Billionaire Shares Three Keys to Success-The shoulders we are standing own

TBTNEWS REPORT by Carl West

Billionaire Shares Three Keys to Success

This is an easy one. In 2003, Oprah Winfrey became the first African American female to make the Forbes list of billionaires, and she is still the only African American female billionaire on the list. She is considered by VH1 to be the No. 1 Pop Culture Icon in history -- more popular than Superman or Elvis! So, what is it about Oprah that makes her so popular, and successful?

Key to her success: If you read enough about Oprah, you'll find the keys to her success. This is one tough cookie who not only doesn't give up but also does not forget those who helped her along the way. Here are three of the basic keys to her success:

1). Know what you want and go for it: Oprah was only 16 and still in high school when she began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville. By the time she was 19, she became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at WTVF-TV in Nashville. Her advice to others is to know what you want and go after it.

2). Work hard: you just can't ignore this one. Oprah certainly didn't. She went from radio to television to news and talk shows. She didn't stop when The Oprah Winfrey Show became the number one rated talk show in history in 1986. She was the third woman in America to create her own entertainment studio, Harpo Studios, in 1988. She created the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2008, created her own magazine, The Oprah Magazine, has appeared in films, and the list goes on. Her advice to other women is to be willing to work as hard as you can to get where you want to go.

3). Be generous: Oprah's generosity was apparent as early as 1986 when she gave $10,000 of her own money for staff bonuses because management refused to do it. Since then, she has given millions in grants, charities, schools, scholarships, women's shelters and more. As Oprah once stated, "I gave to someone else what had been given to me." "Every gift is your way of expressing how you feel about another person." Although Oprah just turned 60 last year, she shows no signs of slowing down.

Thank You again, Oprah!

Obama awarded television legend Oprah Winfrey and 15 other Americans the Presidential Medal of Freedom, created 50 years ago by President Kennedy. Other recipients included, country music artist Loretta Lynn, women's rights leader Gloria Steinem, baseball great Ernie Banks and pioneering astronaut Sally Ride.
"These are the men and women who in their extraordinary lives remind us all of the beauty of the human spirit, the values that define us as Americans, the potential that lives inside of all of us," Obama said during a ceremony at the White House.

Oprah Winfrey - Who were the Scottsboro Boys?

Oprah Winfrey says that President Barack Obama has been the victim of racism and that the ongoing issue of prejudice is a generational one.
“There is a level of disrespect for the office that occurs,” Winfrey said Friday in an interview with the BBC. "And that occurs in some cases and maybe even in many cases because he’s African American. There’s no question about that, and it’s the kind of thing that nobody ever says but everybody is thinking it.”
Winfrey pointed to Republican Congressman Joe Wilson yelling "liar" during a 2009 speech Obama was giving to Congress.

The interview was part of a promotional tour for the film “The Butler,” which tells the story of Cecil Gaines, an African American man who served as a White House butler for eight different presidents.

Winfrey took her comments one step further, saying that the issue of racism is largely generational. Specifically, she said that cultural prejudice in the U.S. will largely recede after the last generation of individuals have died off.

“I said this, you know, for apartheid South Africa, I said this for my own, you know, community in the South — there are still generations of people, older people, who were born and bred and marinated in it, in that prejudice and racism, and they just have to die," Winfrey said.

However, Winfrey also made a point to note that there has been progress in race relations.
"It would be foolish to not recognize that we have evolved in that we’re not still facing the same kind of terrorism against black people en masse as was displayed with the Scottsboro boys. It’s gotten better," she said. "… There are laws that have allowed us to progress beyond what we saw in the Scottsboro boys and beyond even the prejudice we see in 'The Butler.' "
Nonetheless, Winfrey’s comments have been heavily criticized by the conservative media.

Noel Sheppard, who is white, writes at the conservative media watchdog site NewsBusters: “Why do folks such as her only see racism through the prism of how blacks are treated? By looking at the problem so narrowly, doesn't it make matters worse?”

And the website Right Scoop added, "Oprah Winfrey is going around the world telling everyone that Americans are racist."

In August, Winfrey made headlines when she told Larry King she encounters racism, citing an incident at a store in Switzerland where a shop clerk refused to show her a purse that cost $38,000.

"I'm in a store, and the person doesn't obviously know that I carry the black card and so they make an assessment based upon the way I look and who I am," later explained. "I didn't have anything that said, 'I have money.' I wasn't wearing a diamond stud. I didn't have a pocketbook. I didn't wear Louboutin shoes. I didn't have anything. ... You should be able to go in a store looking like whatever you look like and say, 'I'd like to see this.' That didn't happen."

So that the stories of who we are will live on for generations to come."

