When
Nelson Mandela appeared on
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2000, the South African leader, who
passed away Thursday at the age of 95, was, understandably, not just any other guest.
"As he was getting ready to leave the building, everyone of the Harpo staff lined the hallway to shake his hand,"
Winfrey
would later recall. "We now call that hallway the 'Nelson Mandela
Hallway' here at Harpo." (Harpo is Winfrey's production company.)
Read Mandela's Most Inspirational Quotes
"This has not happened before or after," she said.
Before
Winfrey's staff lined up to meet the anti-apartheid leader who emerged
from prison to become South Africa's first black president, Mandela
discussed his heroic life and how, branded a terrorist and traitor by
South Africa's apartheid government, he survived nearly 30 years in
captivity.
Watch Nelson Mandela on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show'
"You
must fight the battle for dignity on the very first day you go to jail
and that's what we did. We put our foot down and insisted on being
respected even though were prisoners," Mandela said.
Mandela spent
much of his time in prison on Robben Island, where he was made to do
forced labor and was permitted just one visitor a year; he could either
write or receive one letter every six months. Despite those limits on
communication, he completed a law degree, organized protests within the
prison and helped lead the movement against apartheid.
Unexpected Facts About Nelson Mandela
"If
I have not been to prison, I would not have been able to achieve the
most difficult task in life and that is changing yourself," Mandela told
Winfrey in 2000.
"I was in the company of great men," he said of
his fellow prisoners. "Some of them were more qualified, more talented
than I am, and to sit down with them to exchange views was one of the
most revealing experiences I had."
In reflecting on how he held no
bitterness towards his captors and went on to lead the country, Mandela
said that thinking of his time in prison left him feeling "angry."
Nelson Mandela's Life, Family, Imprisonment in Photos
"Our
emotions said the white minority is our enemy [and] we must never talk
to them, but our brains said if you don't talk to this man, your country
will go up in the flames. And for many years to come, this country
would be in rivers of blood," Mandela said. "So we had to reconcile that
conflict and our talking to the enemy was the result of the domination
of the brain over emotions."
After developing a personal bond with Mandela, Winfrey went on to
found the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls just outside Johannesburg, in Mandela's native country.
Mandela Mourners Celebrate His Life
"To
be in his presence is like being in the presence of grace and royalty
at the same time," Winfrey said in introducing Mandela on her 2000 show.
"It is one of the greatest honors of my career to welcome Nelson
Mandela."
In 2011, when Winfrey ended her show, she
named the Mandela interview as one of the top 17 headline-making moments in the show's 25-year history.
Upon hearing of Mandela's passing on Thursday, Oprah called Mandela her "hero" and said his life was "a gift to us all."
"One of the great honors of my life was to be invited to Nelson Mandela's home, spend private time and get to know him,"
Winfrey said in a statement.
"He was everything you've ever heard and more - humble and unscathed by
bitterness. And he always loved to tell a good joke. Being in his
presence was like sitting with grace and majesty at the same time."
