Johann Buis is a professor of music history at Wheaton College in the Chicago suburbs, but he was born in a remote town in South Africa during apartheid. Growing up during a time of extreme segregation, Buis, who is black, tells his daughters in this week’s StoryCorps Chicago that he faced daily humiliations. But, he also tells them that he learned a lesson after meeting his hero, Nelson Mandela, that has stuck with him for his entire adult life.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.