Full text of Winfrey’s convention address to delegates at United Center.
Full prepared remarks of Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention.
Good evening, everybody! Who says you can’t go home again?
After watching the Obamas last night, that was some epic fire, was it not? We are so fired up, we cannot wait to leave here and do something! And what we are going to do is select Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States!
I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight’s theme about what matters the most to me, to you, and all of us Americans. Freedom.
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 dangerous. And assault rifles are safe.
That that there was a right way to worship and a wrong way to love. People who seek first to divide, and then to conquer. But here is the thing. When we stand together, it is impossible to conquer us.
In the words of an extraordinary American, the late Congressman John Lewis, no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on, we are all in the same boat now.
He knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped get us to where we are. But he also knew that the work is not done. The work will never be done, because freedom is not free.
America is an ongoing project. It requires commitment, it requires being open to the hard work and to the heart work of democracy.
And every now and then, it requires standing up to life’s bullies. I know this. I have lived in Mississippi. In Tennessee. In Wisconsin. Maryland. Indiana. Florida. Hawaii. Colorado. California. And sweet home Chicago, Illinois!
I have actually traveled this country from the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters. I have seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division.
I have not only seen it, at times, I have been on the receiving end of it. But more often than not, what I have witnessed and experienced are human beings, both conservative and liberal, who may not agree with each other, but who still will help you in a heartbeat if you are in trouble.
These are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American. They are the best of America. And despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors.
When a house is on fire, we do not ask about the homeowners race or religion. We do not wonder who their partner is or how they voted.
