The 75th Golden Globe Awards 2018 to celebrate film and television shows of 2017 was held on January 7th, 2018, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m.

That night, Oprah Winfrey received Cecil B. DeMille Award and carried out a powerful speech that encouraged both the actresses at the ceremony and women in the world.

First, she started with her childhood experience watching Sidney Poitier receiving an award and how that inspired her. She also added how there will be “some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award.”

Then, she told a story about a woman named Recy Taylor, who was raped by six armed white men from her way back from church in 1944. Oprah added how “justice wasn’t an option in the era of Jim Crow,” showing her sorrow. Winfrey added how women were “broken by brutally powerful men” and “have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men”. She emphasized the phrase, “their time is up” to highlight that the era of men overpowering women will not allowed in the society anymore.

At the end, she added that she has “interviewed and portrayed people who’ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights”. She emphasized how she wants “all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!” She also added “when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, 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,” encouraging the women who stood up to share their personal stories and overcome the difficulties that they have faced in their lives.

The reaction from the audience was incredible. The video of her speech on NBC’s YouTube channel has almost 7 million views. Ava DuVernay, an American film director, wrote “Let me tell you this room is still vibrating like electricity from that speech” on her twitter with the hash tags: “#OPRAH #micdrop #TimesUp #MeToo #GoldenGlobes” to show her support towards Winfrey. Peter Rosenberg, a television show host at WWE, also wrote on his twitter saying that “Can I vote for Oprah in 2020 right now?” reflecting the public opinion on how Oprah Winfrey should run for the presidential election for 2020. Including many of the celebrities, many of the people were inspired by the speech. Many women felt like they are part of the problem and that they want to make change.

<Julia NaWon Yoon University High School 11th Grade>