Oprah. If you haven’t seen her speech from the Golden Globes on Sunday night, stop reading this and go watch it. Then come back here.
I love awards shows. I love the actual show, the red carpet, photos from the after parties… all of it. This year’s Golden Globes were a special treat to watch. In case you didn’t see them or somehow haven’t heard about what happened Sunday night, I’ll catch you up quick. Everyone wore black in solidarity for change. Change that will ensure equality across race, religion and gender. Change that will ensure safe work environments across industries. Change that will ensure equal pay for equal work. Change that will promote diversity everywhere. At least this is my take on "why we wear black".
Throughout the show, the message was one of power, love and hope. I was inspired by the speeches and the solidarity. And then there’s Oprah. The timing was so incredibly fitting because I really think that we need a little Oprah in our lives right about now.
As I was driving my sons to school yesterday morning, they played excerpts from Oprah’s speech on the radio. I was sucked back into listening and forgot about my son listening in the back seat. When Oprah had finished speaking my son asked me “Mommy, who was that lady that just spoke?” … because Oprah commands attention. And when Oprah speaks you listen. Even the little 6 year old boy in my back seat. “Her name is Oprah Winfrey. She gave a speech last night on the awards show that mommy was watching.” My son wanted to know everything. What was she saying? What does it mean? I did the best I could to simplify the events that are happening and how people are looking to create change. And how Oprah is encouraging others to demand change.
I explained how not everyone gets paid the same for the same work. Of course, that’s a tough concept because in a 6 year olds eyes, fair is fair. And that’s not fair. “But mom, how will she make the bosses listen so that everyone gets paid equal?” My son surprises me every day. But this blew me away. He understood instinctively that change is not easy. Change is hard. And that making people listen is hard. And he wants to know how to do it. He wants to know how people can make change. And damn, that’s absolutely the right question.
I struggled to answer this. One person can make a difference. I believe that. I also know that there’s power in numbers. And standing together we can accomplish more than any one of us can on our own. So I started by explaining to my son that we need to look out for each other. That we need to call out when we see something that’s not right. That we can’t be afraid to speak up. I told him that when people work together, we can make change happen. Right now there are a lot of people who want to see change. That sort of momentum can be powerful.
But boy did my kid make me think. About how we need to empower each other to stand up for ourselves. I know how difficult that can be. It’s not always easy, for a million different reasons. But we have to try. We have to try harder. We have to have a voice and find ways to make it heard.
I want my son to grow up challenging ideas in ways I never did. I was a rule follower. I did what I was told. But I see the value in challenging the rules and the status quo. I see the value in having your own mind. I wish that for my children.
I do my small part to empower women by making them feel comfortable and confident through style and fashion. But I know I can do more. Maybe this will be part of my new year’s resolution…to be more aware, to speak up and to look out for others.
