WHAT’S YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS?
30 10 2009SOLEDAD O’BRIEN ASKS “WHAT’S YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS”
Last week CNN aired its Latino in America special where Soledad O’Brien captured the lives of a few Latinos in a two-part series. O’Brien touched upon very real and accurate issues such as education, immigration, language barriers and teenage pregnancy. Although she attempted to spread awareness, many viewers say O’Brien failed to include more positive stories.
Before Soledad’s book signing on Thursday, GlobalHue Latino welcomed the journalist in Lower Manhattan where she spoke about the series and her upbringing as a Latina in Long Island. Via their live online stream, we asked Mrs. O’Brien, “What about the success stories?” And she responded with, “What’s your definition of success?”
Soledad went on to say that Cindy Garcia- a high school student who was on the verge of failing out and got pregnant- is a success because she went on to college. “Is she not a success story,” asked O’Brien. “What about the Mayor of Los Angeles who dropped out of high school but is now Mayor. What about the young girl who thought about killing herself but now has a great relationship with her mother. Success is very subjective. Are you saying these aren’t success stories?”
They are “success” stories because the folks she interviewed turned their lives around. We agree that it’s not always where you’re from but where you’re going that matters. But it seems she misunderstood our question. Many viewers want to know where were the stories of small business owners, scientists, accomplished students in top universities, doctors, etc.
Having a Black Latina mom herself, where were the Afro-Latino stories?
On Facebook and Twitter some LIA supporters are saying “let’s start doing instead of complaining.” Are viewers really whining or merely asking that they be represented correctly on a major channel that’s documenting the lives of Latinos in America.
In a recent radio interview, I was asked who I thought were the top five most influential Latinos. I said that those behind the camera are the most influential. The producers, reporters and writers have access and power to spread news and awareness.
We respect Soledad and her success, and hope that she covers the vital stories she didn’t include in the first two parts of her Latino In America series. What’s your take on this?
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What an excellent post. And it was the right question to ask. I do think from what you said and from others are saying about the event, you are so right and she missed the intent of the question. In the end, it was a non-answer. BTW, I don’t recall a piece on LA Mayor that focused on his life in the show, do you? That would have been a great story to tell.
I was at first quite excited to see what Ms. O’Brien was going to present. However, I happened to tune in while she was interviewing Cindy and her family and immediately thought, great here we go again! Another non English speaking immigrant family portrayal with with same hardship stories and unsuccessful attempts at education.
In the end Cindy may be successful because she managed to graduate and go to college, but what about those Latinos that have parents that push them to go to school everyday and get good grades. Those stories of kids growing up in similar neighborhoods as Cindy’s, beating the odds, graduating and going to college without getting pregnant, were missing.
Success is reaching the goals you have set for yourself and by Cindy’s standards she succeeded. However, there are many successful stories of Latinos in all industries and we were misrepresented feeding into the Latin stigmas placed on us. It’s disappointing because Soledad O’Brien has that media power where she could have highlighted stories like Sonia Sotomayor’s and Joseph M. Acaba’s. These success stories are influential to young Latinos like Cindy and informs America that we don’t all drop out of school, get pregnant and end up in jail.
If Ms. O’Brien would’ve asked me the question “What does success mean to you?” I would’ve quoted Webster’s dictionary! The nerve of her! Ms. O’Brien was being facetious and maybe her answer speaks to why her special failed to engage & captivate a large audience- she doesn’t get it… Maybe it’s her arrogance (the same arrogance that would have her answer the question the way she did) that impedes her from being able to just flat out do a better job. Every time a story was presented, my hopes were lifted only to be decimated. Every time a commercial came I thought ‘okay the next one is going to be the one where we shine …. and then, it would actually come on and crush me. 40 minutes into the second part of the series, I turned to my phone where Facebook statuses expressed the disappointment (and sometimes outrage) that I was feeling. P.S. whoever did the editing on the piece also had a play in it… There were comments made by people that should’ve been omitted & left for dead on the editing room’s floor.
Honestly, did you expect anything else of ‘Latino in America’ after seeing the promos? – I mean, really?…Really?
I find her to be a loser. Somebody who is not able enough to be a great producer, but a great Latino producer; who is banking on her heritage in order to get some work. I feel sorry for her in the sense that she is just trying to connect to the culture of her parents through her work, but fails miserably as she doesn’t get it. If for her a girl who got pregnant and finished school is a success story, I don’t want to be caught dead watching one of programs…and neither should you. In fact, all those programs centered on Latino success, whatever that means, are a waste if they are not done right.
I’ve always raised this question for my friends who work in production who seem to be caught in the same dilemma the writer of this post seems to be in: What do you want to be remembered as? As the great Latino producer/editor/executive? or as the great producer/editor/executive…who gets props for the work they achieve and then for their heritage…Jesus people, take Pablo Ferro as an example: The man is an icon in Hollywood, and I bet people didn’t go to him because he was a Cuban immigrant…but because his work was way too awesome.
Go on, cross the threshold and be known because of your work…and not because you are Hispanic descent, or Latino, or whatever you kids are calling it these days. God knows only a few have done it, and Soledad O’brien is not one of them…Neither the Hispanics who have to come up with awards shows of their own because they can’t compete with the general market.
My two cents.
Soledad O’Brien is such a phony. In April 2008, Reverend Jeremiah Wright gave a speech in Detroit to the NAACP. One of the things that he said in this speech was that black and white children learn with different parts of their brain, and then gave an “unflattering imitation of the way white pastors speak.” Peoples comments were that he gave a racial speech. Soledad O’Brien, on CNN, was quoted as saying, in a gushing manner, that the speech was a “home run” and “really funny.” When questioned about the things he said in the speech, she would say things like, what he really meant was …..or what he wanted to say was… Once again she’s covering the truth and being racist. Just as with the Henry Gates incident. In an appearance on Anderson Cooper, the night or so before CNN’s “The Moment of Truth” she appeared enraged that it was a racial profile against Gates. She said that she got calls from her FRIENDS saying it was all about Gates being black. She went on that show with the purpose, at all costs, to destroy the credibility of the white police officer and throw him under the bus. When Cooper was talking she wanted to make the point that Gates said “Thank You” to the police officers. By mentioning that, she was purposely misrepresenting the truth by playing down Gates’ belligerence and racial remarks, which she didn’t even mention. Even Gates’ attorney and friend, said to the media that he used very strong language. Colon Powell and President Obama both said he should take blame in the incident. I have seen this in many occasions with her, where she doesn’t speak the truth and hides the true facts. Another time on Anderson Cooper, Cooper said to O’Brien that Senator John McCain hasn’t brought race into the campaign, like he said he wouldn’t. You would think her response would have been something like, that’s great because he shouldn’t. Instead she strongly insinuated that he would, even in the last week of the campaign. Also, her questioning style, in interviews is completely different with a white person than it is with a black person. Like in her interview with Henry Gates in “The Moment of Truth” She just went along with his lies. I have seen several comments on various websites about her racism. There are many other examples I could give of her racial bias, dishonesty and hypocrisy. She seems to consider herself to be black. She mentioned in an interview that her parents made it clear to her “you’re black” and that’s all there is to it.
She’s all about being #1, she wants the world to revolve around her. She comes first, before her family. She wants to be a celebrity figure and a star. In interviews she says she works 6 days a week, mostly out of town, and on some holidays. She goes to gala events, concerts, lots of entertainment events, as a single woman, leaving her husband and kids behind.
I think Soledad O’Brien is a very poor journalist. What ever happened to the days of CNN with Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff? They were honorable journalists. You could believe what they said. John Las Vegas