Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey (http://www.topnews.in/oprah-winfrey-named-petas-person-year-2100333)

In my mind a hero is someone who possesses several strong heroic qualities. Several of these qualities stand out from the rest, and to me really make someone a real hero. Selflessness is one of these, to be kind, caring, and putting others in front of yourself. Another quality that I greatly admire is bravery, not being afraid to stand up for what you believe and face problems head on. But the most important two qualities I think a hero can possess, is determination and perseverance. The ability to dedicate yourself to accomplishing your goals and not giving up on them no matter what happens is something that only true heroes do. Oprah Winfrey shows all of these qualities, and that is why she is my hero.

Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. After she was born she was sent to live with her grandmother in poverty, who taught her to read by the age of three. She then moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. While living with her mother (who worked full-time as a maid did not have much time to mother Oprah) Oprah was molested and abused by several male relatives, and at the age of fourteen, she gave birth to a premature baby who died shortly after birth. This greatly frustrated her mother, who then sent her to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Oprah showed promise throughout her childhood, winning the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant, placing second in a national contest for dramatic inspiration while on her high school speech team at East Nashville High, and also earning a full scholarship to Tennessee State University.

Oprah in

After she graduated from Tennessee State University in 1973, she was offered a job by WTVF-TV as a co-anchor, becoming Nashville’s first African American correspondent. In 1976 she moved to Baltimore to co-anchor for WJZ-TV. Then, in 1983 she moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV’s morning show A.M. Chicago. A year later, the show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah had made her own life, from living in poverty to owning and being the star of the most popular talk show in Chicago. This alone was enough to make me admire Oprah. She had the determination to make herself in the world, and the fact that she was an African American born into a time where racism and prejudice was not an uncommon thing, makes me admire her as a hero even more. Still, she had even more ambition and made her debut as a movie-star in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. For her role she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

An edition of Oprah's magazine (http://www.personal-astrology.com/Stars/Oprah-Winfrey.aspx)

Over the next 30 years Oprah Winfrey became the richest African American in the 20th century, the first black billionaire, and is considered to be the greatest black philanthropist in history. She has been in several mainstream films, authored several best-selling books, and is owner of O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine (an extremely successful magazine). She has an incredible amount of awards, and studies suggest that her endorsement of Barrack Obama gained him over a million votes. She has been on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World every year since 2004, the only person to be on the list that long.

Oprah Winfrey is not my hero because she is so successful (even though I admire that greatly). She is my hero because even with all this success and fame, she still cares about the problems of other people, and does her best to help those in need. She has brought issues to the mainstream media, and has used this power to her actually help the world by changing little things, such as getting new legislation passed in Pennsylvania to set ethical standards and requirements in puppy mills. Or launching the “Angel Network Katrina Home Registry” which helped build homes for hurricane victims. Along with others Oprah Winfrey has improved the world in many different ways.

There are many things I admire about Oprah Winfrey, her ability that she went from nothing to everything, and became one of the most influential people in history. And she uses this influence for the greater good, by improving the world little by little. Oprah inspires me, and I admire her. Oprah Winfrey is my hero.