“…I am not being overly confident about it, but when you look at the other party [Republicans], I’m just saying…,”

- Oprah

Say it girl….

I have said it and will continue to say that the 2012 road to the White House is going to be very interesting. As a matter of fact, it already is! Have y’all seen the “other” party?!? *smh* Foolery at its highest!!!

In her week-long visit to India, Oprah Winfrey experienced a variety of life in India; from a glamorous high society Bollywood party in Mumbai and a guided visit to one of the city’s slums with Australian convict-turned-author of the famed novel Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts, to a visit to a widows ashram in the North Indian holy city of Vrindavan before rounding off with a trip to the famed Taj Mahal in Agra.

On President Barack Obama’s chances for second term:

“I believe in him… I love him, I appreciate him. Of course you make mistakes. You are walking into the White House. You have the whole world watching you. And he is a man. And I mean that in the best way, he is a man, meaning a world leader, he’s not a God. And so as a man you make mistakes in the world sometimes. I think the world forgot that we were on the brink of a depression in our country and nobody knew whether we were going to have bread lines, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But he was able to stop that from happening… I think that it’s a difficult job and I think that his next four years are going to be even more successful for our country and that people are going to get back to work.

“It’s going to be a really good thing that he remains in office. I feel very strongly that he will remain in office. I am not being overly confident about it but when you look at the other party, I’m just saying…”

On her visiting India for the first time:

“I came here with an open mind, and it has been expanded… It’s the greatest life experience I have ever had. You feel like you’re in the center of something bigger and greater than yourself. “I was overwhelmed by the chaos, the traffic and people who never stopped for red lights, by men riding donkeys, women wearing helmets with saris and oxen-drawn carts laden with steel… It made my head spin – I felt like I was part of a video game. I don’t know which way to look. It’s a bit chaotic, but there’s an underlying calm, a flow, that you all seem to understand.

India is a paradox.”

In on why she was selective in what she depicted of India:

“It was important for me to go to the slums but not show the worst of the worst, but show that people can live in poverty and still have hope and meaning in their lives… I will take with me a sense of calmness, and a genuine respect…

….people don’t talk religion here, they live it,”

On why she never married:

“I am not the marrying kind. I know that in a country like India where women have arranged marriages that turn into love, it may seem like a mystery as to why. But if we (referring to her partner since 1986 Stedman Graham) were married, by now we would be divorced.”

 Oprah was a big hit in India. Some of her Indian fans….

 Love it!

Click here to watch the entire interview.

[Source]

This past Saturday, Mama Oprah Winfrey proudly saw the first class of South African girls graduate on Saturday from her $40 million school in South Africa.

“Victory Day! All girls are off to college. Some start tomorrow here in South Africa!” – Oprah

This was the inaugural graduation of the class of 2011 at Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls on January 14, 2012 in Henley on Klip, South Africa. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girl celebrated the graduation of 72 girls. Wearing white dresses, the girls were cheered on by their families. These girls are primarily from from disadvantaged backgrounds and all passed and all of them are going for further education!

Amhlope! Makorokoto! Congratulations girl…you go!

Halala!!

Amhlope! Mokorokoto! Halaaaaaalaaaaa!

Congratulations to the first graduating class of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy!

The Washington Post is reporting that the South African-based, Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy’s first graduating class is made up of 72 young South African women. The soon-to-be former pupils have all been accepted to universities in both South Africa and the United States -  amongst them are aspiring doctors, accountants, engineers and lawyers …

Proud Mama Winfrey spent $40 million dollars of her own money building the school and equipping it with computer and science labs, a library and wellness center. The girls were hand-picked by Ms. Winfrey herself and did not have to pay tuition as most of them came from struggling communities.

Like I always say, Oprah told the first graduating class from her academy that “when you teach a girl, you teach a nation.”

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Today marks as the first day of the Women’s month in South Africa. Women across the country are celebtrated and honoured for their good deeds, humbleness, success and the great lives they lead.

Personally I have a few great women that I choose to honour this women’s month and beyond:

1. My mother Meriam Dinkwanyane

Words don’t come close to describing the greatness of this woman. Not only did she give birth to a princess but she groomed her every step of the way and still is. She is what I call my pillar of strength,I live to make her proud and live to be just as great as she is or maybe just close enough. I love you MAMA WAKA!!!

