Born on September 19, 1966 in Saint James, NY, Maria de la Soledad Teresa O\u2019Brien is the fifth of sixth children born to Edward and Estrella, immigrants from Australia and Cuba, respectively. She and her siblings excelled academically, and all attended Harvard University. But while her brothers and sisters pursued postgraduate degrees in either medicine or the law, Soledad settled on a career in journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms. O\u2019Brien bounced around the television dial for a few years, enjoying stints on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and at MS-NBC before finally finding a home at CNN where she co-anchored American Morning from 2003 to 2007, often going on location to report such disasters as Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, she anchored Black in America, a groundbreaking, two-part series focusing on the state of Black society which was watched by over 13 million viewers. In 2008, she was also a member of CNN\u2019s self-professed \u201cBest Political Team on Television\u201d covering the 2008 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among Soledad\u2019s many accolades are an Emmy, the NAACP\u2019s President\u2019s Award, the Hispanic Heritage Vision Award, and even the Soledad O\u2019Brien Freedom\u2019s Voice Award which was established in her honor by Morehouse School of Medicine. Furthermore, the fetching freckle-faced (that\u2019s right, freckle-faced) mother of four has been named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine and one of the \u201cTop 100 Irish Americans\u201d by Irish American Magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, the perky, peripatetic journalist took a break from her very hectic schedule to talk about all of the above and about Black in America 2 which is set to premiere on CNN on Wednesday July 22nd and Thursday July 23rd at 8 PM ET\/PT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kam Williams<\/strong>: Hi Soledad, I\u2019m honored for the opportunity to speak with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soledad O\u2019Brien<\/strong>: Not at all. How are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Fine, thanks. I have a lot of ground to try to cover, because my readers sent in so many questions for me to ask you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Blast away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks what originally interested you in making Black in America?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: The first time around, we wanted to take a look at where we were 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, because the Black in America series actually started with a two-hour documentary on his assassination. This time around, we were really trying to answer a question that was put to us many, many times by people who said, \u201cI loved the documentary, but what are we supposed to do?\u201d So, really, Black in America 2 was an effort to answer the question \u201cNow what?\u201d by taking a look at what some people are doing very successfully and in ways that can be replicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Are you bringing back that rapper introducing each segment with a poem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: He will not be back this time because we\u2019re doing something different. Did you like him or not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: I hated him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Really? That\u2019s interesting. I knew the guy personally and was fine with it. But it seems that people either loved or hated it. My mother loved it, my father hated it. My brother loved it, my sister and best friend hated it. And I mean hated. Hated! [Laughs] And they asked, \u201cWhat were you trying to say with that?\u201d or \u201cWhy is he rapping?\u201d or \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you have classical musicians playing?\u201d I found it funny because it was something that I\u2019d put very little thought into since I was so focused on the documentary itself. I just thought that as a nice, spoken-word poet he\u2019d make an interesting artist to have introducing the segments. Here\u2019s what was interesting to me about that, actually. With this entire project, people have a very personal attachment to the story in a way that other communities don\u2019t. For instance, my own mother complained to me at the end of the first Black in America, saying \u201cOh, so no Afro-Latinos. Why none of your own people?\u201d And I was like, \u201cGive me a break, mom!\u201d But I get it, everybody wants their story in there and a personal connection to the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Speaking of your mother, was she accepted by your father\u2019s family when they were married back in the Fifties? After all, she was a Black, he was white, and interracial marriages were very rare and still illegal in most Southern states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I\u2019ve asked them a lot about that for a book that I\u2019m working on. They both had left their families to come to the United States. My mother\u2019s from Cuba and Australians didn\u2019t have any particular hostility towards Black Cubans. Plus, Australians have very stiff upper lips, meaning, if there were a problem, no one would know. So, my mom says she felt very accepted by my father\u2019s family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Were Blacks even allowed to enter Australia at the time they were married?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: That\u2019s a good question, and I don\u2019t know the answer to that. I know that when I asked them why they didn\u2019t go back during that period, the answer was that my dad was working on his Ph.D. But they did eventually take the entire family at the first opportunity. In fact, my little brother was born there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: It is very impressive that all six of you attended Harvard. What was your parents\u2019 formula for raising geniuses who realized their potential?