A Shout Out to Soledad O'Brien

“The work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is as relevant today as when he was knee-deep in the civil rights movement,” these passionate words were spoken by CNN anchor and correspondent Soledad O’Brien as I presented her with a NAMIC Vision Award.

While award season is a distant memory here in Hollywood, I recently had the pleasure of hosting an event that celebrates diversity in cable programming. With more and more people choosing to watch cable television over tradition networks, having positive and diverse images of, not only African-Americans but all ethic groups is important and good business.

The National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) recognizes outstanding achievements in this area.

As we remember the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, Soledad, who is a role model, was honored in the News/Informational category for her "American Morning: MLK Series" that highlighted some 7,000 papers written by Dr. King, including "Letter From Birmingham Jail" written April 16, 1963.

Whoopi Goldberg won for Best Comedy Performance for "The Word According to Whoopi" on Bravo. And Best Performance in a Drama went to Adam Beach, for “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” on HBO.

And let me not forget The Africa Channel, who picked up an award for Original Movie/Special for “Akon: the Rhythm of Africa.”

To check out more of the diversity honors in cable programming, visit www.namic.com.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Any programs you feel deserved recognition? Post your comments below.


Peace,
Shaun

Shaun Robinson is the weekend co-host of the nationally syndicated entertainment show, Access Hollywood and is writing a book on "Girls and Self-Esteem." For more information on Shaun, visit ShaunRobinson.com.

Comments

[Renee]

Sophisticated Ladies! We love seeing you. Renee

[Liz]

Soledad is an awesome journalist. I have been watching her career for sometime. Her specials on CNN are enlightening, keep up the good work Soledad. Her frankness is refreshing.