Everything. (Photo credit Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)
Last night, Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Golden Globes. She started her shattering speech by recounting a moment from her own childhood, watching Sidney Poitier become the first black man to receive a Best Actor Oscar in 1964. And her speech only became more moving and heart-wrenching and inspiring from there. She talked about Recy Taylor and Rosa Parks, #MeToo and #TimesUp, women who speak their truth and women who don’t have that opportunity, and the hope for a brighter morning in a way that made you feel like it’s actually a possibility and not just some meaningless platitude people offer to make you feel better about the fact that it’s currently pitch freaking dark.
[Transcript here.]
Now, of course, the idea of “Oprah Winfrey 2020” is gaining traction, and don’t get me wrong — I like the general concept of President Oprah. But I also like the idea of not calling on a woman who’s already done so much to ride in and save our crumbling country, working actual hours and enduring attacks and going Obama-gray over eight inevitably difficult years. I want Oprah to do whatever Oprah does for fun, and when she feels inclined to stand up and deliver a life-changingly honest, inspirational message, we all sit quietly and listen.
Although I do think it would be cool if whatever experienced, knowledgeable, compassionate, intelligent non-celebrity we vote into office in 2020 would have the freedom to call Oprah for advice from time to time, like with a dedicated Oprah Phone on the Resolute Desk, because she is the best and that would be one of my favorite things.