Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy School for Girls

The Original First Name of Oprah Winfrey

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:40:37 GMT

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most fascinating women alive today. She has had the Oprah Winfrey Show for many years and she promotes family, charities, books and more. When one hears the name Oprah Winfrey, the image of the successful and beautiful African American icon is conjured up, but a little known fact about her is she was never suppose to be named Oprah at all.

Oprah was suppose to have the biblical name of Orpah after Ruth's sister-in-law in the Bible. However, the Orpah there and the Oprah Winfrey we know today are two very different women altogether. Perhaps it was more than a typo on her birth certificate that altered the name from Orpah to Oprah. This television celebrity, beloved by millions, shows us her strength and wisdom nearly every day through her show, her magazine and many heart-felt projects.

While, I have the greatest respect for the women in the Bible, I see a major difference in the characterizations of Orpah and Oprah Winfrey. Due to the significant individual traits that differ between these two women from vastly different generations, I see the typo for being put there by a Hand greater than the one preparing the birth certificate of the infamous Oprah Winfrey. I have no doubt though that whatever her name would be, she was meant to do great things in her life.

Oprah Winfrey Still a Ray of Hope

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 07:01:35 GMT

Oprah Winfrey

When I was standing at the checkout I noticed the Oprah magazine. It reminded me of the show Oprah Winfrey did a couple of years ago, the Big Give. They gave away money to help people out, to really help them though, not just a hand out. The person who had the biggest impact with the money they gave away won the show. I thought that was a creative way for Oprah Winfrey to show how wonderful people feel when they can help people out.

I wish they would do the show again. I think that now is the perfect time to do it again. A lot of people could do with seeing positive shows giving people help and hope. Oprah Winfrey has always been good at that. Taking a bad situation and bringing goodness to it or from it. That's why her show was always so popular. She gave people hope. It is nice to see someone who has done well in their career and life giving back to their roots and more. She encouraged people to believe in themselves and improve their situations. We need more of that these days.

An Oprah Winfrey fan

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:15:30 GMT

I have been watching the Oprah Winfrey show for years. It first appeared on the air in September of 1986. From the get go, she has had some very interesting guests and topics. From celebrity news to talking with hardend criminals. She is so personable on her show, she could be anyone’s best girlfriend. Thus, her popularity. People trust her and listen to what is said on the show. Her show has brought to the forefront many issues that has made me, at least ,more aware and educated. I am so glad that with her vast millions, she has given back in many ways. Oprah Winfrey’s leadership academy for girls in South Africa is one of her biggest. She also has her angel network, which promotes giving back and improving other peoples lives. Lately, she also has many segments on financial issues with Suze Orman and personal health with Dr. Oz. I truly admire anyone that tries to educate and promote good works and uses their own money as a serious commitment. For this reason, I will be an Oprah Winfrey fan for a long time.

I Miss the Oprah Winfrey Show

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:50:07 GMT

I Miss the Oprah Winfrey Show

I used to watch the Oprah Winfrey show every day. It was always very entertaining. There was always something new or exciting going on. The Oprah Winfrey show touched on quite a few delicate topics with class and discretion. I loved the giveaway shows, I only wished I could be on one. The book club was a good idea. The wagon of fat was one of those memorable moments on the show. I even read some of the books Oprah Winfrey recommended. Dr. Phil was always a pleaser to see. I was happy when he got his own show. I would watch the Oprah Winfrey show and then Dr. Phil. When my kids started going to school. I had to pick them up at the same time as Oprah Winfrey was on. I miss the show. I did watch the Big Give. It was what I would expect of a show by Oprah Winfrey. It would be nice if they could do another show like it. It was just a unique and wonderful concept. It helped a lot of people out. Summer is almost here so the good news is I will get to watch the Oprah reruns.

How Much Oprah Winfrey Influences People

Thu, 28 May 2009 16:51:42 GMT

Oprah Winfrey has been the first to do a lot of different things. An example of one of those firsts is her ability to influence the millions of Oprah Winfrey Show fans with something as simple as a good review. When she reviews a product or service, people listen. When she endorses a book, it becomes a Best Seller. Her thoughts and opinions are so valued that CNBC is doing a documentary about her called The Oprah Effect. What the documentary will boil down to is a thumbs up from Oprah Winfrey is like being shot into success over night. The documentary according to the Chicago Tribune will feature three businesses that Oprah talked about on her show and how her opinion changed their lives.

For any entrepreneur, writer, cook or creative individual it should be a long term goal to receive recognition on the Oprah Winfrey Show. For the people who do manage to pull this off, the sky becomes the limit. It is crazy to me how much influence one person can have without any real authority. Maybe you will be the next person to gain Oprah’s attention.

