For Bill Clinton's grandparents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, taught him strong values and beliefs. They owned a small grocery store just outside of Hope,Arkansas, and despite the segregation laws of the time, they allowed people of all races to purchase goods on credit. They taught their young grandson that everyone is created equal and that people should not be treated differently because of the color of their skin. This was a lesson Bill Clinton never forgot.

Oprah Winfrey’s grandparents owned a farm in Mississippi. Her great-great-grandparents had been slaves and had bought this land when they were freed after the Civil War. Oprah and her grandparents worked very hard on their farm, but they never made much money. They ate whatever they could grow, and the clothes they worewere all handmade by Oprah’s grandmother.

When Oprah was three years old, her grandmother, Hattie Mae, began to teach her to read, write, and do math. She believed that, because of racism, Oprah would need to be well educated if she was to succeed.

Many years later, Oprah would declare, “My grandmother really raised me to be who I am because of her belief in education.”

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