 
The Smithsonian Institution announced that Oprah Winfrey — she of “O, the Oprah Magazine,” Oprah’s Book Club, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — is donating $12 million to the forthcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is due to open near the Washington Monument in 2015. Combined with her $1 million donation in 2007, this makes her the largest donor to the institution.
"I am so proud of African American history and its contributions to our nation as a whole," Winfrey said. "I am deeply appreciative of those who paved the path for me and all who follow in their footsteps. By investing in this museum, I want to help ensure that we both honor and preserve our culture and history, so that the stories of who we are will live on for generations to come."

Oprah Winfrey speaking there at Howard University. What a speech that was.

NGUYEN: Give you some live pictures now. Yes. That is Ms. Oprah Winfrey. She is speaking at Howard University there, addressing the graduates during their commencement. Let's take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oprah Winfrey, receive at your hand the honorary degree, Doctor of Humanities.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oprah Gail Winfrey, pre-eminent global media mogul, incomparable international philanthropist, there is no glass ceiling for you to shatter, for you are on an uncharted path guided by infinite divine providence.

You are a universal touchstone personifying living your best life. Spiritually, physically, productively, happily, generously, faithfully, and fully engaged as a servant leader to all of God's creatures. Your beloved mentor and friend, the renowned poet Maya Angelo has said she is an honest, hardworking woman who has developed an unusual amount of caring and courage.

Your unique gifts from the creator allow you to realize your own dreams and your generosity inspires you to help us all grow. We have grown in our own personal spirit soul selves as you communicate, inform, educate, empathize, challenge, commit, care, generate, give, dedicate, dream, trust, love, believe, act, and do. You hold no false boundaries of race, religion, or gender, demonstrating your limitless ability to relate to all.

You see with a true journalistic eye and intellect, but tell the complete story with your heart. A rare gift from God no doubt, and you use it well. You believe with every experience you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice, I always knew I was destined for greatness and you get in life what you have the courage to ask for.

We herald and applaud your maternal grandmother, Hattie Mae Presley (ph) Lee, with whom you lived during the early formative years in rural Mississippi. She is an example of our collective ancestral grandmothers and what they bring to the table of life. The unconditional love, intuition, understanding, faith, courage, strength, wisdom and grace, all wrapped up in backbreaking hard work, with no complaints and heaping spoonfuls of more love, hope and heartfelt desires for our rise.

You said, I am what I am because of my grandmother. My strength, my sense of reasoning, everything. All of that was said by the time I was six. Reading from the age of three, you regularly spoke on Sundays at the Faith United Mississippi Baptist Church in your hometown in Mississippi.

You remember the words, and little Ms. Winfrey is here to do the recitation.

(LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And afterwards ladies saying, Hattie Mae, this girl is gifted and you believed them in talking has always been your forte. As a teenager in Nashville, Tennessee, living with your father Vernon, you continued speaking in churches throughout the city.

When my father took me, you say, it changed the course of my life. He saved me. I was definitely headed for a career as a juvenile delinquent. You have stated Vernon Winfrey explained the ways of the world to you by saying, there are those who make things happen, there are those who watch things happen, and there those that don't know what is happening.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 1973 you left TSU as the first African- American TV correspondent and the youngest to ever anchor the news at WTVF TV in Nashville, and began your meteoric rise. And the string of firsts, bumping Donahue, syndicating "The Oprah Winfrey Show," establishing Harpo Incorporated, portraying Sofia in "The Color Purple," establishing Harpo Films, and owning a major part of the distribution with Kingworld, making you a leader in the world of marketing and branding.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" begins its 21st season on September 8th, 2007...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and has remained the number one talk show for 20 consecutive seasons.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The door to freedom is education, you have said and through your private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation and The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program, you demonstrate certain (ph) leadership by giving back. After visiting Nelson Mandela in 2000, you pledged $10 million to build schools in South Africa.

You created the Oprah Winfrey Leadership...

HOLMES: All right. We're listening in here, of course, expecting that lady there to the right of the screen to step up and address those graduates at Howard University. We are going to try to get in a quick break because he is introducing her and her list of accomplishments could go on.

NGUYEN: Run long.

HOLMES: For the rest of the day here. So we are going to try to get a quick commercial break in here. And when she steps up to the mike...

NGUYEN: We'll be right back with Oprah.

HOLMES: ... we'll hear from her. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: An emotional day for Oprah Winfrey, as she gets an honorary degree there from Howard University. You can see the emotion on her face. This is really a wonderful day and a wonderful moment for these graduates to hear Oprah Winfrey speak at their graduation ceremony.

HOLMES: Can you imagine? I can't remember who my commencement speaker was. No offense if you're listening.

