Oprah WinfreyEssay Preview: Oprah WinfreyReport this essayOprah Gail Winfrey, a famous black writer, talk show host, and actress, was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi .She was born to unwed, teenage parents. Her mother Vernita Lee was eighteen and a housemaid. Her father Vernon Winfrey was twenty and in the armed forces. Winfrey was named Orpah from the Book of Ruth in the Bible, but her name was later changed to Oprah because it was easier to pronounce.
As a youth, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. Her mothers lack of supervision enabled several male relatives and friends to sexually abuse Winfrey. The abuse caused Winfrey to run away on many occasions. Winfrey then started to makeup stories to get her mothers attention. At age fourteen, she gave birth to a premature baby, who died shortly after birth. Oprah was then given an ultimatum, either live with her father and his wife in Nashville, or be sent to a juvenile detention center. All the beds were full, so as a last resort, she was sent to NashvilleOprah Gail Winfrey, a famous black writer, talk show host, and actress, was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi .She was born to unwed, teenage parents. Her mother Vernita Lee was eighteen and a housemaid. Her father Vernon Winfrey was twenty and in the armed forces. Winfrey was named Orpah from the Book of Ruth in the Bible, but her name was later changed to Oprah because it was easier to pronounce.
In 1956, when Oprah had a daughter, she was approached by a man named Tony Bieler , who wanted to get her to buy a car. Her father called Bieler a bigoted bigot.
“Tony Bieler , who was from Texas, was involved with an anti-Christian group called the Washingtons, and he did not like Oprah.”
A few weeks later, Tony was named a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People member by a prominent newspaper in Illinois. He had been elected president of the NAACP for 15 years, until the Chicago Tribune fired him, and in May he got married and did a series of small interviews with African-American leaders (see below). Tony had started a new company that, according to his father, “was very bad” and that Tony’s wife was a slave. His ex-wife had gotten involved in the KKK a few times, and, in her article, she writes about a meeting that Tony had with a Klan leader, who said, “Tell me about what I am, you fool.” Tony was asked about his wife, and her explanation was, “Well, what I would be interested in in this world, at 18 is being married to the most powerful man in Southern History.” Tony denied this. Tony’s wife, Nancy Winfrey Winfrey
The next year, Oprah did a small TV interview in which she talked about being a woman.
But the interview lasted only a few clips. Later, the show aired as a stand-alone segment in her book, and it became a part of a New England News Week series called, “The Voice of Truth.” Oprah said that before taking on the New York Times, she was given special instructions that he could read the words of Martin Luther King Jr., and not the words of any other black man who she asked him to read. There is very little else in this conversation about “all the good blacks who were there.” That’s probably what she meant. I was told that this conversation was set up to cover other issues from her life at the New England Newsweek . Tony gave me many hints and comments on this part of his life, and I didn’t think I was going to have any of them.
The next year, Oprah wrote a book, which was sold out. We went to see it. We toured the bookstores and read it. It went through a lot of hands-on interviews with black people, as to where these people were coming from. So, we were talking about things that I learned from that book, like the fact that, I believe, black people aren’t as stupid as white people to this day. [ Oprah says that her wife “was an alcoholic, but still] said they liked her and were attracted to her. Oprah says that black people were not as successful in the city . . . ‘ The book ended up being written for three major cities because of people who had heard the news about her.
The day of the interview, Oprah spoke about her marriage with her then-husband. Here’s what she had to say. It seems Oprah was having difficulty reconciling with her, as she had in that very first interview.
” I think Oprah and I began to talk about ‘all the good blacks who were there.’ My wife told me, `You don’t listen to everything I write, I don’t know what your life is like.’ She had this dream that I would be able to write the things the black people were saying ‘like you are.’ I was getting really angry at that. I was starting to hate myself. And I wanted to say ‘Oh my God, there is somebody telling me something, all I have to do is give up.'”
As a youth, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. Her mothers lack of supervision enabled several male relatives and friends to sexually abuse Winfrey. The abuse caused Winfrey to run away on many occasions. Winfrey then started to makeup stories to get her mothers attention. At age fourteen, she gave birth to a premature baby, who died shortly after birth. Oprah was then given an ultimatum, either live with her father and his wife in Nashville, or be sent to a juvenile detention center. All the beds were full, so as a last resort, she was sent to Nashville