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Monday, June 16, 2008
Black in America preview at the High
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Morehouse College student Terrance Woodbury, from left, CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, Morehouse student Brandon Douglas and the Rev. Herman “Skip” Mason Jr., interim vice president for student services and dean of students at Morehouse at the High after the preview of “Black in America,” a CNN special report.
A capacity crowd packed the Alliance Theatre Monday night for a preview of Black in America, a CNN special report that airs next month.
CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien was on hand for the event and answered questions from the audience after the screening of the condensed report.
She said she was disheartened by disparities in income, education and opportunity her reporting uncovered.
“Education isn’t part of the game, it’s the whole ball game,” she said, noting black students’ graduation rates trail white students’. The gulf is particularly stunning, she said, when examining the graduation of black boys versus whites.
“I haven’t quite figured out why people aren’t screaming in the streets about it,” she said. “No one’s marching about that.”
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien with Ashlee Feemster at the High
After the presentation, guests filed out of the Alliance and onto the piazza outside the High Museum of Art, where a drum line entertained. O’Brien mingled with guests, who were eager to discuss issues raised by the special report.
“In this country we have a very selective memory about history,” O’Brien said. “I hope we could have a discussion about our shared bad past. I’m not sure we’re ready for that in this country, but I hope so.”
Her reporting dealt not only with friction between the races but within the African American community. In some cases, she said, class issues creep in within members of the same race, adding another element of division.
“Clearly, we are not understanding each other,” she said.
A drum line entertained guests after the preview.
The guest list for the event included the Rev. Joseph Lowery, King Center President Isaac Ferris, Atlanta Voice publisher Alexis Scott, Spelman College history professor Jelani Cobb and Dr. Louis Sullivan, former president of Morehouse School of Medicine.
Other guests included Fulton County Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Woman mag associate editor Nicole D. Smith, the Wall Street Journal’s Corey Dade and wife Sonji Jacobs Dade, who works in crisis and issues management and public affairs for Edelman Public Relations.
CNN was well represented by a contingent including Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, and Abbie Boudreau, Elizabeth Cohen, Naamua Delaney, Tony Harris, TJ Holmes, Don Lemon, Betty Nguyen, Rick Sanchez and Fredricka Whitfield.
We met Lemon and his mother, Katherine Lemon-Clark, who was in town for the event from Baton Rouge, La.
CNN anchor Don Lemon with his mother, Katherine Lemon-Clark, at the High Museum of Art. Mom came from Baton Rouge, La., for the event.
After a cocktail reception featuring Southern cuisine, guests toured the High’s current exhibit, Road to Freedom. The collection of 200 photographs by 45 photographers depict the ugliness and bravery on display side-by-side in the South during the Civil Rights Movement.
Although the exhibit, and the CNN report, were full of disturbing images, O’Brien did leave the audience with a positive message. Someone asked what most surprised her during the reporting of Black in America.
Her answer: “the number of people interested in changing the status quo.”
Myrna Anderson Fuller, from left, with Howard Wertheimer and Tayyibah Taylor at the High Museum. They serve on the race relations impact team for the Leadership Atlanta Alumni group.
Carolyn Bramwell, from left, with Crystal Barrett, Marla T. Kendall and Marilyn Taylor at the High Museum.