2. Oprah Winfrey

In more ways than one she has inspired me to have dreams of building my own media empire. She inspired me to join the media industry and do more than what the ordinary man/woman does. I started watching Oprah at the age of 9 and my heart was heavy with sadness and happiness all at once when she ended her 25 year talk show career. I’m happy that she has ventured into OWN and this gives me hope and I believe she gave many more people out there hope. Believe it or not I still have my 2006 Oprah mag that my mother bought for me when I was just 16. While my peers stuck their noses in Gossip mags etc. I read threw O’s mags.

3. Beyonce Knowles

She is everything that music demands. For me she brings a whole new element to music, an edge that no other artist but herself can bring. Let’s not even talk about her stage presence. But above all of this, she is a humble human being.

4. Khanyi Dhlomo

This woman gives me hope, hope that dreams do come true. From her days as the editor of True Love magazine to media mogul, Khanyi is our Oprah. She’s a mother, wife, daughter and more and she still keeps her feet on the ground. One of the most influencial women in South Africa and beyond the boarders.

5. Carol Manana

She made me fall deeper in love with sports, specifically soccer. I remember the first time I met her at the SABC studios, she was so friendly more than what I had imagined. She even agreed to mentor me and show me a few things around the sporting world. Her drive and ambition are what keep me focused and wanting to learn more. Over the years she has become undoubtedly the most reliable female sports anchors in South Africa, representing the country over the world.

6. Connie Ferguson

I grew up watching her on the small screen as “Karabo”. She mastered the character and made it her own. She is more than just an actress, and businesswoman, she is a mother, wife and leaders. Connie is the sweetest woman I know while a bubbly laugh that lights up the room. Her presence is felt wherever she goes.

7. The single mothers working hard

There are so many single mothers (Old and young) I know and have witnessed their strength. These women sacrifice their needs for the needs of thier children. They keep their heads up, even when they feel like giving up. They don’t pity themselves and their circumstance, instead they work their way to the top.

8. The independent young ladies who know their worth

Many like myself fall under this category. We work hard for our uncertain/unknown future…we study hard, work hard and play even harder. We know our worth and let no guy try to pull us down. We are the go getters who stop at nothing to achieve the success we deserve!!! *cues Miss Independent-NeYo*

9. The woman on the street who still has hope of a better life besides all else.

These women have seen it all, and yet they continue to be thankful for life. The kind of life we would deem not worth living, they live and somehow with each day that comes by they still find a reason to smile and hope for a better tomorrow. These women have more faith than the ordinary.

10. The sisters who chose not to be victims of their past

Rape victims, breast cancers survivors, abuse survivors, name them all but these are the women who refused to let their past decide their future. These women overcame it all, and saw something new with everyday that comes and goes, they have drive and ambition, they refuse to let their abusers win instead they overcome and leave many amazed at the strength they have. They forgive and forget like children and love like they have never been hurt before. I respect these woman.

From your girl Allegro Dinkwanyane- “I’m just saying”, so have your say…

Are YOU woman enough?

Happy Sunday Y’all!

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I think most of us who watched the Oprah Winfrey Show Finale this past Wednesday shed tears as the Queen of Media and my all-time favorite talk show host & mentor, Oprah, read her love letter to us as she taped her very last “Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Instead of guests, celebs, Oprah chose to share from her heart with her audience her gratitude with what she called, “a love letter”.

On September 8, 1986, the first national episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show was broadcast into homes across America. Now, 25 years later, Oprah steps onto the stage for the last time to share her greatest lessons and hopes for her viewers.

“After deliberating for some time, we decided to do what we do best, and that is a show about and with everyday people. This show always allows people, hopefully, to understand the power they have to change their own lives. If there’s one thread running through each show we do, it is the message that you are not alone. Twenty-five years and I’m still saying thank you, America. Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment. Every word I’ve ever spoken from this stage of The Oprah Show for 4,561 days of my life is what this moment is all about.

“When I came here, I was about to turn 30 years old. I didn’t have a vision or a lot of great expectations. Stedman talks about vision all the time, but I didn’t have one when I came here. I just wanted to do a good job and cause no harm. … That first day was a shock to me. There was no audience. There I am in my best Anne Klein II velour outfit, my guests were a few Chicago football players, New Year’s Day, 1984. … I needed people. I needed to have you to gauge how things were going during the show, if you were responding, if you were laughing, if you were tracking with me. So after that first show, we put up some folding chairs in the audience. We brought in the staff. Secretaries. Anybody we could find in the building and filled the first rows with staff people and the rest with people off the street that we bribed with doughnuts and coffee, and we’d say, ‘Come in.’

“Two years later, when we went national, I remember at the time, Roger King told me that one station manager said that he’d rather put a potato in a chair in his market than have a big black girl with a funny name. And in spite of that, from Memphis to Macon, from Pittsburgh to Pensacola, from New York to New Orleans, you all let me in.”

“The first week we went national, I remember I got a letter from a woman named Carrie in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Carrie said, ‘Oprah, watching you be yourself makes me want to be more of myself.’ That was and still remains one of the nicest things I ever heard. What Carrie felt is what I wanted for every single one of you. I wanted to encourage you to be more of yourself just as you all encouraged me, and you cheered me on and occasionally complained about my outfits, my big hair and earrings the size of napkins. Now I see you had every reason to.

“Soon after I started the show, something shifted for me. It really did. I started the show as a job and was very happy to get the job, but it was not long before I understood that there was something else going on here. More than just job satisfaction. Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I became your surrogate—to ask the questions, deliver the answers, learn, grow, expand my thinking, challenge my beliefs and the way I looked at the world. I listened and grew, and I know you grew along with me.

“Sometimes I was the teacher, and more often, you taught me. It is no coincidence that I always wanted to be a teacher and I ended up in the world’s biggest classroom. And this, my friends, will be our last class from the stage.

“What I knew for sure from this experience with you is that we are all called. Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. Every time we have seen a person on this stage who is a success in their life, they spoke of the job, and they spoke of the juice that they receive from doing what they knew they were meant to be doing. We saw it in the volunteers who rocked abandoned babies in Atlanta. We saw it withthose lovely pie ladies from Cape Cod making those delicious potpies. … We saw it every time Tina Turner, Celine, Bocelli or Lady Gaga lit up the stage with their passion. Because that is what a calling is. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. And that is what I want for all of you and hope that you will take from this show. To live from the heart of yourself. You have to make a living; I understand that. But you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world.”

“When I started, not even I imagined that this show would have the depth and the reach that you all have given it. It has been a privilege for me to speak to you here in this studio, in this country and in 150 countries around the world on this platform that is The Oprah Winfrey Show. You let me into your homes to talk to you every day. This is what you allowed me to do, and I thank you for that. But what I want you to know as this show ends: Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is. Maybe it’s 20 people, maybe it’s 30 people, 40 people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your classroom, your co-workers. Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You’re letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have.

“My great wish for all of you who have allowed me to honor my calling through this show is that you carry whatever you’re supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don’t waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.”

“Time and time again, the theme that kept showing itself in our early years on this show was people making bad choices. I look back at those tapes, I can’t believe I did it. People were making bad choices and then blaming everybody but themselves for the state of their lives. We started to learn by watching others how self-destructive that really was.

“Here’s what I learned from all of that, besides not to do that anymore: Nobody but you is responsible for your life. It doesn’t matter what your mama did; it doesn’t matter what your daddy didn’t do. You are responsible for your life. … You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others. One of the best examples of this was Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor who was on the show talking about the book My Stroke of Insight. She was a 37-year-old, Harvard-educated brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke in the left part of her brain. She couldn???t speak or remember her own mother, but when doctors and nurses walked into her room, she knew from the right brain who was on her side. She could feel their energy.

“Dr. Taylor sent me a sign that I have hanging in my makeup room. It says, ‘Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.’ And I ask the same thing in my home and at my companies. Thank you, Dr. Taylor, for that simple but powerful lesson. All life is energy and we are transmitting it at every moment. We are all little beaming little signals like radio frequencies, and the world is responding in kind.

“Remember physics class? Did you pay attention to Newton’s third law of motion? Let me tell you, that thing is real. It says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is the abiding law that I live by, articulated to perfection by Miss Celie in The Color Purple when she finally gets the courage to leave her abusive husband, Mister. … ‘Everything you done to me already done to you.’ It is the Golden Rule to the 10th power.”

