American figure presentation- Oprah Winfrey

Hi everyone, my name is Mytrang Pham. Today, I’d like to share with you some information about a famous African American of the 20th century. Her name is Oprah Winfrey, and she is the queen of daytime TV.

The reason why I choose Oprah is that I really like her show. She deals with her real problems on her TV show, shares them with the audience and gives us a lot of useful advice.

Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississipi on January 29, 1945. Her parents were unmarried teenagers. Her mother was a house maid and her father was a city council man. When she was born, Winfrey’s father was in the Armed Force. After her birth, her mother moved North, but Oprah stayed in Mississippi and living in a poor farm raised by her grandmother.

At the age of six, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee with her mother. When she was 13, she received a scholarship to attend the Nicolet high school. However, her life was changed by moving there. She was sexually abused and became pregnant when she was 14. Sadly, the baby died shortly after birth. After that, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville. Her father was strict but he encouraged and helped her to continue her education. With his support, Winfrey became a honor student and earned a full scholarship to Tennesse State University. In 1976, she graduated with a degree in Speech and Performing Art.

She worked in many kinds of entertainment like TV shows, films, magazines, websites and a radio station. She was successful in all of these fields. Her talk show “The Oprah Winfrey show” is the number one day time talk show. With this show, she has millions of viewers over the past two decades. Although she is best known as a talk show, she has also become an actress in the film “The Color Purple”,the story concerned about strong black women whose enduring strength and faith in themselves. And it had led them to overcome abuse at the hands of black men as well as white society. Her central character, Celie was nominated for a Academy Award for best supporting actress, but she lost.

On the other hand, the major thing in her life is that he has become a humanitarian and philanthropist. She was fulfill her dream when she founded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa in January 2007. It is a girls-only school that provided educational and leadership opportunities for girls from disadvantaged background in South Africa. Since she have no children, these girls have become her daughters and will receive their inheritance while she still alive.

Although she was born in a poor family, then raised by a mother on welfare, Winfrey became a millionaire by the age of 32. Now, she lives in “The promise land” near the ocean in a mountain view mainson, which is in Montecito, California.

One interesting thang that I learned while researching Oprah is that never giving up. Although your life may not be easy and you will make mistakes, the important thing is to stand up and try for a better life. Like Oprah Winfrey, with her accomplishments, she is now one of the most respected and admired public figures today.