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: It\u2019s less about the O\u2019Briens are geniuses who all went to Harvard, and more about the importance of role modeling. I truly believe the reason we went to Harvard was because my sister, Maria, who was a great student, demystified it for the rest of us, and made it feel readily achievable. I didn\u2019t see her as a genius, but as my sister who was a very hard worker. I could look at her and think, if she could go to Harvard and do well, I certainly could go there and do well. That has made me realize that you are at a giant disadvantage, if you don\u2019t have role models in your life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Each of your five siblings is either a doctor or a lawyer. Does that make you the Black sheep of the family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: [Chuckles] Yeah, I\u2019m the Black sheep of the family, although I think they\u2019d love to get on TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: When I think of you, I think of the Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand. Do you specialize in covering natural disasters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: When I was a morning anchor, a story had to be big for us to do the show on location. And disasters kind of fit that bill, whether it might be the Virginia Tech shooting, Hurricane Katrina or something else. But it was less about disasters than a place from which you could anchor the show for a week. We traveled for many different types of stories. Sadly, the disasters just happen to be the more memorable ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How do you feel about the fact that so many ethnic groups are trying to claim you as theirs? I\u2019m on the NAACP Image Award\u2019s nominating committee, and we gave you the President\u2019s Award. You were also named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans and received the Hispanic Heritage Vision Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: My dad\u2019s brother saw a photo of me receiving the NAACP Award and he said, [impersonating an Australian accent] \u201cOh, Solly, you look so Australian!\u201d That was so funny. I think it\u2019s great because I\u2019m multi-cultural in a lot of ways. I invest a lot of my personal time and energy in different communities. Also, as a journalist, I think there\u2019s a big benefit in being both an insider and an outsider on an assignment. There\u2019s value being an insider in terms of compassion and credibility, whether the community you\u2019re covering is women, working moms, Black people or Latinos. And then, as an outsider, you have the freedom too ask the tough questions with credibility. So, I find myself to be comfortable in many situations which might be uncomfortable for most journalists. I kind of fit in everywhere and yet don\u2019t precisely fit in anywhere. And that\u2019s a really nice thing for me not only as a journalist, but as a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: To what extent do you embrace your Irish heritage? And is it easier because of your last name? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Funny, I never really think about my Irish heritage unless someone brings it up to me. It\u2019s the same way when someone asks me if I\u2019m Black. I don\u2019t have the time to think about it day in and day out. I just see myself as an overworked, crazed mother of four. But then I might meet someone who wants to know where in Ireland my father\u2019s family is from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Like me. Which county were they from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I have an aunt who has traced our genealogy back to County Cork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Australia was settled as a penal colony. Were your ancestors criminals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Sadly, no. Down Under, having a convict in your family tree is the equivalent of coming over on the Mayflower in America. My relatives were just poor people who migrated there during the Potato Famine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How did it feel to make People Magazine<\/em>\u2019s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World list? Did you feel any pressure, since most of the women on it are starlets and pop divas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: No, I agree with you. I\u2019m not a starlet, so there was no pressure to live up to anything on that front. The greatest irony is that I was pregnant with my first daughter and threw up the entire time during People Magazine\u2019s shoot for that article. I think it was God\u2019s way of telling me not to get a big head. But it was certainly a very nice thing for People to pick me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How did you come to get the Soledad O\u2019Brien Freedom\u2019s Voice Award? Is that Lou Gehrig getting Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: That\u2019s a terrible analogy! I was actually floored. It was such a surprise and an amazing honor for Morehouse\u2019s School of Medicine to recognize my body of work and to establish an award in my name, mid-career, and hopefully not end of career, although I have been in the business for 22 years. I ran into Dave Chappelle at the Four Seasons the other day and he asked me how I was doing. When I complained about all the traveling and he said, \u201cDon\u2019t quit! Don\u2019t quit!\u201d I can\u2019t tell you how many people tell me that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Dave told you that even though he quit his own show?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: That\u2019s what I said to him. And he just smiled and said, \u201cI should know, right?\u201d It\u2019s so incredibly helpful when I\u2019m feeling spent from traveling to have someone say your work matters and we need you around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: What\u2019s it like raising four your children and being on the road so much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: It\u2019s really hard. I\u2019ve been traveling as much as six days a week for this project. That\u2019s impossible to maintain. That\u2019s non-viable. So, we won\u2019t do that again, because I\u2019m a hands-on mommy. It\u2019s really hard on the kids. Even though they understand what I\u2019m doing, someone needs to be there to kind of run the ship at home, which is me. So, we will do things a little bit differently logistically, because I can\u2019t work non-stop and then be off for three months. I have to create a more sane schedule. And that should be very doable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Reverend Florine Thompson wants to know what you think of Judge Sonia Sotomayor\u2019s nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I think the fact that you\u2019re looking at a Latino nominee is an indication of a demographic shift that\u2019s actually been going on for a long time. Despite the hoopla around it, if you study the demographics, it\u2019s really no surprise. That being said, her addition to the Court will be historic, although who knows what kind of a justice she\u2019ll be. My sister has argued a case before her, and said that she\u2019s very thoughtful and runs a tight ship. By all accounts she\u2019s bright, smart and hard-working. To me, those things are more important than her being Puerto Rican. But from a history-making perspective, the fact that she\u2019s Latino is obviously critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Reverend Thompson was also wondering if you think her struggle with type1 diabetes should be taken into consideration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: No, her diabetes shouldn\u2019t be an issue at all, period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Laz Lyles asks, if the election of President Obama makes will Black in America 2 more relevant or less relevant, and what impact the show will have on the country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I don\u2019t think Obama\u2019s being President doesn\u2019t affect the relevance of the show one way or another. When you examine the breakdown of viewers, the audience is not overwhelmingly Black. It\u2019s a mix. I didn\u2019t create the show for anyone or to have an impact on the country. My job was to tell really good stories in a way which would stick with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Do you see a declining significance of color in the Age of Obama? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I talk to teenagers and they\u2019ll just sort of roll your eyes when you talk about race, as if they don\u2019t get it and as if race doesn\u2019t matter. They look at me the same way I looked at my parents when they reminisced about saving up for their first mortgage. It\u2019s as if I\u2019m talking about something that\u2019s completely irrelevant to their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Are they colorblind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: They\u2019re not colorblind, they see the differences, but they don\u2019t matter. They just don\u2019t see race the same way we see race. And in some ways I think that\u2019s good in that race has become completely demystified the way Harvard was for me watching my sister go off to college. So, I have a lot of hope for my kids\u2019 generation. My daughter looks Black but is as blonde as could be. And so many of the children at my daughter\u2019s school are just as diverse-looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How do people react to your identifying yourself as Black, given your appearance and Spanish and Irish names? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Occasionally, someone will thank me, saying, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to admit you\u2019re Black.\u201d And I\u2019ll go, \u201cReally? Because I often travel with that beautiful Black woman with an afro who\u2019s my mother. What do I do about her?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: That\u2019s a really good question\u2026 No, but I\u2019m going to have to think about that though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: I\u2019ll consider that a compliment coming from the consummate interviewer. The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I\u2019m rarely afraid physically, because I don\u2019t do stories that are dangerous. The only fear I have is of being inaccurate, of making an error or of getting the story wrong. Any journalist worth their salt should be afraid of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: God, I\u2019m so happy, and I don\u2019t know why, because I literally have not slept in two days. But I\u2019m a nauseatingly-optimistic and naturally-happy human being. I enjoy the company of others and feel very, very blessed. My kids are healthy and hilarious\u2026 I have a husband [investment banker Bradley Raymond] who is the most-amazing human being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good belly laugh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I have a good laugh all the time. Half of it is so silly it would make no sense to you. I\u2019m here in New Orleans to get an award from McDonalds, and I\u2019m sitting next to my best friend Kim Bondy, my executive producer, who moved back here after Katrina to rebuild her home. And we were just laughing about the fact that I haven\u2019t been to sleep for two days. I flew in from California in on the red eye, arrived at 5 in the morning and never went to bed. So, we laughed about the fact that my life is so chaotic and spinning out of control. Still, I have the best job in television news. I\u2019m not bragging and I don\u2019t mean to sound arrogant. It is such a luxury to be able to do stories that matter. Every day, literally, strangers come up to me and thank me for the work that I do. To hear people say that is so amazing. It\u2019s a great gig!<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Oh my gosh! I\u2019m in the middle of reading The Soloist by Steve Lopez. It\u2019s fantastic! I didn\u2019t see the movie. A better question would be, what movie did I see last?<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: I interviewed Jamie Foxx for the film, but I didn\u2019t read the book yet, because I had to review the movie. And whenever I read the book first, I end up hating the movie. The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you listening to nowadays? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Anybody who knows me, knows I love Luther Vandross. That\u2019s what I love to listen to. He\u2019s my hero. I love him. He was supposed to be on my show, but canceled, just before he died. It was the saddest thing, because after he died I knew I\u2019d never get to meet the person I was so in love with. I also listen to India.Arie and John Legend who I think I scared when I interviewed because I told him, \u201cI love you so much, you\u2019re the greatest!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: What has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: What an interesting question! I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not a big blamer of things on anything but myself. So, if there have been any failings in what I\u2019ve done, it\u2019s been in my not working hard enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: The Laz Alonso question: How can your fans help you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: You know, you have some really fascinating questions. What I really appreciate is helpful feedback sharing what specifically moved or irked them about a story. I\u2019m a student. I like to learn from what people have to say. And I\u2019ll often write back to a fan and get a good correspondence going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: [Giggles] That\u2019s so funny. When I look in the mirror, I\u2019m always surprised that I have this face full of freckles. I\u2019m 43 years-old, but feel the same as when I was 26 and just getting some traction as a reporter. So, I look like a mom, but I don\u2019t feel like a mom. I look in the mirror and see a light-skinned Black girl with a face full of freckles. And I go, \u201cOh my God! I\u2019m middle-aged now! That\u2019s crazy!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How do you feel about the passing of Michael Jackson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: It\u2019s interesting to me how many people of all ages and from all walks of life have been telling me how saddened they are by his death. Not many an icon\u2019s passing would profoundly affect so many different subsets of people? That\u2019s really an indication that he was truly a world pop star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: We also lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays and Karl Malden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: It\u2019s been so sad, that\u2019s a lot of loss in one week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Marcia Evans said that she found Black in America 1 \u201cpainful because it put us in a negative light.\u201d Did you get a lot of feedback like that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I had some people say that, but I don\u2019t think that that\u2019s true. My job was to answer the question we had posed, namely, \u201cWhere are we today?\u201d For instance, someone asked me why I had to talk about the Black male dropout rate. My response was, why aren\u2019t you screaming bloody murder about the low graduate rate? That\u2019s insanity! You can\u2019t have a successful country with a 29% Black male graduation rate. And I was curious about why someone would find my pointing that out would reflect on them personally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: How is Black in America 2 different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: My approach this go-round was to focus on the anatomy of success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Did you ever make a faux pas on an open microphone like your colleague Kyra Phillips? Do you have a sister-in-law like her who\u2019s a real control freak?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: [LOL] No, my sister-in-law is fabulous. She\u2019s a dermatologist and she recently helped out when my son had a terrible rash. I emailed her a photo from my Blackberry and she diagnosed it for me. I get along great with all my siblings. We are a very tight-knit family, and my parents are alive and happy and well! I haven\u2019t made a lot of open mic faux pas, but I am the same person on and off camera. So, you kind of get what you get with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Vanessa Goldstein asks, what did you think of Henry Louis Gates\u2019 PBS series African-American Lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: I loved it. You know, Skip Gates was a professor of mine at Harvard, and I\u2019m a big fan of his, both personally and professionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Marcia Evans has a suggestion for Black in America 3. She asks, why don\u2019t you cover what Black America was robbed of and what America owes Blacks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: That\u2019s an interesting suggestion. Certainly, the entire structure of economic disparity is built on generations and generations of people whose work went uncompensated. But I don\u2019t see us doing that in the near future, because I want to cover current-day stories which are unfolding in front of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: What is your favorite meal to cook?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: [Chuckles] I don\u2019t cook. I microwave. My mother will drop off food for us. She makes the best black beans and rice. I can make pasta sauce and tacos, but I really do not enjoy the cooking process, and I don\u2019t do it very often. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: My advice would be: stick it out! We\u2019re see some great movement in terms of diversity, and a bunch of different voices are beginning to get heard. It\u2019s been a battle to get those stories done. I would love to have someone say, \u201cSoledad, you\u2019ve done a great job, but you can retire because I\u2019ve come to take over.\u201d Those words would be music to my ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: And when you retire, how do you want to be remembered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: As a really good mother who tried to include her children in her work, because she thought her work was important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: The Rudy Lewis question: Who\u2019s at the top of your hero list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: My mom\u2019s at the top of that list. She used to say to me when I was younger, \u201cDon\u2019t let anybody tell you you\u2019re not Black. And don\u2019t let anybody tell you you\u2019re not Cuban.\u201d And she never cared what other people thought about her. Another thing I inherited from her is the idea that you \u201cDo what you want to do, and don\u2019t worry what other people are going to say about it.\u201d When my parents were getting married in 1958, it was so controversial the ACLU contacted them to see if they wanted to be the couple that would test the ban on interracial marriage. But they were low-key and didn\u2019t care about the crazy stuff or the fact that people would yell things at them when they walked down the street together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Where did they marry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: They were living in Baltimore, and they had to go to Washington, D.C. to get hitched. Another hero of mine is Malaak Compton-Rock [Chris Rock\u2019s wife] whose charity work is highlighted in Black in America 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Well, thanks again, Soledad, and best of luck with Black in America 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: My pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: If you\u2019re inclined, maybe we can chat again after it airs, and I can come armed with a set of questions based on my readers\u2019 reactions to the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SO<\/strong>: Absolutely! I\u2019d love that. Perfect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To purchase a copy of the original CNN Presents: Black in America, visit :<\/p>\n\n\n\n