Arts & Entertainment
Soledad O’Brien: ‘Who Is Black in America?’
Soledad O’Brien is the anchor for the
CNN morning show, Starting Point, and a
special correspondent for CNN/U.S. Since
joining the network in 2003, O’Brien has
reported breaking news from around the
globe and has produced award-winning,
record-breaking and critically acclaimed
documentaries on the most important sto-
ries facing the world today. In 2010, she
wrote a critically-acclaimed memoir “The
Next Big Story: My Journey through the
Land of Possibilities,” which chronicles her
biggest reporting moments and how her
upbringing and background have influenced
these experiences.
O’Brien’s documentaries include the
“Black in America” and “Latino in Ameri-
ca” series; “Don’t Fail Me: Education in
America,” a look at the crisis in public edu-
cation where American kids are not learning
the skills necessary to compete; “The
Women Who Would be Queen,” a portrayal
of the future King and Queen’s friendship-
turned-romance and very modern royal
marriage; “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next
Door,” a report on religious freedom protec-
tions; “Pictures Don’t Lie,” the story of the
secret life of Civil Rights photographer
Ernest Withers as a paid FBI informant;
“Rescued,” a look at Haiti’s remarkable
children before, during and after the devas-
tating earthquake; and “Gary and Tony
Have a Baby,” chronicling the struggle of
two gay men to have a child.
A graduate of Harvard University,
Soledad lives with her husband and four
children in Manhattan. Here, she talks about
her upcoming Black in America special
“Who Is Black in America?” which is set to
premiere on CNN on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 8
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
p.m. ET/PT. (Check local listings)
Kam Williams: Hi Soledad, thanks for
another interview.
Soledad O’Brien: Thank you, Kam.
KW: Congratulations on your excellent
election year coverage on CNN. But did
you ever worry about being pigeonholed as
that’s named after a prison.”
SO: It’s going to get crazy at times during
any election year. That’s just what happens.
The goal for me is to be focused and really
well-read so I’m prepared to ask the tough
questions of both sides. You’re always
going to have those people who love you
and those who hate you, but after four kids
and a quarter-century in this business, I
have a very thick skin. [Chuckles] The only
thing that bothers me is if I feel I haven’t
done a tough interview. The people who
come on regularly know they’re going to be
challenged, and that they can challenge me.
They also understand that I’m not a
pushover and that I don’t crumble because I
come armed with the facts.
KW: Let’s talk about your upcoming spe-
cial. Where did
you come up with
the idea for Who
Is Black in Amer-
ica?
SO: We were
thinking about
universal themes
for Black in
America that real-
ly touch people,
that really matter
to people, and one
of the themes that we kept coming up with
was colorism, discrimination based on skin
tone. It was fascinating to hear the conver-
sations that were happening between people
who were light-skinned, people who were
dark-skinned, and people somewhere in
between. Just the hurt, the pain and anger on
all sides was very interesting. So, we
‘You’re always going to have those
people who love you and those who
hate you, but after four kids and a
quarter-century in this business, I have
a very thick skin’
partisan during the presidential campaign?
How do you maintain your image as impar-
tial when you have Republicans taking pot-
shots at you? For instance, Romney advisor
John Sununu suggested that you put an
Obama bumper sticker on your forehead,
and Fox News President Roger Ailes conde-
scendingly referred to you as “That girl
thought we would explore that because it
seemed like a very interesting story to tell,
especially since we were seeing a big
change, generationally. The conversations I
was having with men and women of my age
group were very different from the conver-
sations younger men and women were hav-
ing with people of their age group. It’s
fascinating to hear the take of those that we
feature in the doc around 17, 18 and 19, as
they kind of grapple with their identity and
with where America is today.
KW: I think I heard CNN’s Roland Mar-
tin mention in promo for your show that he
had someone in his family pass for white.
SO: Yep, and that’s not an unusual story.
That’s another question people would like
to explore. What makes you black? How
can you consider yourself black while
someone with the identical genetic makeup
considers themselves white or tries to pass
for white? Those are the sort of big ques-
tions we wanted to grapple with.
KW: I suspect that the influx of immi-
grants from South America, India, Africa,
Mexico and so many other countries, along
with mixed marriage, is changing the defi-
nition of what is black?
SO: I think that’s true. I also think that
there’s a real interesting conversation going
on generationally. One of the young women
we profile, who is biracial, very much has a
hard time identifying as black. And yet, she
has a sister who would say the exact oppo-
site. [Chuckles] So, this isn’t a documentary
where we come up with the right answer at
the end. It really is much more a conversa-
See SOLEDAD on page 7
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November 21, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 5