Read the full transcript of Oprah's speech at Golden Globes

Los Angeles Times

Oprah Winfrey made history Sunday at the Golden Globes as the first black woman to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award since its inception in 1952.

The honor, recognizing "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment," has been awarded to only four black actors and just 15 women in its 66-year history.

Winfrey joined the ranks of icons such as Sidney Poitier, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Morgan Freeman, Audrey Hepburn, Denzel Washington, Barbra Streisand and, most recently, Meryl Streep.

Winfrey, 63, has had a long career in the entertainment industry. She hosted "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for more than two decades, founded "O, The Oprah Magazine" and launched a successful cable network, "OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network." She's also had a successful film career, receiving a Golden Globe nomination in 1985 for "The Color Purple" and an Emmy nod for her role in HBO Films' "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks."

In recent years Winfrey has appeared in "Lee Daniels' The Butler," Ava DuVernay's Oscar-winning "Selma" and she will appear next in DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time."

Her fiery acceptance speech will no doubt go down in history too, igniting speculation that she may have political aspirations.

In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother's house in Milwaukee, watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope and said five words that literally made history: "The winner is Sidney Poitier." Up to the stage came the most elegant man I had ever seen. I remember his tie was white and, of course, his skin was black. And I'd never seen a black man being celebrated like that.

And I have tried many, many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats, as my mom came through the door bone-tired from cleaning other people's houses. But all I could do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney's performance in "Lilies of the Field": Amen, amen. Amen, amen.

In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille Award right here at the Golden Globes, and it is not lost on me that at this moment there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given the same award. It is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them and also with the incredible men and women who've inspired me, who've challenged me, who've sustained me and made my journey to this stage possible: Dennis Swanson, who took a chance on me for "A.M. Chicago"; Quincy Jones, who saw me on that show and said to Steven Spielberg, "Yes, she is Sofia in 'The Color Purple'"; Gayle [King], who has been the definition of what a friend is, and Stedman [Graham], who has been my rock, just a few to name.

I'd like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Asssociation, because we all know that the press is under siege these days. But we also know that it is the insatiable dedication and the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and injustice, to tyrants and victims and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I'm especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories.

Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell. And this year we became the story. But it's not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It's one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics or workplace. So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed, bills to pay and dreams to pursue.

In 1944, Recy Taylor was a young wife and a mother. She was just walking home from a church service she'd attended in Abbeville, Ala., when she was abducted by six armed white men, raped and left blindfolded by the side of the road coming home from church. They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone, but her story was reported to the NAACP where a young worker by the name of Rosa Parks became the lead investigator on her case. And together, they sought justice.

But justice wasn't an option in the era of Jim Crow. The men who tried to destroy her were never [prosecuted]. Recy Taylor died 10 days ago, just shy of her 98th birthday. She lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up.

But their time is up. Their time is up! Their time is up. And I just hope — I just hope that Recy Taylor died knowing that her truth, like the truth of so many other women who were tormented in those years, and even now tormented, goes marching on.

It was somewhere in Rosa Parks' heart almost 11 years later when she made the decision to stay seated on that bus in Montgomery, and it's here with every woman who chooses to say, "Me too." And every man who chooses to listen.

In my career, what I've always tried my best to do, whether in television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere and how we overcome.