Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey

Michelle: Your efforts at discovering the woman behind the public persona are yielding insightful results. Oprah’s passionate interests and commitment to education, learning, philanthropy, and the African-American cultural experience - as you have established - are not only what make her who she is at the core but they also fuel her public persona. Honoring her roots, embracing her blackness are another source of her inner strength and power. Sure, Oprah’s public persona is the face she presents to the world when she works but is it really what defines her?

Of the quotes you posted, the first 2 are excellent choices and perfectly suited to our project. Both are revealing and define Oprah inasmuch as that they speak to the core values outlined in your report. Although it is difficult to choose between the 2, I may be partial to the 2nd quote because, with that statement, Oprah is both bringing up the rear in a long line of extraordinarily courageous women and a leading figure in the empowerment of generations to come.

Of interest to all: An exhibition on slavery and the many ways it shaped New York is currently on view at the New York Historical Society. Find the time to see it! Its title: New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War.

Excellent report Michelle!