Oprah Winfrey Sued for Aha Moment

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:41:29 GMT

<--Oprah Not Happy About This

Oprah Winfrey apparently coined the phrase, “Aha moment.” If nothing else she helped to make it popular. Other companies have started to use this slogan for their own marketing purposes. One of the largest companies to pick up the catch phrase is Mutual of Omaha Bank. The Oprah Winfrey camp was less then pleased with this so they sent a cease and desist letter the bank’s headquarters. The execs at Mutual of Omaha Bank were not impressed and countered with a lawsuit, saying and I quote, “she abandoned any rights she may have to the phrase by failing to police the alleged mark when other businesses used it in advance (blogs.suntimes.com).”

It is true, more than a few companies have taken the “Aha moment” phrase and ran with it. One of the banks advertisements, which centers around the phrase is attached above. I think all parties just need to calm down. Oprah Winfrey did not create this phrase, she simply made it popular. I didn’t even know she coined the term until reading this headline. I just thought it was the latest marketing buzzword.

Oprah Winfrey Supports Education

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:14:09 GMT

Oprah Winfrey Supports Education

In january of this year Oprah Winfrey once again showed her support for education by sending a letter to educator Ron Clark. There was recently a TV movie about this teacher and his belief and determination in teaching at risk kids. He had previously made two appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show as well. Inside the letter was a $365,000 donation for the innovative private school he opened in 2007. It is in what is one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

Ron Clark, who currently has to find private donors to pay most of the annual tuition for each student, was quoted saying: 'We teach school all day and fund-raise at night. To have an unsolicited gift come like that is incredible.'

When he told his students with the news, he said the money from Oprah Winfrey's foundation, will pay for 26 students to attend the middle school for one year. Dozens of kids will now have the opportunity to follow their dreams.

If you follow her in the news you would know the Oprah Winfrey Foundation handed out $4 million dollars to educational programs in 2008 alone.

Are all pictures of Oprah real?

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:53:55 GMT

I remember checking out some pictures of Oprah while I was waiting in the check out line of my local grocery store and they were crazy. This was basically one of those tabloid magazines that supposedly "caught Oprah without her makeup" and all of the wrinkles and craziness that it had to show.

But I didn't really buy it. I think those pictures of Oprah are just as photoshoped as the ones we see in her magazine or in the regular media, for the most part.

Oprah is smart, and she knows that how a person looks is almost all of the battle in media and entertainment. Sure, she is old and probably doesn't look so hot without all of the treatments that she has - but who does? Who actually looks good when they don't get ready? Nobody. Getting ready IS what makes you look good.

So, all those pictures of Oprah that you see floating around, unless you see her in person I would do what you should do with most media that comes in your direction - treat it with a grain of salt because it is probably enhanced just to get your attention.

Trial To Start in Oprah's School Scandal

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:07:17 GMT

Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls

I hadn't heard much about the scandal at Oprah's school lately. My fear was they were going to try and sweep it under the carpet.

I was pleased to discover that a judge had finally set a April 21 trial date for the dormitory matron accused of abusing the students.

Her name is Tiny Virginia Makopo, and she faces charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury, allegedly committed against six students ages 13 to 15 and a 23-year-old fellow dormitory matron all attending or working at Oprah's school.

She apparently appeared in court with a towel over her head and didn't speak during her brief court appearance.

The local police said there were at least three serious cases of indecent assault, and that the alleged abuse took place over four months at Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls.

I think that Oprah handled this mess beautifully and should be proud of her accomplishment in bringing hope to these girls. Oprah's school is an example of what we can all do to improve conditions for children around the world.

Oprah Winfrey Gets 2008 PETA Award

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:51:38 GMT

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) just named Oprah Winfrey as their Person of the Year for 2008. Oprah Winfrey is such a champion for the humane treatment of animals, and in 2008 she did a show that exposed puppy mills. It was followed by such an outcry from the public that exposed the inhumane treatment of dog breeders. Oprah Winfrey has such a high profile that her impact in dog breeding made a difference in the public's perception of dog breeders in the US who use despicable practices, like caging animals for their entire lives, not feeding them well, and overbreeding them.

Oprah Winfrey is the champion for many causes, but we all know that she is a true animal lover. Many an Oprah Winfrey show has been devoted to animals, and she talks frequently of her own beloved dogs. There is some skepticism about the award from PETA from people who do not like PETA's practices about the value of this award, but there is no doubt that Oprah Winfrey has done much to promote and educate people about treating animals with kindness.

