for a short time worked as a reporter and co-anchor for their ABC affiliate.
However, she found that objective reporting wasn’t something she enjoyed, especially since she displayed so much emotion and personal involvement in her reporting. She soon moved on to become co-host of a local talk show called People Are Talking. The show was very successful, and Oprah found her fit as a talk show host. This is how her career began. In 1984, Oprah went to Chicago to host and help a struggling talk show called A. M. Chicago. After Oprah was on A. M. Chicago it became a very popular within a year and eventually it was renamed and called The Opra
Winfrey Show.
This show became national and Oprah was the first Black African American to have her own talk show on national television. Oprah believed that education is the door to freedom, offering a chance at a brighter future. Through her private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, she has awarded hundreds of grants to organizations that support the education and commission of women, children and families in the United States and around the world. Amongst her various beneficent contributions, she has donated millions of dollars toward providing a better education for students who have value but no means.
She also has developed schools to educate thousands of underserved children internationally and created "The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program," which gives scholarships to students determined to use their education to give back to their communities in the United States and overseas. In December 2002, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation expanded and went global. Rural schools in South Africa 50,000 children received food, clothing, athletic shoes, school supplies, books and toys as a gift. Sixty-three rural schools received libraries and teacher education.
During December 2000 visit with Nelson Mandela; Oprah pledged to build a school in South Africa. As that commitment got bigger, she established The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, to which she has contributed more than $40 million toward the creation of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls; South Africa, which opened in January 2007. From all of these contributions that Oprah has made throughout her life is something that many people look up to her for. Making donations and helping the less fortunate is what Ms.
Oprah Winfrey is known for all around the world. Oprah Winfrey is one
of the many people that I look up to as a role model. Oprah never gave up on her dream of becoming successful Black African American woman that has her own television talk show and many other things. She is a leader and she has proved that to the world a very long time ago. When I think of the word leader seven things come to mind, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
On her show she shows the world all seven of these attributes and she speaks her opinion no matter what people may think or say about her and as a leader those things shouldn’t affect you anyway because that means that you are a confident leader on the inside and out. Oprah started from the bottom like many people that are very famous like herself today. Today Oprah is still living and she is a billionaire. She shares her wealthiness with her fans, family, and the people around the world that are in desperate need for a true blessing, because of all these things she is important to me.