NGUYEN: But you would remember if it was Oprah, wouldn't you?

HOLMES: If it was, oh, my goodness. But such a big deal for her. I believe it was a Doctorate of Humanities. There it is, up on our screen there. A Doctorate of Humanities for Oprah Winfrey. Of course, done just massive humanitarian work around the country, around the world really. And she is being honored for it today, and expecting to hear -- the class there waiting to hear from Oprah Winfrey herself.

And like you say, wiping the tears there, an emotional time for her and really we just heard a wonderful introduction, a long introduction, of course. She has a long list of accomplishments.

NGUYEN: That list goes so far and so wide. But let's listen to Ms. Winfrey as she speaks.

OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIA MOGUL: Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: President Swygert, trustees, distinguished guests, my fellow honorees, my she-ro, Dr. Dorothy Height, graduates, parents, friends, what a deep honor to be here today for me.

I think Dr. Gates said it best. You can receive a lot of awards in your life, but there is nothing better...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: There is nothing better than to be honored by your own.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: Thank you. Thank you. I'll be calling myself Dr. Winfrey on Monday morning on the Oprah show.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: Thank you. Well, let me just say that everybody I know who has ever graduated from here, and that's a lot of y'all...

(LAUGHTER)

WINFREY: ... told me just wait 'til you get there. Just wait 'til you get there. They said to me you are going to feel the love. And Howard, I am feeling you today.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: I am feeling you today. I thank you for the honor of being able to celebrate with you today. I am here because my good friend and former executive producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Dianne Hudson, and new member of the Howard board of trustees, said to me, you have got to come to Howard.

Howard is the bomb.

(CHEER AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: Dianne Hudson says, it is our pride, it is a mighty force. You just have to experience it, girl. And she told me this. She said, once you come, it's going to feel like family reunion. And are you going to want to come again and again.

Thank you, Dianne, because it's your passion and commitment to excellence and created continued excellence for this great institution that made me stop whatever I was planning on doing and get to Howard.

And I'm really so glad I did, because I get to see you all. I get to witness and welcome you all to the beginning of your new and fantastic life ahead, if you choose it to be so. And I know that it is there for the choosing, because there is nobody more nurtured and prepared to lead us into an exemplary future than the Howard University graduating class of 2007.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: I can say that nobody knows for sure where you will go in your life. What impact you will have on others. But each one of us may have a better chance than most, because you all have spent four years responding to the nurturing, which is the truest meaning of teaching.

You sat in your different classes. You have tested. You have done your reports. You have turned in your exams. And you deserved to be here today. Congratulations.

(APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: And all after all of the partying is over, and I know there will be some partying up in here, the anxiety may start to creep in. What do you now do with all of this education? I'm here to tell you today, don't worry. Don't worry about it. Relax. Take a breath.

You are in really good hands, because God has got your back.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: All you need to do is know who you are. And I know you know who you are. Because I have, as a part of my Harpo production team two former graduates of Howard, 1991 and '94, Terry Mitchell (ph) and Jackie Taylor (ph), who came with me today, and all the way here they were telling me that when you leave Howard, one thing you know for sure is who you are.

Because Howard teaches you to define yourself by your own terms and not by somebody else's definition. So here are a few things I want you to know that I know for sure. Don't be afraid. All you have to know is who you are. Because there is no such thing as failure. There is no such thing as failure.

What other people label or might try to call failure, I have learned is just God's way of pointing you in a new direction.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: So it's true. You may take several paths that end up on what might be a dead end for you at the moment. But this is what I also know for sure. You must trust in the words of my favorite Bible verse that say: "And know the lord will lead to you a rock that is higher than thou."

Every one of us has a calling. There is a reason why you are here. I know this for sure. And that reason is greater than any degree. It's greater than any paycheck. And it's greater than anything anybody can tell you that are you supposed to do. Your real job is to find out what the reason is and get about the business of doing it.

Your calling isn't something that somebody can tell you about. It's what you feel. It's a part of your life force. It is the thing that gives you juice. The thing that are you supposed to do. And nobody can tell you what that is. You know it inside yourself.

You know, I come from good stock. Dr. Swygert was mentioning my grandmother who had a dream for me. And her dream was not a big dream. Her dream was that one day I could grow up -- she used to say, I want you to grow up and get yourself some good white folks, because my grandmother was a maid and she worked for white folks her whole life.

And her idea of having a big dream was to have white folks who at least treated her with some dignity, who showed her a little bit respect. And she used to say, I want you to -- I hope you get some good white folks that are kind to you. And I regret that she didn't live past 1963 to see that I did grow up and get some really good white folks working for me.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: Oh, yes. So have no fear. Have no fear. God has got your back. And sometimes, sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do. So don't expect the perfect job that defines your life's work to come along next week. If that happens, take the blessing and run with it. But, if not, be grateful to be on the path where you eventually want to live.

