Image Text:

INSPIRATION: Oprah WInfrey (Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

OPRAH WINFREY gave a powerful speech at the 2018 Golden Globes as she accepted the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night (Jan 7).

After an introduction from actress Reese Witherspoon, Winfrey took to the stage to address sexual abuse and racial injustice and show her support for the #MeToo movement.

Winfrey begun her speech by discussing Sidney Poitier, who won the 1964 Academy Award for best actor and became the first black man to win an Oscar. Eighteen years later, he received the Cecil B DeMille award at the 1982 Golden Globes.

Winfrey said: “In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B DeMille award right here at the Golden Globes and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award.

"It is an honor – it is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them and also with the incredible men and women who have inspired me, who challenged me, who sustained me and made my journey to this stage possible.”

She continued: “I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. We know the press is under siege these days. We also know it’s the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice.”

Winfrey addressed victims of sexual abuse and noted that the recent news about Hollywood’s sexual misconduct and how it goes beyond the industry, commenting that this issue “transcends transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace”.

“So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue," she said.

"They’re the women whose names we’ll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they’re in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They’re part of the world of tech and politics and business. They’re our athletes in the Olympics and they’re our soldiers in the military.”

“So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!” Winfrey concluded, whilst the audience gave her a standing ovation.

“And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say “me too” again.”

Read every story in our hardcopy newspaper for free by downloading the app.