Patsy Mink – Eminent Learning Centre

Good evening everyone and welcome to Night of the Notables!

My name is Patsy Mink and I was the first woman of colour and first Asian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Encountering racial and gender discrimination throughout my life has inspired me to become a strong advocate for gender equality and educational reform.

Here is a virtual time capsule that illustrates my life.

After looking through the time capsule, take this short quiz if you would like to learn a bit more about me.

Thank you for visiting and feel free to leave any questions or comments! Enjoy the rest of your evening browsing the learning centres of fellow eminent individuals.

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. Oprah Talks to Maya Angelou Oprah Winfrey. December 2000. Website. <http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-interviews-maya-angelou/2>.

 

Editors, Biography.com. Oprah Winfrey Biography. 2 April 2014. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.biography.com/media-figure/oprah-winfrey>.

This webpage provides an overview of Oprah’s life. It gives you a further understanding of her childhood and her story, and it is a great starting point for preliminary research. This site mentions her career timeline, relationship with family members, and many achievements. I credit this website for pushing me to select Oprah Winfrey as my eminent person.

 

Encyclopedia of World Biography. Oprah Winfrey Biography. n.d. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html>.

 

Fry, Elizabeth. A Child Biography of Oprah Winfrey. 22 August 2019. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.liveabout.com/childhood-biography-of-oprah-winfrey-2535832>.

 

Goalcast. Top 20 Inspiring Oprah WInfrey Quotes That Will Enpower You. 28 September 2016. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.goalcast.com/2016/09/28/top-20-inspiring-oprah-winfrey-quotes-that-will-empower-you/>.

This website has compiled 20 of Oprah Winfrey’s most inspiring and empowering quotes into a list. Oprah Winfrey’s quotes showcase her inner thoughts and highlights her passions and beliefs. By reading through her quotes, I have gained more insight on who she is as a person, and what she hopes to do in the world. Oprah’s quote, “Turn your wounds into wisdom” deeply resonates with her because of all the hardships she has fought through to be where she is today.

 

Haynes, Clarence. Oprah Winfrey: All the Ways the First Black Female Billionaire Has Made History. 24 June 2019. Website. November 15 2019. <https://www.biography.com/news/oprah-winfrey-achievements>.

This website aided in my learning by providing me with Oprah’s greatest accomplishments and achievements. I learned about accomplishments such as her talk show, the leadership academy she created for girls in Africa, and the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award she received. This source focuses on the highlights of Oprah’s career and what resulted from her drive and persistence to succeed.

 

Nelson, Jill. The Man Who Saved Oprah WInfrey. 14 December 1986. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1986/12/14/the-man-who-saved-oprah-winfrey/66d7b7b3-98af-4495-82a7-6b04827f1bd6/>.

 

O, The Oprah Magazine. Building a Dream. January 2007. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.oprah.com/entertainment/building-a-dream>.

This website has an article taken from the O, The Oprah Magazine and it is about Oprah creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Oprah created this school for girls who don’t have a way to get proper education because they’re living in poverty. Reading this article gave me insight on Oprah as a person, what she envisions, and the change she is driven to make in the world. The text outlines the whole process, from planning, building and construction, to Oprah meeting the young girls that she has inspired and given opportunity to.

 

Winfrey, Oprah. How Nelson Mandela Inspired Me To Tackle Poverty Clare O’Connor. 20 September 2017. Website. 15 November 2019. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/09/20/oprah-winfrey-nelson-mandela-school-south-africa-billionaire-education-forbes-centennial/>.

 

—. “Oprah Winfrey’s Life Advice Will Change Your Future.” Spelman College . Atlanta, 22 May 2012. Video. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpx8uNzRdew>.\

The commencement speech Oprah gave at Spelman College showcases the three lessons she believes are the key to real success. Oprah spoke about defining what you want and who you are, finding a way to serve others, and always doing the right thing. The statement “You want to be in the driver’s seat of your own life,” spoke to me and exemplified Oprah’s drive and motivation. This speech contributed to my learning by providing me with more of Oprah’s own words and thoughts and showcasing her wants and fears.

