It was a star-studded evening for Hollywood as the Golden Globe Awards 2018 marked the beginning of awards season this year with a bang! But it was Oprah Winfrey’s iconic speech that stole the show this time, and boy, we couldn’t tear our eyes off the screen the whole time either!
When it was announced that the winner for the 2018 Golden Globes‘ Cecil B. Demille Award was Oprah Winfrey, there wasn’t a soul in sight that didn’t get up to immediately give the first black woman to ever get the award, a standing ovation even before she was up on stage to receive it.
The most powerful and evocative part of Oprah’s speech was, of course, the reference to the #Time’sUp initiative by the women of Hollywood, who have vowed to stand in solidarity with those who have been affected by sexual harassment in workplaces, especially in the wake of the allegations made against Harvey Weinstein, as well as the #MeToo movement that was taken up, worldwide.
“I am especially proud, and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough, and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories”, she said in her speech, to a teary-eyed audience at the Beverly Hills in California.
“I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed, and bills to pay, and dreams to pursue”.
For any person around the world who expected the Time’s Up initiative to be just another campaign launched for the betterment of women that will slowly fade with time, may just have sat up and taken notice that this is here to stay. Like Oprah stated, the injustice, inequality, and violence against women is slowly becoming a thing of the past, and this movement is definitely here to stay!
The emotional peak of Oprah’s speech arrived when she mentioned the story of Recy Taylor, a Black woman who was kidnapped, blindfolded, and raped by a horde of white men on the way home after church in 1944. These men threatened to murder Taylor if she ever reported their crime, and were never prosecuted, but we are now at a period in time where unforgivable crimes like this will not hide from the open anymore.
“She lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men,” Oprah said. “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up.”
Not too long after the emotionally charged speech was delivered, Twitter was abuzz with the reactions to Oprah’s words, and in their true explosive fashion, didn’t hold back from expressing their emotions over watching the whole thing. Especially those who totally think she should be running for the presidency soon!
Oprah Winfrey’s speech should be printed in textbooks. #GoldenGlobes
— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) January 8, 2018
@Oprah for president!#Oprah#women#powerful#GoldenGlobes#GoldenGlobes2018 pic.twitter.com/skZRdrApHU
— KatEyeMedia (@KatEyeMedia) January 8, 2018
Oprah for president!
— Colleen Ballinger🎗 (@ColleenB123) January 8, 2018
Oprah basically got on that stage and went:
— The Root (@TheRoot) January 8, 2018
🗣YOU GET A NEW DAY!
🗣YOU GET SOME HOPE!
🗣YOU GET INSPIRATION!
Oprah 2020 #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/am5vhVop3w
In case you missed it, @Oprah’s speech on the Globes makes you wanna change the world. I ❤️#oprah and I’m #inspired
— Joy McCarthy (@joyoushealth) January 8, 2018
Take a look at the powerful speech that’s taking the internet by storm right now:
