"Don't be a slave to any form of selling out"
Oprah Winfrey, whose eponymous show has remained the top-rated TV talk show for 20 consecutive seasons, truly believes her success comes from maintaining her principles and serving others.
"My integrity is not for sale, and neither is yours," Winfrey said at ceremonies Saturday for Howard University, recalling times when she was under pressure to change course or avoid topics to boost ratings or appease advertisers.
"There's no such thing as failure. Failure is God's way of saying take another direction"
Awarded a honorary doctorate at the commencement where she was the keynote speaker, Winfrey reflected on how early in her career at a TV station in Baltimore, executives told her she was "too black" and "too emotional."
They tried to have her TV name changed to something more recognizable. She refused. Finally, Winfrey was put on a talk show, she said, to run out her contract.
"And that was the beginning," she told 30,000 people who crowded onto the Howard campus.
Winfrey drew repeated big cheers from the moment she took the stage. She called on the predominantly black graduates to maintain their integrity and to "go forth and serve."
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