Beverly Hills, Calif. • Hi. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. OK. OK. Thank you, Reese. 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.
Read the full text of Oprah Winfrey’s DeMille Award acceptance speech
