Essay/Term paper: Oprah and malcolm x

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

The lives of Malcolm X and Oprah Winfery have some similarities's but mostly
differences. The biggest similarities is that they are both very accomplished
black American's. Malcolm X was a hustler, robber and a very messed up child.
After going to jail he decided to turn his life around. In a few ways Oprah
was the same way. She had struggled with her weight all of her life. Finally
she decided to do something about it.
When Malcolm was a child his family didn't have very much money. They lived
in a run-down house with many brother's and sister's. To make matters worse,
they were a black family. When he was about fifteen years old his father was
run over by a cart. He was nearly cut in half! The police said it was an
accident but, Malcolm and his family knew it wasn't. After his father died
things went down hill. His mother was so upset by his death that she couldn't
take care of her family. Malcolm started to hang out with the wrong people. He
became a hustler, he would rob people for money and valuable things they
owned. He also started to get into hard drugs during his teenage years. All of
this led to him dropping out of school and his mom was put into a mental
hospital. When he was seventeen years old he was arrested and put into jail.
This was the start of his "new start". He started reading the dictionary! His
speed increased incredibly. By reading the dictionary his vocabulary became
much better so he started reading books. After serving 8-10 years in jail he
got out and started to speak against racism. He was a very strong speaker,
which many people, including some whites, listened to. He would always be
talking about how the whites didn't treat them right and to fight against
them. On February 21, 1965 Malcolm was speaking at a OAAU rally in Harlem and
he was shot and killed.
Oprah Winfery, a talk show producer and host, actress, and a very charitable
person. She began her career in television when she was nineteen years old.
She was the youngest and the first African-American woman to be a news anchor
at Nashville's WTVF-TV. Nine years after her T.V. career took off she moved to
Chicago to host a morning talk show, "A.M. Chicago" which became the number
one rated talk show just a month after Oprah took over. In less than a year
the show expanded into a hour long program and was renamed, "The Oprah Winfery
Show". It is now the highest rated talk show and has been for over ten years.
That's T.V. history. She has also helped write the best-selling fitness book,
"Make the Connection". Oprah has struggled with her weight for all of her
life. Though her personal struggle she helps people have the strength to also
lose weight and live a healthier life. Oprah devoted her last season to
helping children. She talks about violence, poverty, domestic abuse, and the
abuse of children. The goal of this serious was to give viewers information
and solutions on how to help these children. She also gave scholarships to
hundreds of students throughout the country.
Both of these great black american's have been a great inspiration to many
people, not just black's. They have found something thats wrong in the world
and have spoken out agnist it. They have helped open people's eyes to the
problem that suround us every day. Malcolm X spoke out agnist rasim and the
way the African-Americans were treated by whites. Oprah Winfery has spoken out
about many thing but the one she feels the strongest about is how children are
treated. She is always giving donations to many charities for deprived
children. They both have helped people see the bad things in the world and
tried to change them. Both Oprah Winfery and Malcolm X have changed the world.
People will never forget what they have done to help.
I think Malcolm X was a sinner that turned into a saint. He was kind of
messed up in the begging of his life. Once he realized what was going on he
tried to help the African-American's see what the whites were doing was wrong
and he wanted things to change. He did many good thing in his life to make up
for the wrong that he did when he was younger. To me, Malcolm X was a saint
for having the strength to speak their minds and standing up for the African-
Americans. He is one of the reasions the world is a more loving place.