the other is oprah winfrey. you re the american queen. thank you for that. my pleasure. i ll accept that. you are the nearest thing america s got. do you like being famous? that s a good question. provocative question. i ll give you credit for that. however, i m not going to give you the answer that you want and that is, you know, a yes or a no. i love being famous. no. fame comes with the mission and purpose. you know, you cannot define me or try to put me in a box and you can t look at my life unless you look at the whole life. so i am a negro formerly. born in 1954 in mississippi at a time when it was an apartide
time when it was an apartide state and to sit here with you as your first guest in 2011 is a miracle that s beyond anything i could actually do for myself so there is something greater at work here and the thing that s greater at work, the force and forces that have made this happen in my life along with me working as hard as i have is it s bigger than i am and fame is the vehicle from which i get to have this platform. so do i like that? i appreciate it. if i had been what i thought i was going to be and that is a great fourth grade teacher, i would have also liked that because at the core of me i am a teacher. i am happiest when i feel that people are getting something, learning something, enhancing
shaped by individuals with the freedom to assemble and by organizations outside of government that insisted upon democratic change and by free media that held the powerful accountable. we have seen that from the south afric africans to stood up to apartide and to americans who march for the rights of all races, including my own. civil society is the conscious of our communities and america will always extend our engagement abroad with citizens beyond the halls of government. we will call out to those who suppress ideas and serve as a voice for those who are voiceless. we will promote new tools of communication so people are empowered to connect with one another and in repressive societies to do so with security. we will support a free and open