“When I started this show, it was a revelation to all of us how much dysfunction there was in people’s lives. I grew up with Leave It to Beaver and Andy Griffith. I thought everybody’s family life was like that, even though I knew mine was not. Well this show, and our guests, began to paint a different picture and allowed us to drop the veil on all the pretense and do exactly what we envisioned in that first show: to let people know that you are not alone.

“One of the most poignant moments I remember was in one of the first shows we did about alcoholism. We moved in with a family for a week. The mother felt her husband had a drinking problem, and it was destroying the family. What moved me the most was this moment in that show where the mother’s being consoled by her 3-year-old daughter. That, to me, was the real picture of what alcoholism does to a family. And that was just the beginning. People started coming on this show saying things they couldn’t say to their own family members. Little by little, we started to release the shame.”

“What amazes me when I look back at the volume of 4,561 shows is not just that we did this, but the variety and the complexity of the things that we did. One day we’re LOLing with Chris Rock, and the next day we’re at Walter Reed spending time with soldiers who have lost their limbs. And the day after that, we’re sitting with an entire family of heroin addicts.

“I learned from the guests on this show, no need to feel superior to anybody. Because whether it’s heroin addiction or gambling addiction or shopping addiction or food addiction, work addiction, the root is all the same. The show has taught me there is a common thread that runs through all of our pain and all of our suffering, and that is unworthiness. Not feeling worthy enough to own the life you were created for. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don’t feel worthy once they have them.

“There is a difference, you know, between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing you are worthy of happiness. That never became clearer to me than this year in a moment I shared with Iyanla Vanzant, an expert who had been a regular on our show 12 years ago, and we were trying to develop a show for her, for her own show, and she left to do a show with somebody else and we hadn’t spoken since.

“What I got was we often block our own blessings because we don’t feel inherently good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or worthy enough. From Jacqui Saburido—her face literally melted by the flames ignited from a car accident with a drunk driver—to Monica George—remember her? The mother with a young daughter and a brand new baby who lost both her arms and both legs—the show has taught me you’re worthy because you are born and because you are here. Your being here, your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.”

“I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: They all wanted validation. If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell you that every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: ‘Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?’

“Understanding that one principle, that everybody wants to be heard, has allowed me to hold the microphone for you all these years with the least amount of judgment. Now I can’t say I wasn’t judging some days. Some days, I had to judge just a little bit. But it’s helped me to stand and to try to do that with an open mind and to do it with an open heart. It has worked for this platform, and I guarantee you it will work for yours. Try it with your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends. Validate them. ‘I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me.’”

“I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: They all wanted validation. If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell you that every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: ‘Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?’

“Understanding that one principle, that everybody wants to be heard, has allowed me to hold the microphone for you all these years with the least amount of judgment. Now I can’t say I wasn’t judging some days. Some days, I had to judge just a little bit. But it’s helped me to stand and to try to do that with an open mind and to do it with an open heart. It has worked for this platform, and I guarantee you it will work for yours. Try it with your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends. Validate them. ‘I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me.’”

“People ask, Do I have regrets? I have none, really, about this show. But the one thing I feel I was not able to bring enough attention to, although I tried in 217 shows, was the sexual seduction, molestation and rape of children, worse now with the Internet than it was 25 years ago when I first spoke publicly in November of 1986 of my own sexual abuse. Even though I was able to speak about it because I felt safe enough with you as an audience, I still hadn’t released the shame of it.

“It wasn’t until many years later on a show with child molesters, one of them shared how they calculate and artfully manipulate to seduce children, when I finally realized, like so many of you, it really wasn’t my fault.

“We had a lot of frank conversations on this show about child sexual abuse, and it opened a floodgate for millions of you all over the world, all of you claiming, with courage, the same thing: It happened to me too. And it’s continued for 25 years. One of the proudest moments in the history of The Oprah Show was when my friend Tyler Perry joined me on this stage and gave us his testimony of abuse and then was joined by 200 men.

“What a full-circle moment. I felt safe enough with you all 25 years ago. This season they felt safe enough with me. Thank you, Tyler, and every man who had the strength to stand up for the little boy inside of him.”

