In what may become a tradition, CNN re-aired the program, "Martin Luther King: Words That Changed a Nation" hosted by Soledad this year in the days before the January 22nd observance of the of the Martin Luther King holiday.

Last year, when the King's papers were purchased, Soledad and the SIU crew went back to some of the places connected to the papers and made the writings of the Dr. King come alive.

It includes documents such as the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" in Dr. King's own handwriting and many stories surrounding that and other writing  in the collection.

CNN has created a companion site with teaching guides and PDF copies of some of the documents referenced in the documentary that should be especially useful for educators.

Faith Doing Justice
February

On February 7, Soledad moderated a panel discussion on “War, Peace and People of Faith” at Marquette University as part of the campus Mission Week 2008, a weeklong reflection and celebration of the university’s mission of faith, excellence, leadership and service.

In Her Own Words

Soledad conducted a long format interview with Michelle Obama, wife of Presidential candidate Barack Obama which received a great deal of attention online..

Read Soledad's own account of her interview experience with Michelle Obama.

Uncovering America
February

CNN began it's 2008 series of "Uncovering America" this month with weekly coverage every Friday. The focus of the series will be how race and gender issues are impacting the presidential election. The "Uncovering America" series will employ various platforms and programs. Soledad O'Brien hosts, "Uncovering America: Race, Gender & Politics II," which premiered as an Anderson Cooper 360 special.

AASA Conference Appearance
February

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien joins Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt, a master storyteller and teacher; and Daniel Pink, another award-winning author and an expert on global markets as keynoters at this year's American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Conference on Education.

BettyConfidential.com
March

This month a new website, bettyconfidential.com, designed to be a social networking community for women between the ages of 25-49, launched.

Soledad O'Brien serves as chairman of the advisory board which is comprised of the former editor of Ladies' Home Journal, Myrna Blyth, Ambassador Lisa Gable, Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux, and former Oracle Executive and Venture Capitalist, Karen White.

The site includes interactive content that includes lifestyle stories, advice columns, advocacy and politics, and "feel the pulse of women" polls.

"Our mission is to help women better navigate their most active stages of life -- from dating to career to parenting to maintaining identity," says co-founder Deborah Perry Piscione.

"We give women the opportunity to build a community among those who are in similar life stages or have similar interests," adds co-founder Shaun Marsh.

Through her own original research (a study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor), Piscione revealed that irrespective of all the gains women have made throughout the last few decades, many working and "opt-out" women feel a sense of isolation and loneliness, and have a deep desire to connect with similarly-situated women.

March 13

Soledad O'Brien served as the mistress of ceremonies at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' 19th Annual Scholarship Banquet in New York City.

Soledad on Faith

The Catholic Herald interviewed Soledad O’Brien while she was in Milwaukee to speak at Marquette University for “War, Peace and People of Faith,” a panel discussion held during Marquette University’s Mission Week in February.

“I remember when I was covering the tsunami I would go to bed after my show and I would call my husband and tell him about my day,” said O’Brien, who saw body upon body of dead babies. “I would cry and cry and cry. Clearly, that’s an indication you’re trying to process something. But it’s very hard for me to say, ‘Oh, woe is me. Boy isn’t this hard on me?’ I get to go home. I’m fine. If Hurricane Katrina haunts me, what does it do to the people who had to walk through the water carrying their loved ones?”

“My parents were very devout. Coming from a big Catholic family it’s all tied together. It’s kept us very close. It’s one of those things we did together. “I came from a very middle class-family. My parents valued kindness and goodness. Being on TV doesn’t make you special. They taught me that some people are not better than others. If you’re a good and kind person that’s all that matters.”

Building traditions and values With four children of her own with husband Brad Raymond, Sofia, 7, Cecilia, 5, and twin boys, Charlie and Jackson, 3, O’Brien recognizes the importance of instilling the same message she received from her parents in her own children.

“As a parent, you realize, wow it’s very important to have those traditions and values,” O’Brien said. “I like a focus on service and faith in action. Let’s not just sit here and pray about people; let’s raise money. Let’s build something.”

Ensuring her children know and practice faith in action, O’Brien involves them in her humanitarian efforts. In her spare time, O’Brien works with Hearts of Gold, which aims to enhance the lives of New York City’s homeless mothers and their children, provides funding for a child to attend school in New Orleans, and continues to uncover injustices in the world through her reporting.

At times, however, the volunteering and giving raise hard questions for O’Brien and her family. While adopting a family this Christmas brought shrieks of joy from her daughter, who thought they would actually be welcoming a new family into their home, it also raised a larger issue, when upon delivering their presents, a child in the adopted family bluntly told Sofia that Santa didn’t exist. Why does Santa ignore some children and not others, O’Brien said Sofia asked her. For the ever-questioning O’Brien it was a question about which she had not thought. “For a mom who’s homeless, of course Santa doesn’t exist,” O’Brien said. “Her story is Santa is fake. Because if he does exist, why does Santa ignore them? Santa hates you.”
For the O’Brien family, it was a time to talk about those less fortunate than themselves. “There are a lot of people that don’t have a lot of stuff,” O’Brien explained to her children. “That doesn’t make them any less of a person than us. We have a responsibility toward other people in the world.”

Full story at Catholic Online via the Catholic Herald.

At Penn State
March

Students and community members asked the CNN special correspondent about the upcoming presidential election, the media industry, and her influences. O'Brien visited Penn State Behrend for a presentation as part of the college's Speaker Series. An animated presenter, O'Brien discussed the obstacles she faced getting into broadcast journalism coming from a white Australian father and black Cuban mother. She said some television stations turned her away because of her ethnicity, and others wanted her to change her name. O'Brien said she drew strength from her mother, who told her, "Most people are idiots."

She went on to co-anchor CNN's "American Morning" from 2003 to 2007, and now anchors and reports for the news magazine "CNN: Special Investigations Unit." O'Brien said some of the most meaningful interviews of her career came from ordinary people, such as the victims of Hurricane Katrina. "I interviewed this little black lady ...and she asked me 'Why are they treating us like animals?'" O'Brien said. "It just broke my heart."

O'Brien also talked about juggling being a mother of four and a professional, saying it upset her when people criticized her for having such a demanding career while raising young children. She said it helped her to take advice from her mother who told her, "Like all women, the most important thing is to be happy and confident in your choices."

Watch a video - Soledad answers Behrend journalism students' questions prior to her speaking engagement.

Behind the Lens with Spike Lee
March 26

Soledad O'Brien hosted an event for Spike Lee who was named the Chrysler LLC 2008 Behind the Lens honoree in Los Angeles.

Soledad worked with Spike Lee in 2007 on his documentary, "Children of the Storm" which chronicles the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of children who were living in the New Orleans area. For the series, Soledad and director Lee distributed video cameras to 11 children from diverse backgrounds and instructed them to document their everyday lives.

"We wanted to really represent the diversity that is in New Orleans - geographic diversity, gender diversity, racial diversity, an experiential diversity," Soledad said.

Spike Lee is an influential figure in contemporary cinema. As a director, producer, screenwriter, author and educator, he is to be recognized for his outstanding achievements in film and television at the sixth annual award ceremony.

In recognition of Lee's accomplishments, the Chrysler Foundation will donate $25,000 to Lee's alma mater, Morehouse College in Atlanta. The donation will benefit the vision of the Morehouse College School of Sports Journalism, a program created to expand the field of sports journalism from the small percentage of African Americans currently working in it today. The program, which began with seed money donated by Lee, launched its first course offerings in January 2007. A graduate of Morehouse, class of 1979, Lee is a third-generation Morehouse graduate and now serves on the school's Board of Trustees. To date, his efforts have raised more than $1 million to benefit the program.

Career Women of Achievement
April

The YWCA of Greater Cincinnati's annual "Career Women of Achievement" luncheon will feature CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien as the keynote speaker.

The luncheon, which each year honors eight women for their accomplishments in the workplace and community, will take place April 29, from noon to 1:30 p.m., at Duke Energy Center downtown.

O'Brien joined Atlanta-based CNN in 2003 as co-anchor of the "American Morning" program. She is now an anchor and special correspondent for CNN; Special Investigations Unit.

The YWCA Career Women of Achievement program began in 1980, and has recognized 218 local women over the years. Proceeds from the luncheon benefit the YWCA's programs, including its battered women's shelter, literacy, job training and health and wellness programs.

Black in America
April

CNN will examine the current state of Black America as part of a four-month on-air and digital initiative dubbed CNN Presents: Black in America. The initiative will include three, two-hour documentaries anchored by CNN special correspondent Soledad O'Brien focusing on "fresh analysis from new voices about the real lives behind the stereotypes, statistics and identity politics that frequently frame the national dialog about Black America,' said the network. The initiative is slated to April 3 with Eyewitness To Murder: The King Assassination, recognizing the 40-year anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.

Along with the specials, the project will feature a weekly series of reports that will investigate topics, including parenthood and marital rates among black adults; high rates of HIV/AIDS among African-Americans; achievement gaps in education, careers; and disparities in life expectancy rates between African Americans and the general population.

CNN.com also launched a Web portal for Black in America that features excerpts from the programming and exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses to history. The section also will include timelines, maps and multimedia stories and materials for use in schools.

Other scheduled shows in the series are The Black Man and The Black Woman & Family both in June.

'As we developed this series, it was critical to go beyond what viewers believe and already know to introduce them to the real people behind the headlines that we report every day on our assignments,' O'Brien said.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tour
April

In April, CNN's Black in America series goes on a tour of five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). In conjunction with CNN's iReport efforts and the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists), one iReporter from each campus will win a digital video camera and have the chance to win a trip for two to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans and and use their camera to capture the experiences of their campus' Black in America Tour Stop.

Community Voice's Creates the "Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award"
April

On April 11, Soledad received the first Soledad O’Brien’s Freedom’s Voice Award, created in her honor by Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

At the conclusion of the three-day conference of national leaders in health care disparities and civil rights, the organization honored CNN anchor and special correspondent her with the award created to recognize her accomplishments and willingness to be a voice for the voiceless in our society, and her determination to cover stories that might otherwise go untold.

It will be given annually to mid-career professionals who serve as catalysts for social change in their given fields. In years to come, Ms. O'Brien will guide an advisory committee in naming future recipients for the award who, like her, have worked tirelessly and effectively to expose problems our society has not wanted to face.

The event was hosted by Ms. O'Brien, and co-chaired by philanthropist and actor Jane Fonda, Joseph Stewart, Trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and CNN Worldwide President, Jim Walton.

Latinas In The Professional World
April

On April 17, Soledad spoke at the 19th annual Bakersfield Women's Business Conference focusing on "brains, beauty and balance" in the lives of successful working women.
MÁS Magazine interviewed her at that time for an April cover story.

excerpt:

Q: Our magazine is aimed at the Hispanic community here in Kern County. We're well read among Latinas, and we see more and more business leaders who are women with Hispanic roots. How do you see the future for Latinas in the professional world?
A: "I've been amazed by the sheer numbers of Latinas and minorities succeeding widely in industries that were closed to them in the past. I think our generation is reaping the benefits of the sacrifices and efforts of previous generations. Not too long ago, I met an Asian girl in the media industry who said, 'They call me the young Soledad O'Brien.' I think it's wonderful that I can be a multicultural role model. People think, 'If you can do it, I can do it.'"

from MÁS  Magazine

Black In America Interview

CNN invited the video blog, My Urban Report, to talk with the program's host, Soledad O'Brien, about the past year that she has spent on the documentary.  CNN will air two more specials in June as part of its "Black in America" series, "The Black Man" and "The Black Woman & Family."

"Soledad O’Brien is a woman’s woman—the kind we’d all like to claim as our sister. She’s smart, funny, successful, and drop-dead gorgeous. More important, she knows better than to rub it in. For example, the secret to her youthful looks: “A really good concealer and good lighting in the studio,” quips the 41-year-old anchor and special correspondent for CNN: Special Investigations Unit. See why we women love her? But as high as modesty rates on her list of virtues, it trails perspective—an attribute that not only rules her life, but the design of the loft she shares in Manhattan with her husband, investment banker Brad Raymond, and their four young children (twin 3-year-old boys and two daughters who are 5 and 6)."

“We want to live our lives as a family, not tiptoe around an apartment furnished with anything too precious. That means washable fabrics, a lot of warmth and color, and nothing overdecorated,” says Soledad.

"Soledad collects art by the Puerto Rican-American painter Rascal, whose vivid portrait of a woman hangs above the dining room’s antique scribner’s table. Bradley Stephens designed the custom dining table in steel: “Indestructible,” he boasts.