Interesting Oprah Winfrey Show on Polygamy Today

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:27:31 GMT

Today's Oprah Winfrey Show is about the polygamist communities that the FLDS (Fundamentalist Mormons) still have. Oprah Winfrey has done a great deal to educate people around the country about the suffering that the children in these communities suffer at the hands of the community elders. Her guests talked about escaping the ordeal of childhood marriages, having to marry people you don't want to, and even having to marry cousins. The Oprah Winfrey Show needs to be applauded for taking on this subject. Living out west myself, I live among many Mormons and have them as close friends. They have extraordinary community values, are independent, and while their beliefs are their own, many of them make very positive contributions to the community.

It's the FLDS sectors in a few states that have given Mormonism a black eye. The church outlawed polygamy years ago, and some of my Mormon friends believe that the practice was started as a way to help widowed women in the 19th Century survive in Mormon communities. Life was tough back then, and many single mothers and/or widows could not have survived without the help of the rest of the community. Marrying them made it legal. I did not hear that on the Oprah Winfrey Show today, but maybe I'll write it and email it to her. But there is no excuse to marry underage girls and force young boys to leave the community. That was not practiced in the past.

Luke Russert on the October 17 Oprah Winfrey Show

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:21:04 GMT

Today's Oprah Winfrey Show is going to feature Luke Russert, and as a huge Tim Russert fan, I don't want to miss a moment of it. Tim Russert's death was so tragic, but Luke showed his mettle during the greiving process, and now is picking up his father's torch and carrying on in political journalism. On the Oprah Winfrey Show website today is a letter from Tim Russert that says that the day his son was born was the day that his life changed. He went from being a driven journalist to being a dedicated father. He said in the letter that he would be judged as a person the day he died by saying this in his letter:

"Because, ever since August 22, 1985, at 7:11 p.m., I've known that when my life is over, there's nothing more I'll be judged on than what kind of father I was." Source: Oprah Winfrey Show, oprah.com.

That is the statement from one commited father. It will be wonderful to watch Luke on the show today and hear what he has to say about the upcoming election, which is so critical to our future right now. We are limping toward November 4 without his dad as a brilliant political journalist. Hats off to Oprah for bringing Luke on stage.

The Oprah Winfrey Show Has Some Great Money Tips

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:50:40 GMT

Have you checked out Oprah Winfrey's website? Today they have a link on there about how to save money in these tough times, and how Oprah Winfrey is giving out money in her Pay it Forward campaign. They have listed how the people have helped others pay it forward with gifts of money. Some of the stories are quite touching. The Oprah Winfrey Show can do a lot of good, and it's good that Oprah is big hearted. She has plenty of money to work with, and anyone who reads an Oprah biography knows she went through really tough times as a child. Not only was she poor, she was also dreadfully abused, so her rise to her celebrity status is even more remarkable. The Oprah Winfrey Show has lots of good ways to save money, specifically, clipping coupons for groceries and tips on selling your home in a tough market. The one I really liked was holding a raffle and selling tickets for $100 a piece. The winner gets the house. One woman who sold her house that way was able to donate $200,000 to her favorite charity over and above the appraised value of the home. That sounds like a great strategy to sell a home if it is legal in your state, as the Oprah Winfrey Show website states quite clearly. Check the site out soon, and see how she can help you.

Are you A Fan of The Oprah Book Club?

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:28:07 GMT

The Oprah Book Club

Are you a fan of the Oprah book club? I am, but on a limited basis. As you probably know the Oprah book club first selection back in 1996 was the novel The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I read it and did enjoy it but would not have said it was one of the best books I ever read. For a while the Oprah book club averaged one new book a month for the next few years. She did discontinued the book club for one year in 2002, saying that she could not keep up with all the reading in order to find contemporary books that she enjoyed. She started up again in 2003 but the books were selected on a more limited basis and an emphasis was switched to classic works of literature like Steinbecks "East Of Eden". Because of the Oprah book club wide popularity, many little know titles and authors have become bestsellers overnight, sometimes increasing sales by as many as a million copies at time.
I guess that's the problem I have with the Oprah book club in part. The value, literary or otherwise, of a book should not rise or fall on one womens opinion.

Oprah Winfrey show: some timely advice.

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:27:37 GMT

I had a chance to watch a very interesting section of the Oprah Winfrey show the other day, and considering the financial meltdown in the United States today, it was a very timely show.

The show was all about being honest with ourselves when it comes to finances (where all the money goes), and it dealt with the big lie that many Americans are currently living with--the big lie that they can afford the big house with all of the toys and never really have to get around to paying for it!

They had a couple on the Oprah Winfrey show that were over ninety thousand dollars in debt on credit cards alone (the pictures of Oprah--her emotions--were priceless), and there are many other people with far more credit card debt than that. The worst part of the aforementioned couple's problems though was that it was costing them, if I recall my facts correctly, over three thousand dollars a month just to service their credit card debt!

