Person Worthy of Respect

April Simms

McGee

ADV 100

12/07/05

A Person Worthy of Respect

Oprah Winfrey is a person worthy of respect. Oprah accomplishments include her famed role in the Steven Spielberg's 1985 film, The Color Purple; launching her own talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, in 1986; and creating Harpo Studios, in 1998. Overcoming sexual abuse, poverty, and discrimination, Oprah has endured so much in life and is worthy of my admiration.

Sexual abuse is something hard to overcome, but my mentor Oprah has done it. As a child her mother's friends and relatives sexually abused her. At fourteen she was abused by another relative and later became pregnant. She later delivered a stillborn child, which caused torment and pain in her life. Some sexually abused children become child abusers, prostitutes, or have other serious problems when they reach adulthood. Not Oprah, she's very successful and powerful. I love and respect her ambition to be nothing less than important.

Being poor is far from what Oprah is, but she once was there. Growing up she was very poor. Her mother used to make her overalls out of potato sacks because she couldn't afford to buy clothes. Xboxes and Playstations weren't an option for Oprah. She didn't have toys, but she made the best of what she had. She would make dolls out of corncob and people out of straws. Now, she can buy any toy or piece of clothing she desires. The magazine that knows the meaning of rich is Forbes magazine. Forbes disclosed that Oprah is the first African American women billionaire. Sounds like she is far from poor to me. I've learned that being at the bottom means that there is always room at the top.

Discrimination is something most of our ancestors been through. Sometimes discrimination is used to make a distinction. Oprah had her fare share of discrimination. She dealt with the discrimination from different radio and TV stations about her race and becoming a rising talk show host. Her weight became a major problem in the industry because she didn't have the ideal TV look. She was a rising star who was overweight, but still she didn't let her weight get in the way of her success. Most talk show host was men. Oprah being a woman and the new kid on the block caused a lot of discrimination and problems for her. She became the youngest person and the first African American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. Oprah proved that she was going to take over and did.

A person worthy pf respect is Oprah Winfrey. She is a powerful African American woman who has overcome sexual abuse, poverty and discrimination. My love for Oprah is a product of her determination, her busy savvy, her love for people, and the respect