WATCH: Oprah Winfrey on Talk Show's Legacy: "We All Want to Know That We Matter" (VIDEO)
Though The Oprah Winfrey Show wrapped 11 years ago, its legacy lives on. Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay were honored at Variety's recent Power of Women dinner, presented by Lifetime. And in her speech, Winfrey delved deep into how her chatfest influenced her current work.
She noted:
We are all looking for the same thing. This is the one lesson I came away from doing ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ The common denominator of our experiences is that we all want to know that we matter and we want a show that reflects our values.
Winfrey reflected on the legacy she strives to bring to OWN, which includes reflecting Black family experiences on screen and advocating for women behind the camera. For example, Winfrey and DuVernay decided to hire only female directors to helm Queen Sugar. Winfrey explained:
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When I came back from opening my school, I was sitting with Maya Angelou and I said, ‘Maya, oh my God, you should have been there for the opening of the school because that school is going to be my greatest legacy.’ She said, ‘You have no idea what your legacy is going to be.’ I said, ‘Oh no, I think it’s really gonna be those girls.’ And she said, ‘I said, ‘You have no idea what your legacy is going to be because your legacy is never one thing. Your legacy is every life you touch.’ And so I think of every story, every show, every life that has been touched because of the idea that you had; let's get women directors.
Watch Winfrey open up below.