Abide in the space of gratitude, because this is what I know for sure. That only through being grateful for how far you've come in your past can you leave room for more blessings to flow. Blessings flow in the space of gratitude. Everything in your life is happening to teach you more about yourself so even in a crisis, be grateful. When disappointed, be grateful. When things aren't going the way you want them to, be grateful that you have sense enough to turn it around.

I spent eight years in Baltimore. I knew in those years in Baltimore that I was unhappy being a television news reporter. But the voice of my father, who thought he knew what I was supposed to do was in my head. He said don't you give up that job, girl. You're never going to $25,000 in one year. That's my father's dream for me. But God could dream a bigger dream than you can dream for yourself. And so I tried to live in the space of God's dream. And the television executives told me when I was in Baltimore that I was just -- it was too much. I was too big, and I was too black.

They told me that I was too engaged, that I was too emotional, I was too -- too much for the news and so they put me on a talk show one day just to run out my contract. And that was the beginning of my story. So I say, even when things are difficult, be grateful. Honor your calling, don't worry about how successful you will be. Don't worry about it. Focus on how significant you can be in service and the success will take care of itself. And always take a stand for yourself. Your values, you are defined by what you stand for. Your integrity is not for sale.

From the very beginning of my career in Baltimore, and I walked in the room and all of the men in the room said to me you need to change your name, because nobody is going to remember your name. You need to change your name and I said what do you want me to change it to? They said we think Susie is a good name. Susie is a friendly name. Susie is a name that people will remember. People can relate to Susie. I said I think I'm going to keep my name if people remember it or not. It is my name. You have to be willing to stand up for what you believe in. If I -- if I could count the number of times I have been asked to compromise and sell out myself for one reason or another, I would be a billionaire 10 times over. My integrity is not for sale and neither is yours.

There are many times -- there are many times Diane Hudson, who has working with me for 20 years can tell you this, many times when we were told that we would lose the advertisers, we would lose the ratings. I said I'm going to take the high road. They said you won't be able to survive in this business taking the high road. You won't be able to get the numbers. The advertisers will drop out and I said let them. Let them. We will chart our own course. We will stand up for what we believe in. And 21 years later, we're still the number one show.

The human death of our integrity is the most we have to offer and I would beseech you to remember what Harriet Tubman said of her efforts to spirit slaves from the plantation. Harriet Tubman once said that she could have liberated thousands more if only she could have convinced them that they were slaves. So do not be a slave to any form of selling out. Maintain your integrity. It has always been, I believe, the only solution to all of the problems in the world and it remains the only solution.

Through your presence here today, you come from a long line of giants whose shoulders you strand on, giants who graduated from this school and giants who never made it to school. I believe in the words of Jimmy Baldwin, your crown has been paid for, so put it on your head and wear it. Your crown has been paid for and so as you walk forth from this place, these hallowed grounds today, the most important lesson I can offer you from my own life is that in order to remain successful, to continue to wear the crown, as you walk the path of privilege, you must not forget the less privileged you left behind.

You cannot continue to succeed in the world or have a fulfilling life in the world unless you choose to use your life in service somehow to others and give back what you have been given. That's how you keep it. That's how you get it. That's how you grow it.

We are in a crisis in this country with black youth. They don't know what you know. They are falling and they're failing. They are dropping out at rates of 50 percent and higher because we, our generation, didn't teach them who they are. We have a responsibility to raise them up, to lift them up to save them, to liberate them from themselves, go out and save a child. And sometimes it doesn't even take a lot to save somebody. As you all know, I built this beautiful school in South Africa, and I spent a lot of time trying to grow my daughters into a future as bright as yours and I can't wait to see some of them come to Howard University.

Recently, I was with them and we were all sitting around talking about careers and the possibility for them and I speak to what is possible. When you see me, you see what is possible. Many years ago, I saw Sidney Poitier receive the academy award in 1964. I was 10 years old and I watched him get the award for "Lilies of the Field." And as he accepted his award, I had never seen a black man on television in a suit. I'd never seen a black man get out of limousine and go anywhere on television. And when I saw Sidney Poitier accept his academy award for "Lilies of the Field," I remember sitting on my linoleum floor baby sitting for my half sister and brother, saying, if a black man can do that, I wonder what I can do.

I stand here a symbol of what is possible when you believe in the dream of your own life. I stand as a symbol of that turtle on the fence. Somebody helped me to get here, just as I know you were helped to get here, Howard, because I know a lot of you came here with only the clothes on your back and a dream for what could be. And so as you have been saved, as you have been liberated, you must liberate others.

