In a conversation this month for Harvard's John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, Soledad revealed that a series called White In America is in the planning stages.
In a TVNewser story, she said “As a journalist, my job is to probe the uncomfortable topics to drive conversation. I’m happy to see that’s still happening as a result of Black In America and I look forward to continuing that conversation as we continue to tell the stories of who we are."
During the Harvard event, O'Brien discussed the criticism that Black in America was "divisive.”
"First of all, it’s only white people who ever said that — ‘if we could just see beyond race. If only people didn’t see race, it would be such a better place, and you are responsible for bringing up these icky race issues, Soledad, you should just let sleeping dogs lie. I was like, again, ‘OK, white person, this is a conversation that you’re clearly uncomfortable with, and I have no problem seeing race, and I think we should talk about race."
Following up after the event, Soledad said “My comments on the importance of discussing who we are and where we come from are nothing new. What is new is our friends in the blogosphere taking the conversation out of context and ginning up headlines so we lose sight of the real issues. I would encourage those reporting on my work to listen to the conversation in its entirety, and this time, turn their mute buttons off. As a journalist, my job is to probe the uncomfortable topics to drive conversation."
Although O’Brien left CNN recently, her production company will be producing documentaries which will air on CNN including another installment of Black in America later this year.
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