In an hugely inspirational keynote address on Thursday afternoon in Soweto, Oprah Winfrey, who jetted to South Africa for her 36th visit, got several standing ovations for her stirring speech that was broadcast live on television, telling South Africa’s downtrodden youth to never give up, to be resilient and to find their strength in telling their stories.
Oprah Winfrey spoke at a packed auditorium in a Soweto event organised by the Nelson Mandela
Foundation, entitled "Is’thunzi Sabafazi" (Dignity of Women).
Speaking
about her 10 days she got to spend with Nelson Mandela before she built her
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls school, Oprah Winfrey said "we are Mandela
children, and we are his legacy. And his legacy speaks to us each time we
choose unity over division. His legacy speaks to us each time we decide that we
are going to fight for equality over domination and love over hate".
"The spirit of him abides with every man, every woman who listens with humility;
everyone who says yes to breaking down a barrier, and not to putting up a wall.
Who educates, rather than retaliates. He is with us every single time everybody
casts a vote for democracy and casts a vote for freedom – he lives," said Oprah Winfrey.
About her school she built in 2007 she said "I built a school to give girls who look
like me, who came from backgrounds like me, who didn't have the means but had
the brainpower and the will to succeed, I wanted to give those girls a chance".
"And I will say that the experience of watching these daughters of South Africa
find their voice and find their grace has made me think long and hard about the
universe that our young leaders and graduating into today."
Some
of the girls, many of whom were in the audience on Thursday, she said have gone
on to graduate from universities in the United States, two graduated at Oxford,
some from the University of Johannesburg, from NMMU, UCT, Wits, Pretoria,
Stellenbosch and one just graduated as the first doctor from the University of
Stellenbosch who got a standing ovation.
"I
have right now 191 girls in college," Oprah Winfrey said, "20 of them in the United
States".
"So
here is my hope – not just for my girls, but for South Africans and human
beings everywhere: I hope that we are able to continue to create a culture that
recognises the responsibility that we have to one another."
"I
know everybody can't build a school but you can take care of the person who is
closest to you. You can help."
"You can ask the question how can I be used for
something greater than myself? And in doing that, you align with Madiba's
vision – both compassionate and practical. He knew that if one of us is
wounded, all of us bleed. He knew that if one of us is lacking, all of us are
somehow affected."
"We
all need to roll up our sleeves wherever you are, whatever you can do, and
begin to build a new future."
Never
give up
"I
want to say a word to the young dreamers of this nation. Madiba said a winner
is a dreamer who never gives up," said Oprah Winfrey.
"I
realise that the statistics are abysmal, that you're still the most vulnerable
in the labour market with more than one in every three of you out of work. Do …
not … give … up. Find a way,” she stressed amidst loud applause.
"I
want you to know that your day will come. It's coming, it’s on its way, because
of you. And I want you to know that I applaud your resilience."
Oprah Winfrey
said it's one of the things she admires most about South African and the
country's youth.
"The remarkable thing about every single girl who come to my
school is all the trials and traumas they've been through. Most girls have
experienced 6 major traumas by the time they get to my school and in spite of
that they still rise."
"And so I say to all the young people, you too can rise.
You are capable, you are brimming with the wisdom of all who came before you."
Tell
your story
Oprah Winfrey said "tell your story. One of the things I've learnt from all of the girls at
my school is when they came to my school they had such shame about their
stories."
"Now
we have a policy at my school that we are a trauma informed school, that knows
and recognises that there's power in the story – that the story can liberate
you: That everything that has ever happened to you, no matter how devastating,
how matter how sorrowful, now matter how challenging – there is not one thing
that happened to you, that did not also happened for you."
"Everything
that has ever happened has happened to build your strength. And that strength
equals power."
"So when you've been so so many trials and so many tribulations,
what it does to you if you allow yourself to open up to the story that has come
before you, what happens is it gives you power."
