Page 158 - April Issue
P. 158

mama me-time | food for the soul

  Oprah Wins

 Have you ever wondered what your life
would be like if you were born in another
place, in another culture? Imagine growing
up in Siberia, while your dad goes to the

  mine and your mum takes care of you
 and her mother at home. Or being one
  of the many children lost in the mega-
 cities of South America, surrounded by
violence and poverty.We build ourselves

     our own little world through our
  experiences in life, based on what our

           parents gave us as kids.

mother, baby & child April 2011  S ome people have an easy          whenever I heard about Oprah       tension, and in the late 50’s and
                                         start, while others will   Winfrey. She is just a very, very  early 60’s, it was the poorest
                                         have to fight so much      rich woman who got her fortune     state of the United States,
                                 more for what they dream of.       by portraying and using other      poverty predominantly affecting
                                 But if there is one woman who      people’s lives. What is the        non-white families. Voting
                                 has showed the world – and         fuss all about? Well the fuss      rights were highly violated –
                                 continues to do so – that no       is actually about the journey,     again affecting the important
                                 matter where you come from,        about what led her to where she    African American population
                                 there is hope, her name is         is now, about her dreams and       – and racism and violence
                                 Oprah.                             strength, and how everyday she     towards non-white Americans
                                                                    changes someone’s life.            were still common. Like many
                                          We do not need to use                                        other families at the time, hers
                                 her full name any more, which              Oprah Gail Winfrey         was poor, and her mother, an
                                 is usually a mark of recognition.  was born in January 1954           unmarried teenager, sent her to
                                 Everybody knows her, but not       in Mississippi. Now if you         her grandmother to take care
                                 everyone knows the extent of       wonder how it can already be       of her. Her grandmother was
                                 her efforts and achievements.      a challenge to be born there in    extremely poor, sometimes not
                                 Yes, she has a TV show, but if     that year, let me quickly take     being able to afford clothes for
                                 you are not really into this kind  you back to this state in the      her granddaughter, but she did
                                 of program, you might not think    south of the United States of      teach Oprah to read before she
                                 twice about this remarkable        America. Mississippi had a past    was three years old. The first
                                 woman. This is exactly how I felt  of great violence and racial

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