Felice Shapiro
The groundswell of the #Metoo (founded by Tarana Burket) has made its mark on women and last night’s Golden Globes took the movement to the next level.
The red carpet was just the beginning of a historic evening and provided a stark backdrop to actors all wearing black in a united demonstration of standing together and speaking out in an effort to end sexual misconduct.
The memo to wear black was organized by Time’s Up “a new initiative to eradicate sexual harassment and gender inequality in the workplace, which includes the creation of a legal defense fund. Time’s Up, which has also provided pins to be worn on the red carpet, is backed by more than 300 women in the entertainment industry.”
Not to diminish the evening’s message, it was hard not to ooh and ahh at the line-up of every possible variation of black formal dresses, but that’s a topic for another day. (more to come on Fashion Friday this week).
Once past the distraction of the red carpet, my sister, niece and I sat with our husbands side by side as Oprah accepted the 2018 Cecil B. DeMille Award. I would call it Oprah’s Opus, which was equivalent to listening to a magnificent symphony that started on the perfect note and built into a crescendo that had us all applauding from our living room couch.
Oprah spoke to each and everyone of us about abuse and sexual assault as she began with the story of the gang rape of Recy Taylor in Alabama in 1944. Using Recy’s story as a launching point she encouraged all women to “speak their truth” so that no woman should be afraid to speak up. It was hard not to cheer with Oprah as she proclaimed… “The New Day Is On The Horizon.”
Listen here to Oprah’s speech and let us know what you think…