Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi in 1954 . Her parents were unmarried teenagers. Her mother was a housemaid. and her father was a coal miner and later worked as a barber before becoming a city councilman.Her parents were broke up soon after her birth. Winfrey t six years living in rural poverty with her grandmother. When Winfrey was a child, her grandmother would take a switch and would hit her with it when she didn't do chores or if she misbehaved in any way. Winfrey moved to an inner city ghetto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother, she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend when she was nine years old and fourteen year old. she gave birth to a son but lost the baby shortly after birth. Also at that age, her frustrated mother sent her to live with her father in Nashville. her father was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority.
Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl . Oprah won the contest and received a scholarship to Tennessee State University where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts. Oprah during her college education was offered a job as a co-anchor on the CBS television station,