Why Oprah Wants to Share Essence's Annual Celebration with Viewers

For the past three years, Oprah has attended the Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon in Beverly Hills. In 2014, she and Oscar® winner Sidney Poitier presented the Trailblazer Award to Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This year, she opens the ceremony with a tribute to the late Dr. Maya Angelou.

After experiencing this intimate celebration firsthand, Oprah tells Tracey Edmonds, the co-host of the 2015 ceremony, why she's decided to televise it on OWN. "I was deeply moved by the sense of energetic camaraderie with all of these women of color, who are not just here to celebrate the essence of Essence, but really to celebrate each other and to lift each other up," Oprah says. "And it felt like such an intimate celebration that I wanted other people to see it."

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