the very first rally i ever went to, the first protest rally was cienega,re, and la when she was leadinghis fight to bring back apartheid. nation, what was happening in america, and now we see nelson mandela as a hero, ut we were so late -- >> don't forget that our country and public policy did not take us to the concerns of africa. they did not have a voice. africans, they were who the spokesperson would listen to. just because we watched our country not understand the opposition leadership, and the dictatorships, and other things through the years, this was true of south africa. it was only after they became nc, and they the a labeled them communists and terrorists, we joined them from here to say, this is the liberation movement. but this was hard. racism prevailed in the united states. tavis: i will never forget as long as i live, the night that nelson mandela was being interviewed by ted koppel. i had never seen him get the business. nelson mandela gave him the business that night and said, you don't tell me who my friends are. >> what was ted koppel telling him? >> what happened is