A Conversation with Soledad O’Brien – Part Two

Another very special Buzz edition ...
The following is "Part Two" - and the conclusion - of my recent telephone interview with Soledad O'Brien:

Since February 2007, Soledad has been involved with seven “Special Investigations Unit” features, including “Martin Luther King: Words That Changed A Nation”, “Massacre At Virginia Tech”, “Criminal Insanity”, “Road To Ruin”, “Growing Up Diana”, “Children of the Storm”, and “The Minds of the DC Snipers”.

Regarding Dr. King, I asked Soledad if her research gave any indication of what his leadership focus might be during the 1970’s and 1980’s, had he not been assassinated? She replied that there was a theme of “economic empowerment” for people of all colors throughout his work. “The financial picture for the poor in America has got to change. Granting non-economic ‘rights’ to a segment of society – such as voting rights, or getting served in a restaurant, or sitting anywhere on a bus – doesn’t cost money and isn’t providing a solid foundation for long term improvement. The current education system isn’t working for poor people and they’re being left behind.” In spite of the “No Child Left Behind” program, I commented – and she concurred.



From the “Growing Up Diana” special, my question was about whether there was any surprising or unusual aspect of Diana’s youth that was especially interesting – and hadn’t already been microscopically scrutinized? Soledad stated that “Although it was very clear that Diana was not ‘book smart’ and was actually a mediocre academic student, she was very savvy about figuring out how to ‘navigate’ her way through various ‘systems’ or situations she faced – whether it was getting through school, surviving her parents’ divorce, or figuring out the rituals, protocols and expectations of being a royal family member. And all the while – still remaining to be her own person and not lose her identity.”




Of all the SIU reports that Soledad has completed so far, she is proudest of the “Children of the Storm” special. The concept was born out of the creative challenge of marking Katrina’s second anniversary with something different than once again standing in front of collapsed buildings and collapsed levees – again. The challenge was telling a story that would capture viewers’ interest and give them a realistic sense of what recovery progress is (or isn’t) being accomplished.

Soledad partnered once again with filmmaker Spike Lee for this project – she had already appeared in his HBO special, “When The Levees Broke”. From an original group of thirty students chosen, eleven were given cameras to document their lives, and four (Deshawn Dabney, Brandon Franklin, Amanda Hill and Shantia Reneau) were highlighted in the SIU special. About Spike Lee’s contribution, Soledad commented that “He really challenged them to do a good job. He told them to ‘shoot everything’ and motivated them by giving perspective to the importance of their stories.”

Soledad had written on the “Children of the Storm” web page at CNN.com that “these kids have taught us all a powerful, infinitely valuable lesson that will stay with me forever.” When I asked if she could elaborate further, she relied “What I’ll carry with me is the amazing level of hopefulness they all had. They were going to take control of their destiny and do whatever it took to accomplish their goals. No matter what obstacles they faced, they were all completely confident that everything will work out.”




And for Soledad’s involvement in future SIU reports, there are a number that are in the planning stages (and beyond) - the topics include: an examination of the US prison system, a 2-hour retrospective to mark the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, an accompanying special tentatively titled “What Does It Mean To Be Black In America?” and a Katrina 3rd anniversary special. There was also one that particularly caught my attention – a special that looks at the challenges faced by homeless teens in the New York City area. Far too many are unable to find shelter in the usual sanctuaries due to their sexual orientation. Even after a week – I’m still incredulous at the absolute absurdity of anyone being turned away from basic shelter for that reason. Soledad explained that there is one NYC shelter that will accept these LGBT teens, but the space is extremely limited. I do hope that this particular special gets completed and that this discrimination is exposed and a solution is identified – sooner rather than later.

My next question moved the conversation into the political arena. On June 4th, Soledad moderated the Sojourners Presidential Forum, an hour-long in-depth discussion of religion, faith and politics with three Democratic Presidential candidates – John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It was held at George Washington University and broadcast in front of a live audience. My question was whether there were any observations she made about the candidates that may not have been readily apparent to the TV audience?

Soledad’s reply: “It seemed that John Edwards was the most comfortable of the three when talking about his personal faith and values. He really talked about religion and the role it plays in his life in a very personal way. I was a little disappointed with the way that Barack Obama seemed to answer questions – he talked more in terms of ‘policy’ than about what faith means to him on a personal level. I found Hillary Clinton to be personable and genuinely trying to more fully embrace talking about religion to any significant extent. She was actually very relaxed and funny; when I asked ‘What do you pray for?’ and she said ‘To lose 10 pounds’ – that got a rousing round of applause.”

I then asked Soledad what she thought some of the most important issues within the upcoming Presidential Campaign would be, and to no surprise (on my part), she said that both immigration and health care would end up high on the public’s ‘priority list’ as the race moves into full swing next year.

As my time allotment starts to run out (I’ll explain why soon), I ask Soledad if there are any specific subjects that she has a particular interest in covering – and she answers ‘no’ – because she ‘likes telling stories’ – about subjects that are interesting, important, informative – there isn’t any specific preference she has.

I then ask who is still on her “wish list” to interview – and her answer may be surprising – but this is the point where keeping in mind Soledad’s Latina (specifically Cuban) heritage is helpful. The first person she named as being a potentially interesting interviewee would be Hugo Chavez. There are a number of journalists who would consider him to be a “get” – but from a non-journalist perspective (such as mine) – perhaps this falls into the category of being advantageous to “know thy enemy”? Soledad also indicated that she would like an opportunity to interview Fidel Castro before he passes away. Interesting choices!!

So with all of the unique, diverse, exciting, unforgettable journalistic experiences that are now part of a distinguished multi-award winning career, will Soledad be writing a memoir soon? She humbly claims “I have a lot more to experience. And while my children are still so young (all four are under age 8), I want to devote my spare time to them. But I’ll give it consideration someday.”



Normally that kind of question would end an interview. And it actually was my last question, but I’m writing about a different one last – because I think the answer illustrates an important aspect of Soledad’s own ‘life priorities’.

David Bloom was Soledad’s co-anchor on ‘Today Weekend’ at NBC, and a good friend. He died on April 6, 2003 from an embolism suffered while being embedded with US troops during the start of the Iraq War. When I asked Soledad about her favorite memory of David, she replied “There isn’t any one specific memory, but what I will always remember is how very much he loved his wife and daughters, and how important they were to him, and how proud he was of them, and how much he always talked about them. All the time. And how happy he was whenever he was talking about them. I want to make sure that Melanie and the girls (Christine, Nicole and Ava) always remember that.”



It’s now 7:30 PM EST, and Soledad’s generous donation of 45 minutes of her time is over. She has promised to call home and read a book with her 7-year-old daughter, Sofia. And it’s time for me to say once again how very appreciative I am of the opportunity to interview such an accomplished professional journalist. Soledad still loves her career as much as she did when she walked into the WBZ-TV studios in Boston, and it’s obvious in whatever projects she works on and whoever she works with – and she’s especially enjoying working with the AC 360° staff!



My objective was to ask questions that were unique in order to share similarly unique insights from Soledad that wouldn’t be found elsewhere. I hope that this recap comes close to achieving that goal. And of course – that it was an enjoyable read!! Thank you for visiting!!

A moment of nostalgia - the screen cap below is from "American Morning" on December 4, 2003 - and if you remember why everyone is laughing so hard - without looking up the transcript - then you get an "A+" for trivia retention!!