Oprah is the Voice of the Poor – Here is How She Started Her Career
Oprah Winfrey was once considered to be the voice of the poor. She was open about her struggles with weight loss. In fact, she was one of the first celebrities to talk about being overweight and then losing it.
With the publication of her book, “The Color Purple,” she became a more accessible voice to some of the less than wealthy individuals. Unfortunately, many people still have trouble believing her story. She goes on to say in that book that she was once made fun of and called names by many white males who called her “nigger” when she was in her teens. So, there is no hiding behind Oprah or that story and she has a new target audience.
Despite her success in the media, Oprah has to continue to prove herself to make people take notice. She has talked about her battle with drug addiction and in fact even discusses her recovery from that. She talks about the process of getting help and makes clear that she is not proud of what she has done. However, she is not ashamed or embarrassed about it. She understands the consequences that go along with her actions.
Oprah has had other problems in her life as well. She has lost a child and is very close to her grandchild. Of course, that brings up a good point as to why she has had a difficult life and is a character we should look up to. She also talks about her grandchildren in the book, “The Butler.” It is not easy raising children and grandchildren alone.
She is a good voice of reason and provides a voice of encouragement to those who need it. However, her criticisms of the media and her failures to control the media coverage often are overlooked. Sometimes they are simply ignored because she is considered to be an expert.
If you read her autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” you will see the true image of the woman who said she was not worthy because she was black and from the African American community. Many celebrities of the past and present have used this platform to speak about issues that may affect the individual’s life. They were not embarrassed, but rather just spoke out against those who were. That is not what Oprah is doing and, unfortunately, some of the same people are not reading her book because they are uncomfortable with what they read.
Oprah will continue to be known as an expert on TV and print media. But, for now, she can speak on issues that may affect the community that she comes from. When Oprah speaks, they listen and some of them join her in speaking out about the issues that may affect their lives and that of others. However, as we have seen, not everyone does.
In the past years, Oprah has become famous but she is not perfect and she has had her failures in the past years. She is still a force to be reckoned with in media and also in the world in general. She is able to have more access to the media because she does not need a producer or a publicist to keep her speaking at the podium.