“You all have been a safe harbor for me for 25 years. It’s strange, I know, but you have been. And what I hope is that you all will be that safe harbor for somebody else—their safe place to fall. Do for them what you all are telling me the show has done for you. Connect. Embrace. Liberate. Love somebody. Just one person. And then spread that to two. And as many as you can. You’ll see the difference it makes.

“So, audience, I want to keep in touch. I want you to jot down my new email address: Oprah@Oprah.com — easy to remember, huh? This is going to be my personal email account for all of you. When you get something in your in-box from me, it will be from me directly, and I’ll be reading as many of your emails as I can as I move to my next life on OWN. I want you to know that what you have to say matters to me. I understand the manifestation of grace and God, so I know that there are no coincidences. There are none. Only divine order here.

“I am truly amazed that I, who started out in rural Mississippi in 1954 when the vision for a black girl was limited to being either a maid or a teacher in a segregated school, could end up here. It is no coincidence that a lonely little girl who felt not a lot of love, even though my parents and grandparents did the best they could, it is no coincidence that I grew up to feel the genuine kindness, affection, trust and validation from millions of you all over the world. From you whose names I will never know, I learned what love is. You and this show have been the great love of my life.”

“Every single day I came down from my makeup room on our Harpo elevator, I would offer a prayer of gratitude for the delight and the privilege of doing this show. Gratitude is the single greatest treasure I will take with me from this experience. The opportunity to have done this work, to be embraced by all of you who watched, is one of the greatest honors any human being could have. And I thank each of you for allowing me to speak in such a way that, no matter what was happening in your life, you could see the best of your selves. For everything there is a season, we know, and our time together on this platform is coming to a close. In a few moments when the final credits roll, I see it not as an ending, but as an extraordinary beginning. One chapter closed. The next chapter beginning for all of us.

“I’ve been asked many times during this farewell season, ‘Is ending the show bittersweet?’ Well, I say all sweet. No bitter. And here is why: Many of us have been together for 25 years. We have hooted and hollered together, had our aha! moments, we ugly-cried together and we did our gratitude journals. So I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. I thank you for tuning in every day along with your mothers and your sisters and your daughters, your partners, gay and otherwise, your friends and all the husbands who got coaxed into watching Oprah. And I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I’ve tried to be for you.

“I won’t say goodbye. I’ll just say…until we meet again.”

To God be the glory!

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What Was Your Favorite

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“Oprah Winfrey Show Finale”

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Quote or Moment?!

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Let us know! Love ya for it!

Source: Oprah.com

Waddup people!

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One thing you will get from Oprah Winfrey is honesty & truth, about herself, her life, her empire and her views on life in general. So in a candid & exclusive interview, Entertainment Weekly sat down with Oprah Winfrey at her Harpo’s headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, to talk about her Oprah Behind the Scenes TV series, how she comes across in the show, and whether she has any regrets about launching OWN while still doing her talk show.

The interview, which was published on Monday, came three days after OWN, in the starkest sign yet of its troubles, fired its Chief Executive Christina Norman [saddened me to hear about Christina's departure from OWN. She is a force in television industry in the US]. The network has struggled with low ratings since its blockbuster launch in January. Before Christina Norman was let go, Christina had already overhauled OWN’s schedule once [not sure if it a Christina problem. I do agree with Oprah's own admission, that she needs to dedicate her time and attention to OWN for it to reach its fullest potential. I do believe that Oprah is on to something with her 24hr channel but it is going to need Oprah behind the helms to steer it.]

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Oprah Behind the Scenes is addictive.

OPRAH WINFREY: I wish more people were addicted to it! It’s getting better, though a lot of people still don’t know where to find it and how to find it. We just moved it to Sundays. It gives an accurate presentation of the surface of who we are, and people get an idea of what it takes to put these shows together. It doesn’t even begin to touch the nerve of who we really are. What’s really missing is how hard everybody works and the long hours that people put in, the sacrifices they have made with their families, and the depth of absolute passion.

How did it evolve?

It was my idea to do it. Originally, it was proposed to me to do it like Madonna: Truth or Dare, to do it as a film documentary piece. I did not feel like my audience, who supported me for 25 years on TV, wanted to then pay to go to the theater to watch a documentary. The idea of doing it as a TV series fulfilled two purposes – we needed programming for OWN, and it was a way to document the last season. It felt like a perfect idea.

