I grew up with Oprah.  My school days ended with a glass of fruit punch, a pile of Doritos, and the Oprah Winfrey show.

It is for this reason that I am often infuriated by rappers like 50 Cent and Ludacris who use their platform to tear down my beloved black media queen.  It does make me wonder though; what kind of black person would harbor such hate and resentment toward a woman who did more than any other single person to elect the first black President?

More important than Barack Obama though, is the fact that Oprah is not now, nor has she ever been, the mouthpiece for white women.  Resonating with a group of people and speaking on behalf of that group of people are two very different things. I could definitely see how 50 Cent could miss the nuance.

50 Cent & Co. would prefer that Oprah marginalize white people because she is black, and because of the way black people have been dehumanized and disenfranchised by white people.  But we should never allow our history to force our psyches into a combative posture.  What we should do, what we must do, is use our collective memory as a tool for mustering the courage needed to confront issues which have race hatred at their core.

Oprah, unlike 50 or Luda, has used her platform to address these and other issues which Americans are typically uncomfortable addressing.  She could have turned a deaf ear to her history and instead chose to lead a life of mostly luxury and little substance….like the hip hop blingers who so freely criticize her.  However, because of who she is at her core, she chose a different route.  It is those who don’t understand Oprah who mistake her kindness for capitulation.

To truly understand Oprah, you must first understand that she is a brazenly spiritual being. Spirituality, at its essence, is the ability to maintain a connection to the universe, the consciousness of all that is.  It is impossible to maintain such a connection while simultaneously distancing yourself from segments of the universe that also exist within that same dimension.

This is why Oprah never took her show and made it about black women or fat women.  She made it for all women, all people. This inclusiveness has proven to be the bedrock of her success.  To ask Oprah to gear her show toward African-Americans, or Latinos is to ask Oprah not to be Oprah. And her detractors are always insisting that they be allowed to “keep it real” and be themselves so why shouldn’t Oprah be extended the same courtesy?  Hypocrisy comes disguised in a variety of diamonds, baggy pants, and gold grills I guess…