Oprah thinks she knows what the Ferguson protests need: Leadership.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Winfrey drew parallels between the protests taking place across the country and the demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement. Today’s marches need more clear leadership, she says:
What I’m looking for is some kind of leadership to come out of this to say, ‘This is what we want. This is what has to change, and these are the steps that we need to take to make these changes, and this is what we’re willing to do to get it.’
Winfrey also told the magazine young activists can learn a lot from her new film Selma, specifically the “strategic, peaceful intention required when you want real change.”
In December, Winfrey made similar comments to theGrio.com’s Chris Witherspoon, noting that protesters “can’t just march and not know what [they’re] marching for.”
I really think that this film can teach people a lot, because what this film says is it’s been done. It was done. Y’all are not the first to do it … the first to have an idea … the first to want to protest … the first to be upset. We didn’t even have the right as citizens to vote in this country, and because of that you had Martin Luther King as a leader joining with his band of brothers with disciplined, rigorous, peaceful protests, and they had a goal and intention in mind. You just can’t march and not know what you’re marching for.
Selma opened in limited release on Christmas Day. It will get its nationwide release on January 9.