Tearful Oprah Tells Howard Grads: 'Know Who You Are'

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"Everyone has a calling. There is a reason why you are here. I know this for sure. And that reason is greater than any degree. It's greater than any paycheck. And it's greater than anything that anybody tells you that you're supposed to do. Your real job is to find out what the reason is and get about the business of doing it," she told the graduates who often responded with shouts of "Amen!" and "Hallelujah!"

Even amidst the fame and the success of having her own film company, Harpo Productions and "O, the [Oprah Winfrey] Magazine," Winfrey warned the graduates that opportunities will constantly come to "sell out" what they believe to be right.

The loudest applause came in response to her recalling the advice of her beloved grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee, a maid, who worked for whites. Her grandmother charged her to grow up and "get some good white folk that are kind to you," Winfrey recounted. "And I regret that she didn't live past 1963 to see that I did grow up to get some really good white folks-to work for me."

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Tearful Oprah Tells Howard Grads: 'Know Who You Are'

WASHINGTON (NNPA)-Superstar talk show host Oprah Winfrey, after weeping before a crowd of more than 30,000 at the 139th Howard University commencement, said the key to success is to "know who you are" and to cleave to your integrity.

"Everyone has a calling. ...

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