The POwer of One

What is it that makes this pint sized woman tick? What is it that makes people respond to her? Regular people and celebrity alike hold Oprah in great esteem. What is it about her show that sometimes makes you want to cry watching the jubilance of transformed women after a makeover, shock of the wildest dream winners, determination of those battling with terminal diseases or the demons within, awestruck faces of those who won the cars in the biggest giveaway in TV history. What is it about Oprah that women who know her love her and those who watch her on TV like myself aspire to be like her? It could be her guts, her courage, her self-effacing attitude, go getting energy, self deprecating humour, her everyday qualities or is it that she comes across as one of us. Whatever it is, I thought as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I sat watching the best moments of her 20 years in our lives, there is no one like her.

You don’t have to feel it – you know she is doesn’t put on an act. She as genuine as they come. Meryl Streep put it brilliantly when she said, “ Some people make a name for themselves pretending to be other people, like me, some people do it just by being themselves, like you”. The illustrious Sidney Poitier, the man Oprah looks up to as an inspiration took the time out to personally come to the 20th anniversary celebration show and tell her how much of a difference she has made to the world.

She has the ability to change lives, whether it’s of those who appear on her show or couch potatoes like me who need to have their weekly if not daily fix of Oprah. She’s had break downs and revelations in the middle of the shows like when Trudy Chase, a woman who has multiple personalities and was severely abused as a child , was talking about her experiences a light just went on in Oprah’s mind. She realised that she wasn’t to blame for the abuse she herself had received as a child. This revelation, she says, finally set her free. She finally acknowledged the fact that her teenage promiscuity was her inability to recognise the fact that the child is never to blame. After which she went on to get a bill passed (unofficially named the Oprah Bill) which made it mandatory for all agencies hiring child care providers to do background checks on the applicants. This year 2 child sex offenders got caught because their mugs were plastered on her wanted list.


The self made billionaire, entrepreneur, actress and entertainment executive who dedication to child reform is incomparable says that her compassion for the downtrodden comes from her own childhood experiences. She is a role model for millions and her philanthropy is legendary.

She got America reading again with her book club transforming the books that appear on her show into overnight best sellers. She's the first black American woman billionaire, and reportedly makes about half a million dollars a day from her TV show alone. She owns or co-owns the Oxygen Network, O Magazine, her own Harpo Studio, Harpo Productions, Harpo Films, Harpo Print, and Harpo Video. Harpo, of course, is Oprah spelled backwards.

As one of the most powerful women in the world, well in the truest sense of the word, the most powerful woman in the world, when this little girl from Mississippi talks the world (34 million plus people) sit up and take notice. So lets not underestimate the power of one.