Oprah Winfrey has won the Golden Globes Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement. She is the first Black woman to win the award. Her speech was a sensation at the ceremony and its heartwarming nature has won the internet over.
Here are key takeaways from her speech:
Oprah started with remembering when she saw Sidney Poitier win the same award as a little girl. He was the first Black man to win the award.
“And I’d never seen a Black man being celebrated like that. And I’ve tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl — a kid watching from the cheap seats, as my mom came through the door bone-tired from cleaning other people’s houses,” she said.
She said that it isn’t lost on her that there are little girls watching her win the same way she watched Poitier win all those years ago.
Oprah went on to speak about corruption.
"To tyrants and victims and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before, as we try to navigate these complicated times. Which brings me to this: What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have."
Touching about the #MeToo movement and the Time’s Up campaign, Oprah in her all-Black attire paid tribute to women all over the world.
“So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault, because they — like my mother — had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue. They’re the women whose names we’ll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers; they are working in factories and they work in restaurants, and they’re in academia and engineering and medicine and science; they’re part of the world of tech and politics and business; they’re our athletes in the Olympics and they’re our soldiers in the military.”
She also honoured Recy Taylor, a Black activist who recently passed away. She was gangraped by six white men and was threatened with death if she spoke out. But she did it anyway and sought justice.
“She lived, as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. And for too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up. Their time is up.”
She ended with saying that she wants all the girls to know that a new day is on the horizon. And that new day is the result of a lot of magnificent women.
"And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, ‘Me too,’ again."
Here’s @Oprah’s entire speech. Watch it. If you’ve already seen it, watch it again. #MeToo #TimesUp pic.twitter.com/cAcVJreRzf
— shauna (@goldengateblond) January 8, 2018
Also Read: The Story of Oprah Winfrey in 14 Milestones