Oprah Winfrey announces that the Election Day will be an official holiday in her network.
The “Queen of all Media” has a new proclamation: November 3 is a holiday in her company Oprah Winfrey Network. For talk show host Oprah Winfrey, she intends for the staff the value of the Election Day.
The 19th Amendment’s Significance
She announced the decision on Tuesday. In her Instagram post, she linked the motion with the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment.
“Today marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women ‒ although not all women ‒ the right to vote,” Winfrey wrote in the post.
The purpose of making Election Day an official holiday in her company is “in honor of those who fought and continue to fight for our rights.” According to OWN, the day off will be fully paid and will apply to national and presidential elections. “This will give my team the necessary time to put on their masks, get to the polls, cast their ballots and volunteer,” Winfrey’s post reads.
‘Exercise Right to Vote’
She also urged other companies to do the same citing that “this might be the most important election of our lives.”
Making Election Day a holiday is not widely observed in the US, per Variety. There are, however, several companies that have already announced a similar move. June was when Twitter announced that voting day will be an official day off. Universal Music Group followed suit in July, and then Coca-Cola on Monday.
Winfrey added: “Together, we can overcome all obstacles in order to exercise our right to vote.”
Oprah’s Campaign
Also included in the post is the hashtag #OWNYourVote, which is a bipartisan campaign initiated by Winfrey. The goal of the project is to empower Black women on Election Day. The campaign’s mission is “committed to a bipartisan, pro-social campaign of actions and events for and with Black women, connecting them to urgent political actions, giving their concerns on a powerful microphone, and placing a spotlight on key community issues.”
Winfrey has been known to use her platform to relay important causes. In July, she even featured Breonna Taylor on the cover of her namesake magazine. 26-year old Taylor was a Black woman that was killed by the police on March 13. Winfrey even said during the reveal of the September issue: Winfrey said that “we can’t be silent” and that we should also “cry for justice” on various platforms.