O
R
H
By Torise Battle
Throughout my life, there have been many women who have inspired me.
However, none have inspired me as much as Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has shown me
that people can rise above bad situations and turn their lives around for the posi
tive. During the younger stages of her life, Oprah was forced to deal with such
trials as divorced parents, sexual abuse, verbal insults and weight problems.
Even though she became a three-time pageant queen, an acomplished
scholar, and a competent news anchor, Oprah carried the pains of her
I
often
like to go
to the book
store and wan
der aimlessly
childhood with her. / through the aisles to
Despite her tragedies, Oprah perservered to become host of / see what literary magi-
the nationally-syndicated “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and the / cian will cast her spell on
first woman to own her own production company, Harpo / me. On one particular occa-
Productions, Inc. She starred as Sofia in “The Color Purple.” / sion, 1 was looking through the
She produced and starred in “There are No Children Here,” / African-American poetry section
“The Women of Brewster Place” and Beloved. /when I saw this thin book with a pur-
Aside from her many professional goals, Oprah /pie cover. I picked it up and saw a black
has accomplished many personal goals. For her forti- /woman with a short Afro and a stem smile.
eth birthday, Oprah accomplished a personal goal /Her name was Nikki Giovanni. I opened the
by running in the Marine Corps Marathon after Aook and read the first poem inside, “Cotton
an excessive battle with weight loss and emo- /candy on a Rainy Day ” I was in utter disbelief of
tional reconstruction. She has continued to /how this woman had taken my exact feelings and
excel m life by creating a national book /thoughts and made a poem out of them. I turned the
club in conjunction with her talk show /p^g, Introspection. This was certainly divine
and by teaching at Northwestern
University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate
School of Management.
Oprah Winfrey embodies
the ability, the courage and the
faith to turn bad situations
intervention. Her words were like a mother holding her
daughter’s hand saying, “I’ve been where you are, and I made it
through”.
Since my first encounter with Nikki Giovanni, she has been my
poetic savior and lyrical inspiration. Obviously, being my favorite
into good ones. Her endur
ing strength to overcome
any obstacle put in her
way should inspire us
all to dream more,
work harder and
achieve high-
poet is not her only claim to fame. She has authored twelve books of
poetry, essay collections including “Racism 101” (a must read for every
black college student). In addition, she has been named Woman of the Year
by three magazines including Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies Home
Journal. She also holds thirteen honorary doctorate degrees, and is a professor at
Virginia Polytechnic University.
Aside from all of her accolades, Giovanni has dedicated her life and literary talent
er.
to the empowerment of black people. A quote from her that I like to carry with me is “It
is the job of the writer to make revolution irresistible”. If there is one thing I hope to do
with my writing it is moving others to light their life. I would like to think that the Black Ink
is giving me my start.
N
K K I
By Courtney McSwain
17
Black Ink