Johannesburg – Speaking to Oprah as part of her SuperSoul Conversations series, Trevor Noah opened up about his mother and the major influence she has had on his life.
With Oprah referring to his mom as a “badass warrior woman” for going against Apartheid laws and having a child with a white man, Trevor nodded in agreement saying: “Most people would have had a sign to protest government oppression, my mother had me.”
The comedian says he didn’t set out to write about his mother when he first put pen to paper for his book Born A Crime.
“In telling my story, in writing this book, I never thought it was about my mom. I think most of us believe we are the heroes of our story. And in writing the story I realised I was my mother’s punk-ass sidekick,” he tells the legendary talk show host.
“It’s funny how you sit down and you come to realise the people in your life who have shaped you and who play a big role in who you are, and I can’t deny that my mother was that person for me, who stood up when many people were afraid to stand up, when a country was being punished for standing up, and she said 'No. As a woman, and as a black person, I will live the way I believe I’m allowed to live whether you tell me I can or not.' And she did that, and because of that, she’s the example that I live my life by without realising the consequences,” he went on to say.
Watch the short clip here: