Oprah Winfrey

And I was six years old and it was the first night away from home.

And they, including my mother, made me sleep on this little porch that was the entryway to the house.

And I also knew, having never experienced racism before, I knew instantly it was because of the color of my skin.

Which must have seemed confusing if you were a child of God, because how is this happening?

How is this happening?

Right, right.

And so what got me through it, though, Rachel, was I would pray to God to protect me.

I was very scared out there on that little porch and also had never slept alone.

I'd always slept with my grandmother.

And I couldn't believe that my mother didn't say, this is my daughter and she has to come in with me.

So...

It was me and God.

And I created this angel named Melinda that was protecting me, that was standing out on the porch and protecting me.

So it was all in my imagination.

But I would pray to God because I could see that I felt like I was in danger, but the only thing that was going to really save me was the protection of something bigger than myself.

And so that feeling of...

faithfulness has been with me my whole life.

And although my vision and certainly belief about what God is and what the universe is has been magnified, and I know that God is in all and all people and all religions and all things, it's still the thing that has been the most profound guiding force in my life.

And so therefore,

Maya.