Inspiring Stories of Women and How They Changed the Picture: Oprah Winfrey

By Charlotte King

Oprah Winfrey

To start off this new 'series' we have Oprah Winfrey, an undoubtedly influential person who changed the picture. But how exactly?

Oprah Winfrey, born in Mississippi, USA into a life of poverty and abuse, experienced sexual molestation in her teenage years. She later moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin at age 6, where she later found success in the radio. 

Winfrey’s career took off when she was invited to Chicago to host a talk show. This eventually turned into “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, which ran for 25 years with 25 seasons. 

Now at this point, being known as the “Queen of All Media”, she not only became an icon but one of the richest African American women in the 20th century. She owned her own production company called Harpo Productions, which created a famous movie called “The Waterman”, released in 2020. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the movie “The Colour Purple”. 

Oprah became a major influence for creating the National Child Protection Act and is a committed philanthropist (a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others), supporting education and child abuse prevention.

Social Justice: Oprah Winfrey was a successful advocate that gave a voice to underrepresented voices in the media within the Black community and led to the National Child Protection Act.

Philanthropist: Establishing Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, a.k.a empowering young women and creating Oprah’s Angel Network and Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation.