"Maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights..."
This weekend, I read my kids a short story about Oprah Winfrey – one that taught me more about the woman behind the legendary television producer and host. I grew up with The Oprah Winfrey Show – broadcast from Chicago, and the highest-rated television show of its kind.
Winfrey was born as Orpah Gail Winfrey in Kosciusko, Mississippi to Vernita Lee, and spent her first six years of life living with her grandmother in abusive and poor conditions. She learned to read before the age of three, and went to a local high school there before finding early success in Upward Bound – a federal education program. She went on to become an honors student, voted Most Popular Girl, a member of the speech team, and the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant. As a teenager, she went on to work for a local radio station, and then as an anchor for a local news station. Winfrey took a low-rated half-hour morning talk show called AM Chicago from last place to first place in the ratings, and was offered a full hour show that became known as The Oprah Winfrey Show. The rest, as they say, is history. After the show’s incredible success, she went on to form her own network, a host of awards and accolades, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
What has always set Winfrey apart was her empathy – she was always able to get even the toughest guest to open up to the public about their lives, their hopes and their struggles. When she received the Cecil B. DeMille award at the 2018 Golden Globes, she said in her acceptance speech:
In my career, what I’ve always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere and how we overcome. I’ve interviewed and portrayed people who’ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say “Me too” again.
As we continue to weather the storm of this pandemic, while some countries emerge and others are left behind, I find myself in awe of Winfrey. Someone who is able to see the best of people in the worst of times, and help them emerge better for having known her and having spoken to her. Someone who consistently aims high, despite what folks told her along the way about the limits of her potential. And someone who uses her empathy as a tool to unearth new talents. It’s a rare gift, and one that she uses so precisely and expertly. May we all take some small part of her gift with us into the week ahead.
-Reshma