Oprah Gail Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey (images.google.com)

Introducing ... the woman who was moved back and forth during her childhood. Her very own family friends abusing her since she was nine years old. Now she is one of America's most influential people. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Gail Winfrey born January 29, 1954 had a pretty rough childhood. She would move back and forth between her Grandmother, Mother, and Father. Her Grandmother taught her basic skills when she was young. When she got to her Mother's house in Wisconsin she was abandoned and sexually abused by her family's close friends. Oprah started stealing from her Mom, and lying about many things, so she was sent to live with her Father where she had the best learning experience and attention she needed. Oprah did very well in school as well as her social life; she finally started making friends that weren't animals. She started speaking in her church, and ended up winning a contest with a full scholarship to Tennessee State. Oprah entered in many beauty pageants and she won them, she also competed in Miss Black America.

This is when Oprah's career started to soar. Soon after all the pageants Oprah was a junior in college and she became Nashville's first woman to co anchor on the evening news. After all her hard work, Oprah graduated in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in speech and drama. With her awesome academics Oprah was offered an interviewing job, at last her dream come true. That's when Oprah thought, she still had to get used to some of the depressing stories and toughen up if she wanted to keep her job, and it definitely took some time. Her boss had suggested a beauty treatment and it ended up making her bald so she would have to wear scarves over her head, she started using food to comfort herself.

Oprah finally realized she wanted bigger and better things, and this is when the one and only Oprah Winfrey show comes in, she still interviews people except now she does it her way. She also speaks at schools and churches about many issues for free. Oprah started a charity called Angel Network, which is a global charity. She asked her viewers to collect loose change, and then she would match the total with her own money. With over a million dollars she built a leadership academy for girls in Africa.

I think Oprah Winfrey is an American hero because she is a great role model for people who don't have much hope like people with no money, abusive parents, or other issues. She is a great leader for everyone in America and she gives so much all of the time, she also gives pretty good advice. I think Oprah is talented and smart enough she could even be on Mount Rushmore. All the little things Oprah does adds up on top of everything else she does and that is why Oprah is not only my hero, She is an American Hero.