The Legacy of The Oprah Winfrey Show

Oprah said goodbye to The Oprah Winfrey Show after twenty-five years on the air

Today, at approximately 4:55pm EST, Oprah Winfrey officially said goodbye to The Oprah Winfrey Show after a spectacular 25 years on the air.

I can remember being five years old, sitting in my grandmother's living room, being forced to watch Oprah instead of my favorite cartoons. Even back then, even when I was annoyed that I wasn't watching    Doug or Dragon Ball Z, I knew how important Oprah was.

Watching Oprah recall her show's greatest moments and lessons really brought home a truth about what she has meant to not only me, but America as a whole. Her program, one of the most successful in television history, was the country's conscience. Oprah herself is the true personification of the American dream, that if you work hard, that anything is possible.

The Oprah Winfrey Show has systematically opened America's eyes to the issues and people that have been conveniently swept under the rug for too long. She took on racists, homophobes, rapists, child molesters, abusers, and general idiots with both fearlessness and grace. She shined a light on the secrets and troubles that millions suffered through in silence, such as all kinds of abuse, ultimately absolving them of their shame and inspiring others. There are numerous accounts of people claiming how their lives were changed, if not saved, by watching Oprah. She helped people take control and responsibility of their own lives. As she said on today's finale, even with all of the celebrity appearances and the wacky stunts, her show was really about the distribution of the "golden rule": do onto others as you would have them do onto you. Oprah's show was also about helping people improve their lives through their own means. She didn't force anyone to buy a book, or donate millions to charity, or be inspired to start a project that would impact the lives of others. Yet, millions across the country, of all races and genders and thought processes did so. Why?

They did so because Oprah Winfrey is what every person who ever heard the concept of the American dream wants to be. Born in the backwoods of Mississippi, poor, from a broken home, Oprah persevered through it all. She disciplined herself and slowly, but surely, climbed her way to the absolute zenith of wealth and success in a country where it has gotten increasingly difficult to do so, especially for a person of color. For African-Americans, she serves as the blueprint for what genuine hard work can achieve, a blueprint our culture should pay a lot more attention to. For the average person, she was a shining example that anything could be achieved if you fought for it.

Even as she became ingrained within the American consciousness, she still continued to grow as a human being before our eyes. She inspired millions with her unbelievable philanthropy, not just by giving money, but by how she gave it, making deserving people's dreams come true. She shared her harrowing stories of struggle and survival, like her molestation or her weight problems. Quickly, and solidly, she gained the trust of the country, so much so that she nearly brought down the cattle industry in 1998, and helped make Obama's campaign a decade later. What's even more remarkable is that in her quarter century of pop culture dominance, she never betrayed that trust. Instead, she pushed and challenged it to improve how we all interacted with each other. Not everyone agreed with her methods and ideas, but there was heavy sense of respect for her nonetheless. Simply put, she was an inspiration.

Oprah Winfrey is as much the soul of America as a talk show host could be. But then again, she is much more than that. In her twenty-five years of syndication, she has become a media magnate, a 21st century political figure, as Phil Donahue once put it, and a spiritual leader, and a legend of popular culture.

But most of all, and this was most obvious in her final moments on air, she was a teacher to a country who sorely needed it. She taught us all, directly and indirectly, the importance of living life the best way you can, whatever that meant to the individual. It is an overarching lesson that is valued much higher than her economic net worth.

It is a lesson that will be the ultimate legacy of both her and her show.