“I want all of the girls watching here now to know, that a new day is on the horizon.”
Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes Sunday night, delivering a stirring speech for the ages.
The award is the Globes' version of a lifetime achievement award.
Since the introduction of the award in 1953, only three actors of color prior to Winfrey have won (Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington).
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While Winfrey is more known for her talk show, her first ever film role as Sophia in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple garnered her an Oscar nomination.
Warner Bros. Entertainment
And after 25 years of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey has found time to star in Golden Globe-nominated films Lee Daniels' The Butler and Selma, all while launching and running the Oprah Winfrey Network.
The Weinstein Company
To begin her acceptance speech, Winfrey set the scene at the Oscars in 1964 when Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win an Academy Award.
"I'd never seen a black man being celebrated like that," Winfrey reflected. "I tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone tired from cleaning other people's houses, but all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney's performance in Lillies In The Field: 'Amen. Amen.' Amen, amen."
"In 1982 Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille award right here at the Golden Globes," she continued, "and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award."
Oscars
Winfrey then thanked her hosts, the Hollywood Foreign Press, and championed the importance of a free media.
"We know the press is under siege these days," she said. "We also know it's the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice — to tyrants and victims, and secrets and lies.
"I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times," she said.
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And after a year dominated by headlines of men in Hollywood preying on women, Winfrey stressed the importance of women speaking their truth.
"What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have," Winfrey said. "And I'm especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories.
"Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell, and this year we became the story.
"But it's not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It's one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace.
"So 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," she said.
Stefanie Keenan
Giving special emphasis to the story of Recy Taylor, who bravely spoke out about her rape by white men in Alabama in 1944, even though her life in the Jim Crow South was continually in danger.
"Justice wasn't an option in the era of Jim Crow," Winfrey said. "The men who tried to destroy her were never persecuted.
"Recy Taylor died 10 days ago, just shy of her 98th birthday.
"She lived, as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. 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!"
Augusta Films
Finally, Winfrey ended her speech promising that she and the people in attendance at the Golden Globes were fighting hard "to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say 'Me too' again!"
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Here's the full blockbuster speech:
LINK: Here Are The Winners At The 2018 Golden Globes
via BuzzFeed/Travel