Oprah To Live In Poverty
 

This should be interesting. . .

Oprah to Live in Poverty

(c) 2005 DiversityInc.com March 21, 2005

Oprah Winfrey is saying goodbye to her deluxe apartment in the sky and moving across Chicago to another high-rise building. But this one is a "notoriously tough" estate in the inner city. As part of a documentary about poverty, the country's wealthiest black woman will spend a month living like disadvantaged Chicagoans. She hopes to highlight the country's inner-city housing crisis, WENN reports.

A spokesperson for Winfrey's production company, Harpo, explains the project's appeal: "She has interviewed just about every major celebrity and done shows on almost every subject imaginable. But now she intends to tackle really tough, serious issues, putting herself right in the front line."

There will be one difference between Winfrey's stay in the building and the average tenant's experience. The media mogul will have security guards following her day and night.

Once again...Oprah does it again. I am curious to see the results.

Probably a minority opinion but...
 

Oprah will not be living in poverty.

Living in proverty is as much a lack of hope as it is being financially poor. Oprah will know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel in 30 days. She will know that this is just temporary. She will know that she will have a permanent roof over her head and all the food and clothes she wants. And she will not have to live in fear--she'll have constant bodyguards.

Since she supposedly grew up in poverty, I really don't see the need for this grandstand. She can tackle the issue with her money and influence.

Re: Probably a minority opinion but...
 

ITA but that's too much like right :rolleyes:

Re: Probably a minority opinion but...
 

I agree. Oprah will not have the feeling of desperation and hopelessness that people in poverty have. Also, I agree with the fact that she could help with her resources. However, I view this as her way of informing the general public about the housing crisis. Some people have no idea. Honestly, I didn't know the extent of the problem until recently. Hey, if Oprah can get Americans to read and stop eating beef :), I think she can influence the masses on this topic as well.

BTW, does anyone remember when Oprah attempted to remove families from the projects into homes and the outcome of that venture. It was not successful. Hopefully, this will highlight the other problems afflicting those in poverty.

Think she will bring her body guards and security?

Have you EVER been to her studio....Ft. Knox should be so tight!

But the not eating beef didn't have a lasting impact, and then she went back to eating everything under the sun and getting heavy again. And as for the reading, imo all she really did was affect what those who were already reading read. Much to the chagrin of a lot of authors. How many Black authors, other than the already known, did she help?

The housing and homeless crisis is nothing new. Having more people know about it isn't going to help unless legislature and financial resources are behind it. There are many nonprofit developers and economic development corporations who have been dealling with this for more than a decade. They were some of the hardest hit by budget cuts. So what they need is money to increase their impact.

What ladygreek said, to the nth power. Oprah has the security of knowing that at the end of her experiment, she can return to her life of luxury and (relative) privilege. She'll never truly know how it feels to feel desperate and without hope.

Not only EVERYTHing that has already been mentioned. But she WILL have security. So there will be no living in fear of getting robbed. Or having to take the dark stairs cause the elevator is broken.

You know I have very mixed dfeeling about Oprah. While she has her Angel network and all that...Chicago's impoverished areas have not really felt the impact of her presence here. or at least as far as I can see. So if she has done other things that did not make the media...then I take it back. BUT i work in the area where her studio is. It AINT NO JOKE. (or at least it USED to be No joke) I have yet to hear about her coming to a community event in the area.

Kinda like "Mayor Jane Bryne" when she *lived* (albeit VERY briefly) in Cabrini-Green during her tenure...

IT DID NOTHING....nada...zippo....

kinda random - but i always thought it would be really interesting for a more enlightened teen to have that MTV reality show 'made' make them 'homeless' for a period of time.

and instead of an overpaid beauty queen/jock 'coach', MTV could pay a couple of real homeless people to teach the kid how they actually survive on the streets.

like i said, kinda random, but interesting...

-marissa

i remember Mayor Jane Byrne doing that and wondering, "why?":rolleyes:
i got this today so i thought i'd share in light of the topic:


Knight Ridder Newspapers
Published on: 03/23/2005



A PEOPLE column earlier this week contained incorrect information obtained
from WENN Celebrity News on IMDB.com that Oprah Winfrey would be taking part
in a documentary series in which she would live in a tough Chicago
neighborhood for a month. Winfrey will not appear in any such series and
WENN has retracted the claim.

Thats messed up cause it was all on the radio today in Chicago. I knew Oprah was not taking the time out to be with the ordinary people of Chicago.

...
 

Once again, the issue of poverty of black people in the US will not be given the time it deserves...:rolleyes: