Sobremesa with Soledad O’Brien

Last Thursday we had the privilege of having Soledad O’Brien as a guest speaker in our 5th Sobremesa. The expectations were high given the amount of controversy her new CNN documentary “Latino in America” has created in the blogosphere and social media world. While we weren’t certain of how the interview would pan out we did know what many of our audience members had in mind and wanted answered.

We had been in constant communication with the CNN reps weeks before the event and made sure we followed the protocol of sharing the questions ahead of time for approval. But, when Soledad arrived at our office that Thursday minutes before starting the sobremesa, we couldn’t help but notice her humbleness and down-to-earth manner as she expressed her disinterest in having her questions filtered; “If I’m here, you can ask me anything you want“, she said. And “you can have the audience ask me anything too- that’s why I’m a journalist.”

That’s when we knew this was going to be a great discussion.

Not only did she allow us into her personal life by telling us how she grew up in Black and White like she states in her book “Latino in America” with her Afro-Cuban mom and Australian dad of Irish descent. “I was raised eating rice and beans everyday and once a month we would have potatoes to please my dad”. She also mentioned how her mom would always talk of “them” as in “don’t let them tell you you’re not black” and “don’t let them tell you you’re not Hispanic or Cuban” – only to realize as an adult that “them” meant the non-Hispanic whites around her.

But she also allowed us in to her life as a journalist and her struggle with the amount of Latino stories she pushes on a daily basis through the executive’s desk at CNN. “It’s great to see successful Latino stories on TV but it’s even more important to see the amount of stories that don’t get reported constantly- less than 1 percent of the stories aired by the networks involve Latinos.”

This in essence is what drove the documentary and inspired her book.  Yes, she wanted to show America what Latinos were all about but she also wanted all of us to follow characters that moved us emotionally and could touch us with their lives. So, when she was asked why she didn’t portray more successful Latinos, she was quick at replying “first, let’s define what success means.” It was obvious this wasn’t the first time she answered this question. As she followed by saying, “success is very subjective and showing a CEO of a small business makes for a great article but that doesn’t make for good TV.  I didn’t follow the seven Garcia families for seven months to change their lives, I didn’t say to Cindy stop your life because now you need to get pregnant, I followed them to portray human stories – because that is what I do as a journalist.”

She admitted the series didn’t embody everything she wanted, for example, it lacked representation of Afro-Latinos. But, the good news is that in her mind that just means a part 2 is definitely necessary as it was for Black in America last year.

The hour conversation with Soledad covered many topics but there were a few takeaways worth noting:

- It is evident that when we watch a documentary or any show about our own culture, we become overly sensitive and highly critical of the content. Hence, the polarity of reviews the documentary has received so far.

- There’s a need for us as Latinos (beyond us, as marketers) to do something about the dropout rates of Latino teenagers in the US, this is an epidemic that is passed down from generation to generation and will continue to be a reality if we don’t do something about it. So instead of just talking about it like another statistic in our presentations or conversations we should act on it.

- A good story goes beyond color, language, race or religion. When you have a good story to tell and you keep it at the forefront of your communication you reach the masses. Like she states in her book, “More than anything, the stories have to be good, the story lines compelling, and the people in them interesting.  If no one watches I’ve accomplished nothing.” A truth that applies to commercials/advertising as well.

There’s a lot of other questions she was able to answer for all of us, she even made us laugh in the hour we spoke to her, but we’ll let her tell you herself. So, if you unfortunately missed the event whether in person or through the live stream there’s no need to worry as we invite you to take a seat, relax and enjoy Soledad up close and personal.

- Latinminds @ GlobalHue Latino

PS: Once again we want to thank Cafecito Bogota for delighting us with their delicious Latino cuisine that even made Soledad ask for more.

Enjoy!

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