Oprah Winfrey's Life Advice Will Change Your Future Must READ Motivational Speech Flawless Motivation

Empowerment is the right it is a sign permission slip to really seize the day when it is the process of being stronger and more confident and more engaged and empowered in the world without any kind of fear or any kind of apology And with these gifts I believe comes an even deeper privilege and that is the ability to take charge of your own life and claim your rights and here I certainly know that which has a lot to offer. given is expected and much has been given to me. I guess some people think that I was born under the impression that I was born strong enough to come out of the womb to interview a Klassman, but the truth is that I am well I know what it's like to be marginalized, either subtly or quite directly, that my yo Gdan isn't in my face or welcome was invisible and my needs were a long way back. When I was doing news in Baltimore I asked to be paid the same amount as my co-anchor, who did exactly the same thing as I do. and i was hoping i would be compensated so i went in and i asked i get the same amount of money so he was doing the same thing i was doing except he called me babe all the time yeah babe anyway I was told by my news director and general manager because earlier I went to the news director that I was a general manager and I was told that because I was a single woman who didn't have a hostage and didn't have kids, I kind of Didn't deserve to make money I was working hard for the team to work in Chicago and they had been working for a long time and a year or so. then we were asked to be the syndicate the work started paying off long ago w e was no longer called chicago we are the national oprah winfrey show i got a salary but my producer is not so i was at that time went to the boss and i asked that my producers who were incidentally all female i asked if they would be given a pay increase and my boss said in 1986 why they are only girls why should they need more money for girls need uh uh I used the word affectionately sometimes referring to women as girls and there was no affection in their tone it was completely condescending so you know it takes some time to develop a voice but once you get it, you definitely better use it on the things that matter so i took a deep breath in that moment and said either they're gonna rise or i going to sit I'm not going to work if they don't get paid more I'd like to believe I'm like that could have spoken the truth of the wrong way even if I was alone but here I was finally on the verge of getting what I really wanted and working uh many years for a national show I mean if I'd be too scared to stand my ground against this guy if I were really alone, but here's the thing you're never alone You're never alone The sovereign sound of Maya Angelou's voice was pushing me Whispers ahead that day I come as one but I stand as ten thousand, so when I had the opportunity to advocate for my producers I quietly called some of the ten thousand and went to my boss's office Shake hands with the women who come before me.

I could feel Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday looking for a place to eat an elephant girl and Moti Bailey and Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horn holding their green books while they sang at dinner clubs for whites only Were and I could refuse Reggie Taylor and Rosa Parks to abandon their dignity in the face of death threats All these women were walking into the office in Chicago with me that day like Diana Carroll and Petula Clark and Joan Baez and Mary Tyler Moore and Mom had Maybellie and Barbara Walters and all the wonder women none of us will ever know the names of despite their sacrifices and I'm pretty sure I've heard Shirley Chisholm too urging me with the idea that if They don't seat you at the table so bring a folding chair [Applause] I understand that many times my mother's generation and God's many women know my grandmother's generation who were forced to grind their teeth and pick it up Because standing up for yourself wasn't even a n option risk was too high and they knew it but They also knew in their bones what my dear friend Maya says so eloquently in words when she says you can't control all that happens to you but you can decide not to be less By them because these women and many others like them decided not to let themselves be reduced by the many injustices with which they found the strength to act not only for their producers but for all women. Who broke the rules in their own simple ways, laid the foundation and pushed the envelope a little more for me, the best way to find out who you really are is to ask the universe god question god how am i May be first used to serve myself and then how can I use that service to serve the world and use my life to serve the world and you will find that is one of your biggest mistakes For those who think they have to pay a lot of money or even get paid at all for their calling, you are here to honor your calling, whether you got paid for it or not. can pay for it that makes life better fast but if you don't get paid for it it is also really ok because by honoring the calling everything you do in your life I've always known about celebrity that being someone has real power and I really like I guess the only difference between being famous and not being is that more people know your name then the only difference between understanding what Selma has done is what Susan has done Rebecca has done You can do what Jim did what I did because true altruism comes from living with your heart and how will you do what you've been given, how will you use the energy of your personality that is your soul? I know for certain that no life, no matter how wonderful it is Giving is enhanced and your life gets better when you can find a way. Share it with someone else so that you can do what we have done. Real empowerment comes when every individual Leaves this room Maybe that decision is that you will write a check and support some of the wonderful organizations you heard about here today But the true judgment is how you will use yourself. It's a beautiful thing to receive an award and be on the cover of Variety thank you so much It's a beautiful thing but the real reward is in the lives you can touch and the people you know impacted Is