Oprah Winfrey: From Rags to Riches

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
– Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Winfrey) is a talk show host, actress, media executive, billionaire, and philanthropist, born on January 29, 1954, in Mississippi, USA. Best known for hosting her talk show called “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Oprah is a very influential person who inspires those all around the world.

I was specifically drawn to Oprah Winfrey due to her story. Oprah Winfrey interested me because of her upbringing and how she became the woman she is today. Born into poverty, Oprah came from a difficult childhood; her unmarried parents separated and she grew up with her grandmother, then was sent to live with her mother and two half-brothers in a poor and dangerous neighbourhood, and was repeatedly sexually abused by male relatives and friends of her mother who she thought she trusted. Following that, she was sent to live with her father at 12. This was perhaps the turning point in her childhood and Oprah says her father saved her life. The challenges Oprah has had to overcome, further my interest in learning more about her.

Oprah Winfrey was born into poverty and had a rough upbringing. Although I cannot connect to her in that specific way, we share a similarity of what we want to do in the world. Oprah Winfrey is very influential and inspires many people around the world. Although I may not have the drive to become an actress, talk show host, or television producer, I have a passion for inspiring others and Oprah exemplifies the type of person I strive to become. Oprah Winfrey is passionate about what she does, is extremely hardworking, and has a knack for creativity. I feel that I am hardworking, passionate about my interests, and coming up with new ideas is something I enjoy. Oprah also pushes outside her comfort zone, stays persistent through failure, and has a specific focus. I aspire to emulate Oprah’s determination and selflessness in all she does.

I believe that Oprah exemplifies my goals in TALONS to a large degree as most of her qualities and traits are what I want to work on and get better at doing. This includes staying persistent throughout failure and taking on challenges that come my way, working hard on all my projects and assignments, and pushing outside my comfort zone. Oprah not only exemplifies my goals in TALONS but also the person I want to be outside of an educational standpoint.

Barriers that may cause a block in connecting to Oprah Winfrey includes class, religious faith, and geography. Oprah is a multi-billionaire and very wealthy, and I am privileged and financially stable. Although there is a difference, I don’t feel as it’s a big deal because Oprah had to work hard to become wealthy. I was raised financially stable and in a privileged household while Oprah was born into poverty and in a financially unstable home. There was a point in her life where Oprah was in my situation and this is a key thing to address in my speech. Oprah was raised a Baptist and I am not religious. I live in Canada while Oprah’s main residence is located in California. I don’t believe this poses as a major barrier, because geographically we both live in North America.

Oprah Winfrey uses her position to inspire, educate, and empower people all over the world. Some say she is the most influential woman in the world. Some of her many accomplishments include The Oprah Winfrey Show 1986-2011,  her television network, and countless magazine covers. She has been a talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Oprah is the chairwoman and CEO of Harpo Productions and The Oprah Winfrey Network. Winfrey is featured in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people list, she has co-authored five books, and she started a school to educate and develop leadership skills for young women in South Africa. From being born into extreme poverty to self-made billionaire, Oprah Winfrey has made a positive impact in this generation and continues to do so. I feel that Oprah will be remembered in 50 years, due to all of her contributions to the world.

Oprah has gone through economic hardship, sexual abuse at a young age, to becoming pregnant at 14 then losing her first child. Most of her challenges and obstacles were faced in her childhood. Oprah also lost two loved ones; her brother and sister. She got through these challenges by remaining positive through it all. She pushed through by believing that there is light at the end of the tunnel and staying selfless no matter what she was going through. Oprah was hired as a prime-time news anchor and after the network failed, she was blamed. Although she recognized her “failures” she never gave up and let that get in the way of her success. Oprah wants to inspire others through her story and what she has accomplished and she fears confrontation from others.

My goal for the next step in my research is to read one of her books and watch videos of her speeches to gain more insight and a further understanding on who Oprah is and what she wants to do in the world. By doing so, I want to come up with a creative way of displaying her story in my learning centre.