She Persisted: Oprah Winfrey

 Oprah Winfrey always loved telling stories. When she was a young girl, she didn’t have a lot of money or a lot of fancy clothes, but she had her voice in big and small ways.

    Oprah used her voice to tell stories to anyone- and anything- that would listen. Especially to the animals on the farm in her small Mississippi town. Oprah considered the chickens and piglets her friends. She named each one and told them stories as she fed them. Sometimes, she made up grand tales. Other times, she retold sermons she heard at church. Oprah was good at remembering what the pastor said on Sunday mornings, and she was good at memorizing the scriptures her grandmother taught her.

    By the age of three, Oprah was able to read. She loved reading and speaking words, and people all around town loved hearing her. No one knew that one day she would be called the “Queen of Talk.” No one knew that one day. her voice would be heard all over the world.

    Oprah was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on Janurary 29, 1954. Her parents were not married. Her mother, Vernita Lee, was eighteen years old. Her father, Vernon Winfrey, was away serving in the United States Army. They named her Orpah, after a woman in the Bible. People often mispronounced her name, switching the r and the p, so instead of correcting them, she took on the name Oprah.

    Vernita wanted to create a better life for her daughter. She did not want to raise Oprah in the segregated South, where Black people did not have equal rights. Black people could not drink out of the same water fountains as white people, and some restaurants only welcomed white customers. There were many businesses that wouldn’t hire Black people. Vernita moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to find work, leaving Oprah with her grandparents, Hattie Mae and Earlist Lee. Vernita promised Oprah she’d send for her once she was settled.
Oprah’s grandparents lived on a farm, and they gave Oprah lots of chores. Besides feeding the animals, she was responsible for going to  a nearby well to bring water back for the family. Most of the food Oprah ate was from the farm and garden. She didn’t realize that fresh food was a healthy way to eat. Instead she felt ashamed that her family did not have enough money to buy groceries at the store.