It was a mild yet slippery Sunday night at DePaul University. After reeling from the hustle of moving in and getting used to the workload of four new classes, I decided to take a break from school and stream the 2018 Golden Globes. Usually, I don’t care too much for award shows, but this year I was somewhat excited for the Golden Globes this year. Not because some of my favorite films from 2017 were nominated, such as “Call Me by Your Name”, “The Greatest Showman”, and “Lady Bird”, but because that night was a rallying cry of solidarity for those affected by sexual harassment in every cornerstone of every workplace.

I was truly amazed at the amount of charisma that had arisen from the Golden Globes, all because of the #MeToo campaign.

Early last month, I wrote an article talking about why "Time" magazine’s pick for Person of the Year was the right one. In it, I said that "Time's" cover will “forever [be]…a symbol that the days where women are complicit in their own trauma and have to fear retaliation from their predators are near, if not already gone.” One month later, my thoughts haven’t changed; they just had been solidified.

Of course, if you at least glimpsed on social media during the Golden Globes, one can probably assume why I say my thoughts have been solidified. I’ll let Oprah’s seemingly presidential words speak for themselves:

So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say "Me too" again.

When I first watched Oprah conduct that wonderful speech that night, I first thought that it was just another cliché motivational speech that any other award recipient would give. But it was that final part of her speech that resonated with me, in that the fight is on to end sexual harassment once and for all.

Oprah’s speech should not be viewed as another recycled speech that continued the seemingly endless narrative of the 2018 Golden Globes. Oprah’s speech matters because it has become a voice that the future generations will look back to. While she didn’t start this cultural revolution, a woman as powerful and influential as Oprah has amplified it in unprecedented ways.

But that does not mean that Oprah should receive all of the lionization. While she basked in most of the limelight on January 7, Oprah is not a housekeeper, nor is she a farmworker or a constantly patronized woman in STEM; she is a wealthy celebrity. And while the Harvey Weinstein scandal has shown us that even wealthy people in film & TV aren’t invincible to harassment, it has also shown us that harassment is not just something exclusively rampant in Hollywood.

Unlike most celebrity banters, Oprah’s speech, despite not being the first to do so, shone the light on what the phrase “#MeToo” means for a variety of people in a variety of spaces. She remarks:

They're the women whose names we'll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they're in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They're part of the world of tech and politics and business. They're our athletes in the Olympics and they're our soldiers in the military.

While it seems trivial to acknowledge issues like sexual misconduct in Hollywood are toxic, they often take the limelight away from the same issues happening in the lives of ordinary people. Oprah’s speech has lifted that shadow, and gave those who have stayed silent out of fear the liberating feeling of speaking out.

Oprah has her own agenda, and maybe or maybe not that means her becoming the impromptu public persona of the #MeToo movement. But ultimately, regardless of what role, big or small, that she plays in this unprecedented cultural revolution, it is tantamount to anyone who claims to support this movement that they listen to the voices of the marginalized, who continue to fight coercion and retaliation every day. This movement will not stop until every person who feels harassed will no longer feel that way anymore. And it will keep going no matter how long that takes.

Oprah’s speech is not a speech of victory, but it is a speech of empowerment. It is up to those who will continue to lead the narrative on ending sexual harassment as to whether or not Oprah’s speech will be immortalized in its potential glory for generations to come.