One thing we don’t see on BTS is how much time you give to the Oprah Winfrey Network.

I feel like I have not begun to give anything to OWN. I was on the phone yesterday with the head of OWN probably for 20 minutes, and then I was on another phone call for an hour, so I probably gave OWN and hour and 20 minutes yesterday. Not enough. Not enough. And I hadn’t talked to anybody for two or three days there. Doing this right and ending [Oprah] this the way is a full-time job. And the magazine is a full-time job, but that’s its own machine now. I don’t have to a lot with that anymore. But I still have to check in, approve things. I wouldn’t even say 10 percent of my time is on OWN right now. But it will be. [After the end of Oprah] I can start to give my attention to OWN that it deserves. Its going to improve exponentially with the amount of time and service I can give to it.

Do you regret launching OWN before your talk show ended?

I’ve thought maybe it would have been better to wait until this completely ended and then literally use [Oprah] as a launchpad. If I had it to do differently and had thought of that option, I might have considered that a priority. But I don’t spend a lot of time in the regret mode.

How do you feel about OWN’s performance so far?

It’s not where I want it to be. I had a wonderful conversation with Lorne Michaels at a dinner party. He said it’s going to take three years, not two. And I am going to have to pay my dues and will be in the midst of a learning curve. And when I think I’ve learned as much as I need to know, I’ll be hit with something else. Don’t judge OWN until after three years. So that’s exactly what I have thought in my own mind.

The perception is that you are a perfectionist. Did you mean for BTS to dispel any impressions that are out there about you?

I was not trying to dispel anything. The only thing I’ve ever heard is how controlling I am. But that’s also not true. I want to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am about what they do, particularly if it comes to technology and computers, because I can’t get the damn TV on! I want them to do their jobs. And I want to give them the freedom and the allowance to do it as well as possible for themselves. And then I’m absolutely not in it until you come to tell me what the results are, and I will give you permission to execute that.

How do you think you’ve been portrayed on BTS?

On a camping episode, I had said to [supervising producer] Lisa Morin, when she came to me to want to re-do something, I said, “You must be delusional if you think I’m going to do that.” If you know my personality, you know I’m not trying to humiliate anybody. That’s my way of saying, get the heck out of here, are you crazy or whatever? People thought I was really harsh in saying that. I didn’t mean it to be harsh. It was that moment.

Have you ever gone back to edit the way you came across in an episode?

Yes, for the Jennifer Hudson episode. That was a lot of high drama because we’ve never been stood up before. There were a lot of people saying a lot of things. Everybody was mad. I wanted to make sure that there was not one single thing in that episode that had anything to do with us being mad or upset in that moment. It was dramatic. Nobody has never not shown up, ever. Especially if they were here the night before.

One of the great things about this show is how you appear without makeup.

I’ve taken that to an all-time low, Oh my god. Jesus, I need a little vanity. I’m not asking for vanity fair, but just a little. The camping trip was an all-time low for makeup and pajamas. I do think I could have had nicer pajamas. The reason why it doesn’t completely make me feel like, God I should improve myself, is that people have seen me. They know I can pull it together. And in real life, people don’t have coordinated outfits. I don’t have coordinated outfits!

Take a peak at Oprah Behind the Scenes:
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My fave Oprah Behind the Scenes:
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I actually love this intimate portrayal of the making of the Oprah Winfrey show. It’s a great lens into her empire and how they put together the show. As co-host/Producer on Point Of View on Afrotainment, Channel #751 on DishNetwork, this is so instructive to me as we build our talk-show. I love that fact that Oprah’s team understands her vision and executes excellently towards that end.

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Will You Guys Be Watching OWN?!?!

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Love ya for it!

Photo: Zimbio / Getty Images

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So about a week or so ago Willow Smith premiered her second single titled “21st Century Girl” (about time, I was getting tired of whipping my hair). The young star performed the song for the first time on television on the Oprah Winfrey Show (a show she co-hosted on the day with Ms Oprah Winfrey…lucky girl).

“…she’s a rebel but she does it with class” (well that’s what she says)

ABOUT THE SONG>>>I’m not too sure if this will be as big a hit as “Whip My Hair” was. It’s fun, funky and energetic but guurrrrlll some of those lyrics aren’t suitable for a girl your age #justsaying. Is it me or is Willow heavily influenced by Rihanna’s sound and style??? Whenever I see her I see a mini Riri…*shrugs*

ABOUT THE OFFICIAL VIDEO>>> I like it #nuffsaid check it out below

Fab Or Not? You Like?