I want to share the story about one of our honorees here today. I was in class with all of my girls and we were talking about careers and all -- a lot of my girls say they want to be doctors, because they have seen the ravages of AIDS and they want to grow up and be doctors and some say they want to teach and others say they want to sing or act or dance and there was one girl, one girl who said she wanted to be a historian. And all the other girls started to snicker, because I don't think they had heard the word historian and later that afternoon, I saw her sitting in the computer lab and she was slumped in the chair, and I said, Vindelli (ph), tell me, why are you sitting slumped in the chair? And she said I'm feeling very silly. I'm feeling very, very sad. I said why? She said because I'm not like the other girls. They all want to be really fun things. But I have to tell you, mama Oprah, history is my passion. When I read about the ancestors, it makes me come alive.

So we're sitting there at the computer and I said you know what? I know a famous historian, let's see if we can look him up on the computer and so we punched in Dr. Henry Louis Gates and her expression was you mean he's black? And she said and is he alive? I said, yeah, he's both black and alive. I said you know what? I'm going to e-mail him and see if he will e-mail us back. So I e-mailed Dr. Henry Louis Gates and I told him about my -- my daughter, who was feeling ostracized because she wasn't like all the other girls who wanted to be fun things and Dr. Gates e-mailed back a three-page letter, telling her how as a young boy, he too was one of the only ones who wanted to be a scholar, a Rhodes scholar, telling her how they carried the torch of our ancestors into the future, telling her how it's all right to be what you want to be.

And as she read that letter, I had her read the letter out loud before me. I saw her shoulders get a little straighter, I saw her head get a little taller, I saw her straighten her back and I saw the biggest smile I've ever seen come from the face of a child. And I said tell me how you are feeling now. And she said I'm feeling all right. I'm feeling like I'm not the only one. And so in that moment, through a letter, I saw her get saved. I know that it's possible to do, for every one of our lives, every one of us in our lives to help somebody, to liberate somebody, to save somebody. I know that the motto for Howard is truth and service. And I know when you move through life living your own truth and live through the paradigm of service, you too will be all right. So I beseech you to go forth and serve. Serve first yourself. Honor your calling, do what you are supposed to do. Honor your creator, your family, your ancestors and when you walk this path of privilege, don't forget the less privileged you leave behind.

NGUYEN: Oprah Winfrey speaking there at Howard University. What a speech that was. She talked about honoring your calling and not losing site of your integrity and making sure that you help those along the way get to where they're going. It was really a wonderful speech and then she also talked a little bit about her own history, how people tried to change her when she was coming up. They wanted to change her first name to Susie. Would not be the same as Susie Winfrey, no. Oprah Winfrey is her name and in fact, she is going to be joining "Larry King Live" tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern. It's a replay of an interview. You don't want to miss that either. We've got much more coming up here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go away. We'll be right back.

Oprah Winfrey -Harvard University's 362nd Commencement- Harvard or Howard - who would benefit more?

Photo: Paul Marotta/Getty Images

 

 

For many students and their families, this time of year marks a momentous rite of passage: It's graduation season. Oprah Winfrey was honored to participate in that tradition at one the most prestigious schools in the country by serving as the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard University's 362nd Commencement. Read the full transcript of Oprah's speech below.

Oprah Winfrey: Oh my goodness! I'm at Harvard! Wow! To President Faust, my fellow honorands—Carl that was so beautiful, thank you so much—and James Rothenberg, Stephanie Wilson, Harvard faculty, with a special bow to my friend Dr. Henry Louis Gates.

Applause

Oprah Winfrey: All of you alumni, with a special bow to the class of '88, your $115 million.

Applause

Oprah Winfrey: And to you, members of the Harvard class of 2013! Hello!

Applause

Oprah Winfrey: I thank you for allowing me to be a part of the conclusion of this chapter of your lives and the commencement of your next chapter. To say that I'm honored doesn't even begin to quantify the depth of gratitude that really accompanies an honorary doctorate from Harvard. Not too many little girls from rural Mississippi have made it all the way here to Cambridge. And I can tell you that I consider today as I sat on the stage this morning getting teary for you all and then teary for myself, I consider today a defining milestone in a very long and a blessed journey. My one hope today is that I can be a source of some inspiration. I'm going to address my remarks to anybody who has ever felt inferior or felt disadvantaged, felt screwed by life; this is a speech for the quad.

