Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey achieved the American dream by succeeding in becoming a global media leader and connecting with people around the world through the power of media. Winfrey was born January 29, 1954. At a young age, she became the youngest person and African American woman to anchor the news at WTVF-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. Before Oprah, women of color didn’t get out of the ordinary jobs, let alone appear in staring roles on television. She helps all sorts of people around the world.
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Originally named “Orpah”, her name was later changed to “Oprah” because of the complications many people had with saying the name. Her mother, Vernita Lee, was 18 years of age and her father, Vernon Winfrey, was 20 when she was born. Vernon Winfrey was in the service and was unable to be present in Oprah’s life when she was a small child. Oprah’s mother left Mississippi not telling of her whereabouts, leaving Oprah with her grandparents on a farm until the age of 6. When her mother returned she had a hard time providing for her seeing as she was just a housecleaner. Winfrey was seen as gifted early on by neighboring locals in her community. While in kindergarten she even wrote a request to her teacher asking that she be moved to the 1st grade. The next day she skipped a grade. At age 14 she moved to Tennessee to live with her father. He was now out of the service and worked as a businessman and a barber. There, Winfrey found that she was interested in broadcasting and began her broadcasting career in high school.
Oprah Winfrey attended Tennessee State University in 1971 and began working in radio and television broadcasting in Nashville. At age 19 she became the youngest and first African American woman to anchor the news at WTVF-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. From there she moved to Baltimore’s WJZ-TV show called “People are Talking” from 1976 to 1983. She was soon fired because she...