Some 2,200 soon-to-be Howard University graduates looked on as their commencement speaker, Oprah Winfrey, nearly broke down while receiving an honorary doctorate in the field of humanities.
School President H. Patrick Swygert presented her with the honor and declared her a “citizen of the universe,” adding: “We now name you a daughter of Howard University.”
“You can receive a lot of awards in your life, but there is nothing better,” Winfrey said before pausing in an attempt to keep her emotions in check, “there is nothing better than to be honored by your own.”
She dabbed at tears that had escaped and accepted a handkerchief from Swygert, who later promised to add it to the university’s permanent archives. The talk show host then launched into a 20-minute speech that is sure to go down as one of the most inspirational in history.
“I’m here to tell you today, ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry about it. Relax. . . . All you have to know is who you are,'” her address began. She spoke of topics familiar to “Oprah” fans: her roots at a TV station in Baltimore, where bosses told her she was “too black, too emotional,” and attempted to change her TV name to something more common, but she refused. Finally, Winfrey was put on a talk show, she said, to run out her contract.
“And that was the beginning,” she told the crowd at the historically black university in Washington D.C. “My integrity is not for sale, and neither is yours. Do not be a slave to any form of selling out.”
“I stand here as a symbol of what is possible when you believe in the dream of your own life,” Winfrey said. “Don’t be afraid. All you need to do is know who you are.”
The Mississippi native also recited the oft-told story of her grandmother, a servant in 1950s Mississippi, whose hope for young Oprah was that she’d “get some good white folks” to work for someday.
“I regret that she didn’t live past 1963 and see that I did get some really good white folks – working for me,” Winfrey said.
America’s black youths are in crisis, she mentioned, while urging everyone to help the less fortunate, as she has done. She cited the $40 million school for girls she has built in South Africa and said it does not have to be difficult to help save a life. “When you see me, you see what is possible,” she said.