Laughter and applause

Oprah Winfrey: Actually, I was so honored I wanted to do something really special for you. I wanted to be able to have you look under your seats and there would be free master and doctor degrees, but I see you got that covered already. I will be honest with you. I felt a lot of pressure over the past few weeks to come up with something that I could share with you that you hadn't heard before, because after all, you all went to Harvard; I did not. But then I realized that you don't have to necessarily go to Harvard to have a driven, obsessive type A personality. But it helps. And while I may not have graduated from here, I admit that my personality is about as Harvard as they come. You know my television career began unexpectedly. As you heard this morning, I was in the Miss Fire Prevention Contest. That was when I was 16 years old in Nashville, Tennessee, and you had the requirement of having to have red hair in order to win up until the year that I entered. So they were doing the question-and-answer period because I knew I wasn't going to win under the swimsuit competition. So during the question-and-answer period, the question came: "Why, young lady, what would you like to be when you grow up?" And by the time they got to me, all the good answers were gone. So I had seen Barbara Walters on the Today show that morning, so I answered, "I would like to be a journalist. I would like to tell other people's stories in a way that makes a difference in their lives and the world." And as those words were coming out of my mouth, I went: "Whoa! This is pretty good! I would like to be a journalist. I want to make a difference." Well, I was on television by the time I was 19 years old. And in 1986, I launched my own television show with a relentless determination to succeed at first. I was nervous about the competition, and then I became my own competition, raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing, pushing myself as hard as I knew. Sound familiar to anybody here? Eventually, we did make it to the top, and we stayed there for 25 years.

Applause

Oprah Winfrey: The Oprah Winfrey Show was number one in our time slot for 21 years, and I have to tell you I became pretty comfortable with that level of success. But a few years ago, I decided, as you will at some point, that it was time to recalculate, find new territory, break new ground. So I ended the show and launched OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. The initials just worked out for me. So one year later, after launching OWN, nearly every media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop. Not just a flop, but a big bold flop they call it. I can still remember the day I opened up USA Today and read the headline "Oprah, not quite standing on her OWN." I mean, really, USA Today? Now that's the nice newspaper! It really was this time last year the worst period in my professional life. I was stressed, and I was frustrated, and, quite frankly, I was—actually, I was embarrassed. It was right around that time that President Faust called and asked me to speak here, and I thought: "You want me to speak to Harvard graduates? What could I possibly say to Harvard graduates—some of the most successful graduates in the world—in the very moment when I had stopped succeeding?" So I got off the phone with President Faust, and I went to the shower. It was either that or a bag of Oreos. So I chose the shower. And I was in the shower a long time, and as I was in the shower, the words of an old hymn came to me. You may not know it. It's "By and By When the Morning Comes." And I started thinking about when the morning might come because at the time I thought I was stuck in a hole. And the words came to me "Trouble don't last always" from that hymn, "this too shall pass." And I thought, as I got out of the shower, "I am going to turn this thing around, and I will be better for it. And when I do, I'm going to go to Harvard, and I'm going to speak the truth of it!" So I'm here today to tell you I have turned that network around!

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Oprah Winfrey: And it was all because I wanted to do it by the time I got to speak to you all, so thank you so much. You don't know what motivation you were for me, thank you. I'm even prouder to share a fundamental truth that you might not have learned even as graduates of Harvard, unless you studied the ancient Greek hero with Professor Nagy. Professor Nagy, as we were coming in this morning, said, "Please, Ms. Winfrey, walk decisively."

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Oprah Winfrey: I shall walk decisively. This is what I want to share. It doesn't matter how far you might rise. At some point, you are bound to stumble because you're constantly doing what we do: raising the bar. If you're constantly pushing yourself higher, higher, the law of averages—not to mention the myth of Icarus—predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to know this, remember this: There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. Now, when you're down there in the hole, it looks like failure. So this past year I had to spoon-feed those words to myself. And when you're down in the hole, when that moment comes, it's really okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn what you think you may have lost, but then here's the key: Learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are. And then figure out what is the next right move. And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional GPS that can tell you which way to go. Because now and forever more when you Google yourself, your search results will read "Harvard, 2013." And in a very competitive world, that really is a calling card, because I can tell you as one who employs a lot of people, when I see "Harvard," I sit up a little straighter and say: "Where is he or she? Bring them in." It's an impressive calling card that can lead to even more impressive bullets in the years ahead: lawyer, senator, CEO, scientist, physicist, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, or late-night talk show host. But the challenge of life, I have found, is to build a résumé that doesn't simply tell a story about what you want to be, but it's a story about who you want to be. It's a résumé that doesn't just tell a story about what you want to accomplish but why. A story that's not just a collection of titles and positions but a story that's really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble and find yourself stuck in a hole, that is the story that will get you out. What is your true calling? What is your dharma? What is your purpose? For me that discovery came in 1994 when I interviewed a little girl who had decided to collect pocket change in order to help other people in need. She raised a thousand dollars all by herself, and I thought, "Well, if that little 9-year-old girl with a bucket and big heart could do that, I wonder what I could do?" So I asked for our viewers to take up their own change collection, and in one month, just from pennies and nickels and dimes, we raised more than $3 million that we used to send one student from every state in the United States to college. That was the beginning of the Angel Network.