So, they were in the process of losing their beautiful home, right there on the Oprah Winfrey show (in front of millions of people) as a result of their out of proportion spending. They were having to come face to face with reality and honesty and admit that they had overspent and couldn't afford it all.

But, they are on the right track now, as they're getting out of debt and the next time around they'll be far more honest about what they really can and cannot afford--the Oprah Winfrey show has an expert assigned to them that is following up on their finances in order to to give them a greater chance of success.

If you haven't seen it, see if you can get it online--it's worth the view.

Sarah Palin Not Invited on the Oprah Winfrey Show

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:10:49 GMT

The Oprah Winfrey Show has Class

Oprah Winfrey has announced is not going to be interviewing Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on the Oprah Winfrey Show until after the election is over.

TMZ has quoted Oprah Winfrey saying "At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. "I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over," she adds. "There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show."

At this point the fact that she endorsed Barack Obama was a huge move on her part. Having Palin on the Oprah Winfrey Show would give him another big bump in the polls I'm sure, but Oprah has chosen to do the responsible thing and recognizes the unfair influence an appearance would make on the election outcome.

She is very aware that unfortunately people, particularly women, follow her blindly. Thumbs up today for Oprah Winfrey.

Many people write Oprah for advice.

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:58:04 GMT

The popularity of Oprah Winfrey, from the Oprah Winfrey Show to the Oprah magazine has led her to be admired by millions of people worldwide. So it is only natural her many fans would write Oprah for everything from love and relationship advice to simply tell her she is a role model to them. Oprah is a true rags to riches story and although I do not watch the Oprah Winfrey Show or read her books or magazine, I do admire her for her many accomplishments and the many charity's she donates time and money to. The people of America need more role models such as Oprah instead of the many idiots so many people elevate to star status. Being promoted by the Oprah book club is a must for many writers trying to break into the very competitive publishing industry and an endorsement from Oprah and her book club career has launched many young writers to fame and success. I especially feel she has done a very good thing with her school for young women in Africa. We need more people of fame to contribute and give back as Oprah Winfrey has.

Oprah Winfrey Confirms Democratic Crowning Invitation

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:31:09 GMT

Barack Obama will soon be crowned the official Democratic candidate at Denver Stadium. There is no surprise there considering all of the other candidates other then Republican hopeful John McCain have dropped out. Either way, Obama will provide a commencement speech to almost 75,000 people, one of which will be Oprah Winfrey.

In earlier Oprah Winfrey news, her camp said she would not say anything during the commencement. That still stands but there has been a confirmation by her people that she will be in attendance at the Bronco’s football stadium. This may or may not be a reason more people turn out to hear the lofty presidential goals of Obama.

The democratic crowning will last four days ending in a large celebration. Oprah Winfrey is expected to greet Obama on that fourth day. The speech will be televised for the millions of people outside of Denver so tune in to hear his final thoughts about becoming the president. There is no question Obama has banked on celebrity endorsements which McCain has caught on to and attacked in recently released advertisements.

The Oprah book club can really make authors famous

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:29:26 GMT

I currently am an author hard at work on my first fantasy series, and I could tell that I would love nothing more than to have my book accepted into the Oprah book club and featured on a live airing of her awesome show! I have seen plenty of other come from nowhere authors get their book featured on the Oprah book club and they went on to sell a few million copies: hey people just like what Oprah has to read and say about it and they want to read what she reads. The Oprah book club has been around for a while and has really jumpstarted the careers of many fledgling authors who otherwise would be working a day job still, instead of clacking away on their next hit book because their first book was featured on the Oprah book club. I plan indeed on sending my first book into the Oprah book club and can only sit back and wait with my fingers crossed that she will read my book and think that it is deserving of her endorsement.

Oprah Winfrey has given back to others.

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:48:08 GMT

I will be the first to tell you I am not a fan of tv "tell all talk shows" but I do believe Oprah Winfrey has leveraged the popularity of the Oprah Winfrey Show to do many fine charitable projects. For authors of new novels, being listed in the Oprah Book Club is a must for future sales and recognition. Fans of the Oprah Winfrey Show can write Oprah with comments and suggestions for future shows or just for advice, Fans can subscribe to her Oprah magazine and, in my opinion, her top achievement has been the funding, building and opening of Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls, located in South Africa. This is something Oprah Winfrey can and should be very proud of and she deserves much credit for this fine example of giving back to those who have great needs. Although there has been issues with the leadership academy this is the type of giving back that the world needs more of from those who have been tremendously blessed. I give Oprah a big thumbs up for her actions.