On Wednesday, August 21, Oprah Winfrey, 70, approached the stage at Chicago’s United Centre and told the audience that Kamala Harris, who formally earned the Democratic presidential nomination for 2024 earlier this month, is passionate about “justice and freedom and the glorious, fighting spirit necessary to pursue that passion.”
“And soon, and very soon, we’re going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father — two idealistic immigrants — grew up to become the 47th president of the United States,” Winfrey told CNN. “That is the best of America.”
In her remarks, Oprah Winfrey addressed the night’s theme of “freedom,” stating, “There are people who want you to see our country as a nation of us against them, people who want to scare you, who want to rule you.”
“People who would have you believe that books are hazardous but assault guns are safe. There are correct and incorrect ways to worship and love. But here’s the thing: when we stand together, it’s impossible to defeat us,” she said.
During her address,Oprah Winfrey also stated that, despite our differences, most people “would still help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble.” When a house is on fire, Oprah Winfrey stated, “We don’t ask” about the homeowners’ race or religion—”We just try to do the best we can to save them.”
“And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady — well, we try to get that cat out, too,” Winfrey continued, referring to Vance’s remarks, in which he stated the country under Joe Biden was being ruled by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives.”
The short film American Family: A Film About Freedom, directed by portrait photographer Platon and filmmaker and journalist Scott Dadich, and produced by Godfrey Dadich Partners, preceded Winfrey’s onstage speech. The movie includes interviews with a variety of individuals, couples, and families — traditional, LGBTQ+, and chosen families — about what “freedom” means to each.