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Oprah Winfrey: And so what I did was I simply asked our viewers: "Do what you can wherever you are, from wherever you sit in life. Give me your time or your talent, your money if you have it." And they did. Extend yourself in kindness to other human beings wherever you can. And together, we built 55 schools in 12 different countries and restored nearly 300 homes that were devastated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. So the Angel Network—I have been on the air for a long time—but it was the Angel Network that actually focused my internal GPS. It helped me to decide that I wasn't going to just be on TV every day but that the goal of my shows, my interviews, my business, my philanthropy, all of it, whatever ventures I might pursue, would be to make clear that what unites us is ultimately far more redeeming and compelling than anything that separates me. Because what had become clear to me—and I want you to know it isn't always clear in the beginning, because as I said, I had been on television since I was 19 years old. But around '94, I got really clear. So don't expect the clarity to come all at once, to know your purpose right away, but what became clear to me was that I was here on earth to use television and not be used by it, to use television to illuminate the transcendent power of our better angels. So this Angel Network, it didn't just change the lives of those who were helped but the lives of those who also did the helping. It reminded us that no matter who we are or what we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and, more importantly, it becomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort. I saw something on the Bill Moyers show recently that so reminded me of this point. It was an interview with David and Francine Wheeler. They lost their 7-year-old son, Ben, in the Sandy Hook tragedy. And even though gun safety legislation to strengthen background checks had just been voted down in Congress at the time that they were doing this interview, they talked about how they refused to be discouraged. Francine said this, she said: "Our hearts are broken, but our spirits are not. I'm going to tell them what it's like to find a conversation about change that is love, and I'm going to do that without fighting them." And then her husband, David, added this: "You simply cannot demonize or vilify someone who doesn't agree with you, because the minute you do that, your discussion is over. And we cannot do that any longer. The problem is too enormous. There has to be some way that this darkness can be banished with light." In our political system and in the media, we often see the reflection of a country that is polarized, that is paralyzed and is self-interested. And yet, I know you know the truth. We all know that we are better than the cynicism and the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle. Not my channel, by the way. We understand that the vast majority of people in this country believe in stronger background checks because they realize that we can uphold the Second Amendment and also reduce the violence that is robbing us of our children. They don't have to be incompatible.

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Oprah Winfrey: And we understand that most Americans believe in a clear path to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants who reside in this country because it's possible to both enforce our laws and at the same time embrace the words on the Statue of Liberty that have welcomed generations of huddled masses to our shores. We can do both.

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Oprah Winfrey: And we understand. I know you do because you went to Harvard. There are people from both parties and no party who believe that indigent mothers and families should have access to healthy food and a roof over their heads and a strong public education because here, in the richest nation on Earth, we can afford a basic level of security and opportunity. So the question is, What are we going to do about it? Really. What are you going to do about it? Maybe you agree with these beliefs. Maybe you don't. Maybe you care about these issues, and maybe there are other challenges that you, Class of 2013, are passionate about. Maybe you want to make a difference by serving in government. Maybe you want to launch your own television show. Or maybe you simply want to collect some change. Your parents would appreciate that about now. The point is your generation is charged with this task of breaking through what the body politic has thus far made impervious to change. Each of you has been blessed with this enormous opportunity of attending this prestigious school. You now have a chance to better your life, the lives of your neighbors and also the life of our country. When you do that, let me tell you what I know for sure: That's when your story gets really good. Maya Angelou always says: "When you learn, teach. When you get, give. That, my friends, is what gives your story purpose and meaning." So you all have the power in your own way to develop your own Angel Network, and, in doing so, your class will be armed with more tools of influence and empowerment than any other generation in history. I did it in an analog world. I was blessed with a platform that at its height reached nearly 20 million viewers a day. Now, here in a world of Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and Tumbler, you can reach billions in just seconds. You're the generation that rejected predictions about your detachment and your disengagement by showing up to vote in record numbers in 2008. And when the pundits talked about you, they said you'd be too disappointed, you'd be too dejected to repeat that same kind of turnout in the 2012 election, and you proved them wrong by showing up in even greater numbers. That's who you are.

