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Her chat show has been the most successful show of its kind. Her ability to speak rose her from rags to riches. She became one of the richest African-American women of 20th century. And the world knew through her that it’s all about the survival of the fittest. Unlike what is shown on the big screen is not always the reality. Not everything that glitter is gold. Her story had every possible obstacle and disappointment, but she kept walking ahead even with those bleeding wounds.
She was born on 29 January 1956 in Mississippi to an unmarried teenage mother, who used to work as a housemaid. Her mother couldn’t take up her responsibility, being poor, and had to head to the north in search of work. She therefore until the age of six lived with her maternal grandmother.
Her grandmother taught her to read at the age of three and would often take her to the church, to reach bible verses.
They were so poor that she used to wear clothes made out of potato sacks and for which she was often laughed upon. They used to eat the leftover food, which sometimes was just a slice of bread.
In one of her shows, she admitted of being brutally molested and harassed by her cousin uncle ever since the age of nine, and to her surprise no one believed it, when she brought that out. Her entire childhood was full of poverty, harrassment and racism.
She started stealing money from her mother to be friends with other children of her school and to avoid being mocked and laughed upon for being a housemaids daughter. At the age of 14, she was molested and got pregnant, with a boy, who was born prematurely and had later died.
Her struggle to survive in the world full of cruelty and dishonesty left an impact in both her mind and heart.
She was then sent to live permanently with her father, who although was strict but used to make sure she focus on her education. She soon became popular in her school, due to her ability to speak and engage people in her conversation.
She was honors students and at the age of 17, she won black miss Tennessee title. Her vocal abilities and popularity was noticed by a local black radio show. She was soon offered to be a part of show which kept rising on the charts and she was soon offered a better time slot show and a position in the station.
Her journey started, and one after the other she kept on doing radio shows and later shows on the television. Her most popular show The Oprah Winfrey Show brought her into the radar of riches. The show was highest rated and ran for 25 years on television. Oprah Winfrey went onto become the first ever black women billionaire in the world. Her contribution towards community bought her multiple accolades and respect.
The life she had lived as a child were both disturbing and horrifying, yet that did not stop her from realizing her worth. From poverty to molestation she had seen it all, yet she rose from the ashes just like a Phoenix, strong and tall.