Let us know!!

Hi my lovelies!

This is just sad all around! As you guys recall, Oprah Winfrey‘s leadership academy has had problems in the past. Shortly after Oprah‘s all-girls high school opened in 2007, a school matron, Virginia Tiny Makopo, was charged with sexually molesting several girls. Oprah also fired the school’s headmistress, Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane who subsequently sued Oprah for defamation however the suit was settled out of court…

Now this. According to news reports:

Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa is being rocked by a fresh scandal as police investigate the body of a newborn found in one of the student’s bags, police said today.

The baby’s body was found last Wednesday in a bag the 17-year-old girl brought to a hospital where she was being treated for excessive bleeding, police Lt. Col. Lungelo Dlamini told ABC News in a statement.

It is believed that the girl, who has not been identified, gave birth at her school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, which is located outside Johannesburg.

No charges have been filed against the girl and police will discuss the case with the Director for Public Prosecutions once the investigation has been finalized.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I know that Oprah‘s intentions have been to educate & empower African girls, (starting in South Africa). Good intentions face serious challenges and her Leadership Academy is no exception. My prayer is that Oprah remains committed to her intentions of educating & empowering African girls, despite the many challenges coming her way.

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Your Thoughts?!? Weigh In….

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Speak on it….

Muah & ♥ ya for it!

Hi my loves!

Interesting day today! First, Iyanla Vanzant self-help and life coach (remember her?) makes an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show today!

According to Oprah.com:

Before Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, she was blazing the trail at The Oprah Show. And then, it was over. Now, the truth. Tune in today.

Oh, I will be tuning in…trust!

I always wondered what happened with the fall-out between Oprah Winfrey & Iyanla Vanzant. I respect both women & love that they are finally dealing with the issue (TV ratings or not)…

And in other reconciliation (well, sort of) news between two Black women at least, comes Star Jones‘ responses to Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Nene Leakes‘ not-so-nice-comments on The Wendy Williams Show recently.

Check it:

Humph! Well Star Jones had this to say:

“I did Celebrity Apprentice to raise money and awareness for a charity [the American Heart Association] that has been instrumental in my life, not to see it reduced to a cliché where black women attack one another for publicity’s sake…I haven’t commented on any of her comments in hopes that she would remember that we all participated in this show for charity and not as a vehicle to promote ourselves and such hatred. I was clearly wrong and I decided to finally respond.”

I thought Star’s response was mature & balanced. Good for you Star for taking the high road with this! Star Jones & NeNe Leakes appear on Donald Trump‘s Celebrity Apprentice reality show.

ps Black Women can get along!

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…do YOU think Black Woman Can Get Along?

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Your Thoughts?!?

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Speak on it….

Muah & ♥ ya for it!

Photo: Oprah.com

Hi guys & dolls

…and the WINNER is…

drumroll please!

And in the spirit of our fave talk-show host, Oprah, “you get a ticket, you get a ticket“….

FIVE people get a TICKET to the Hansa Pilsner Legends Tour finale featuring great local artists and international artist Pharrell Williams and his band N.E.R.D. —> (No One Ever Really Dies)

BIG, BIG, BIG congratulations go out to our South African readers, Sibongile Ndlovu, Santana Mkhwana, Thelumusa Monama, Thando T. and Abigail Phiri (who gave us Pharrell’s full name, birth date and N.E.R.D members’ names…clearly girlfriend is a HUGE fan)…♥ it!

The nationwide Hansa Pilsner Legends Tour that kicked off in December 2010 is coming to an end this Saturday, February 12th, 2011. The finale concert will take place at The Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. I know that Farai has seen Pharrell live in concert at Chene Park in Detroit, Michigan, last summer (our winter here), and according to her, it is about to be BANANA’s as in poppin’ in Johannesburg this Saturday! 

The winners will all be contacted via email on how they will get their tickets. See y’all on this coming Saturday…

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PROMISE TO PARTY & DRINK

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RESPONSIBLY?!?

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Holla back & let us know your thoughts….

Muah & ♥ ya for it!