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Oprah Winfrey: This generation, your generation, I know has developed a finely honed radar for b.s. Can you say "b.s." at Harvard? The spin and phoniness and artificial nastiness that saturates so much of our national debate. I know you all understand better than most that real progress requires authentic—an authentic way of being, honesty and, above all, empathy. I have to say that the single most important lesson I learned in 25 years talking every single day to people was that there is a common denominator in our human experience. Most of us, I tell you, we don't want to be divided. What we want, the common denominator that I found in every single interview, is we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I have done over 35,000 interviews in my career, and as soon as that camera shuts off, everyone always turns to me and inevitably, in their own way, asks this question: "Was that okay?" I heard it from President Bush: I heard it from President Obama. I've heard it from heroes and from housewives. I've heard it from victims and perpetrators of crimes. I even heard it from Beyoncé and all of her Beyoncéness. She finishes performing, hands me the microphone and says, "Was that okay?" Friends and family, yours, enemies, strangers in every argument in every encounter, every exchange—I will tell you they all want to know one thing: Was that okay? Did you hear me? Do you see me? Did what I say mean anything to you? And even though this is a college where Facebook was born, my hope is that you would try to go out and have more face-to-face conversations with people you may disagree with.

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Oprah Winfrey: That you'll have the courage to look them in the eye and hear their point of view and help make sure that the speed and distance and anonymity of our world doesn't cause us to lose our ability to stand in somebody else's shoes and recognize all that we share as a people. This is imperative for you as an individual and for our success as a nation. "There has to be some way that this darkness can be banished with light," says the man whose little boy was massacred on just an ordinary Friday in December. So whether you call it soul or spirit or higher self, intelligence, there is—I know this—there is a light inside each of you, all of us, that illuminates your very human beingness if you let it. And as a young girl from rural Mississippi, I learned long ago that being myself was much easier than pretending to be Barbara Walters. Although, when I first started, because I had Barbara in my head, I would try to sit like Barbara, talk like Barbara, move like Barbara. And then one night, I was on the news reading the news, and I called Canada "Can-a-da," and that was the end of me being Barbara. I cracked myself up on TV. Couldn't stop laughing. And my real personality came through, and I figured out "Oh, gee, I can be a much better Oprah than I could be a pretend Barbara."

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Oprah Winfrey: I know that you all might have a little anxiety now and hesitation about leaving the comfort of college and putting those Harvard credentials to the test. But no matter what challenges or setbacks or disappointments you may encounter along the way, you will find true success and happiness if you have only one goal—there really is only one—and that is this: to fulfill the highest, most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You want to max out your humanity by using your energy to lift yourself up, your family and the people around you. Theologian Howard Thurman said it best. He said: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." The world needs—

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Oprah Winfrey: People like Michael Stolzenberg from Fort Lauderdale. When Michael was just 8 years old, Michael nearly died from a bacterial infection that cost him both of his hands and both of his feet. And in an instant, this vibrant little boy became a quadruple amputee, and his life was changed forever. But in losing who he once was, Michael discovered who he wanted to be. He refused to sit in that wheelchair all day and feel sorry for himself, so with prosthetics he learned to walk and run and play again. He joined his middle school lacrosse team, and last month, when he learned that so many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing would become new amputees, Michael decided to banish that darkness with light. Michael and his brother Harris created MikeysRun.com to raise $1 million for other amputees. By the time Harris runs the 2014 Boston Marathon. More than 1,000 miles away from here, these two young brothers are bringing people together to support this Boston community the way their community came together to support Michael. And when this 13-year-old man was asked about his fellow amputees, he said this: "First they will be sad. They're losing something they will never get back, and that's scary. I was scared. But they'll be okay. They just don't know that yet." We might not always know it. We might not always see it, or hear it on the news, or even feel it in our daily lives, but I have faith that no matter what, Class of 2013, you will be okay, and you will make sure our country is okay. I have faith because of that 9-year-old girl who went out and collected the change. I have faith because of David and Francine Wheeler. I have faith because of Michael and Harris Stolzenberg, and I have faith because of you, the network of angels sitting here today. One of them, Khadijah Williams, who came to Harvard four years ago. Khadijah had attended 12 schools in 12 years living out of garbage bags amongst pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers, homeless, going in to department stores, Wal-Mart in the morning, to bathe herself so that she wouldn't smell in front of her classmates, and today she graduates as a member of the Harvard class of 2013.

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Oprah Winfrey: From time to time, you may stumble, fall, you will, for sure, count in this no doubt, you will have questions, and you will have doubts about your path, but I know this: If you're willing to listen, to be guided by that still small voice that is the GPS within yourself, to find out what makes you come alive, you will be more than okay. You will be happy, you will be successful, and you will make a difference in the world. Congratulations, Class of 2013. Congratulations to your family and friends. Good luck and thank you for listening. Was that okay?

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Published on May 31, 2013