Soledad was insistent on design that is flexible. “The other night, we had a sleepover for the girls and pulled mattresses into the living room,” Soledad notes. “We push the couch back when we have a party for the 3-year-olds. The apartment’s flexible, like my life.” Though she built her reputation as a newsperson asking the tough questions, she says, “I don’t think of myself as a strong woman, but as resilient and flexible. Flexibility is what enables me to juggle a family—including time for the really fun, silly stuff—with a fulfilling, interesting career. More than anything else, it’s my flexibility I’m most proud of.”

Flex is her middle name. As a CNN anchor and special correspondent, Soledad reports hour-long documentaries and files in-depth series when major news breaks. Katrina? She was there. President George W. Bush's visit to Mexico to hash out sensitive border issues? She was on the job. The 2004 contested election votes? Soledad was CNN's presence in late-voting Ohio. She was also on the scene for the London terrorist attacks, and in Puhket, Thailand, covering the tsunami that took more than 155,000 lives. It's precisely because of the devastation she's seen-heartwrenching assignments it really isn't PC to call plums-that Soledad keeps a balanced perspective. "I want to tell younger women they can have a husband, children, and a career, if they stay flexible and balanced."

Journey For Change Takes O'Brien To Africa
August

CNN's Behind the Scenes series lets correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events.

In a recent post, Soledad O'Brien writes about her travels with 30 Brooklyn, NY schoolchildren on a volunteer mission to serve the impoverished and AIDS orphans in South Africa.

Here is an excerpt from one of Soledad's reports:

"It's late Sunday morning inside a cavernous Salvation Army Church in Soweto, South Africa. Services, complete with African and traditional music, have just finished and a catchy drum beat with a distinctly American hip-hop sound is coming from the stage. The group of teenagers dancing around the drums is 8,000 miles and an 18-hour plane ride from their New York home. They are mostly from Bushwick, Brooklyn -- a community of about 109,000 people only five miles from Manhattan. For some of these kids, it's their first time away from home.

Unfamiliar with Bushwick? It's mostly a working class neighborhood where families have often struggled. For years it was a community with a thriving drug trade, severely under-achieving schools, extreme poverty and a staggering rate of teenage pregnancy. It was ravaged by fires and looting during the summer of 1977 and hit hard by the crack epidemic in the 1980s. Bushwick is recovering now, but half of the children under age 18 still live below the poverty line. A quarter of the adults never make it past the ninth grade and more than half never graduate from high school.

The children on this trip to South Africa are what educators and social workers call "at-risk" -- at risk of having babies as teenagers; at risk of never finishing high school or achieving their dreams; at risk of never knowing the world beyond their neighborhood. Thirty of these children, between the ages of 12 to 16, have been paired up with college-aged mentors and brought to South Africa by Malaak Compton-Rock, the wife of comedian Chris Rock. She brought them to volunteer -- to serve the impoverished and the AIDS orphans in this country with the highest HIV-infected population in the world."

Thirty kids, ages 12 to 16, from Bushwick, Brooklyn, were chosen to participate in "Journey for Change," a youth empowerment program created by Malaak Compton-Rock.

The group returned to the U.S. on August 13th. Since their return, they've been fundraising and doing service projects. In March 2009,  the group’s journey will be featured in a CNN Documentary.

Democratic National Convention
August

A special edition of CNN Newsroom aired from 9 a.m. to noon featuring correspondent Soledad O'Brien and extended segments and frequent live shots from the convention site.

For the noon hour, CNN featured O'Brien, Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi live from New York's Election Center with guests and panel discussions live from CNN's Grill. The hour had a convention-focused theme with the role of the economy and other pocketbook issues in the election.

Soledad was back on CNN Newsroom from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. leading CNN's special convention coverage.

Republican National Convention
September

CNN will quickly shift its resources and team from Denver to St. Paul this week for special coverage leading up to the Republican National Convention. Soledad O'Brien will once again be pulling multiple assignments next week anchoring three segments during the 9-4 p.m. period. Throughout the week, a special edition of CNN Newsroom from 9 a.m. to noon will feature her presenting extended segments of convention coverage. A special noon hour will again be led by Soledad O'Brien, Ali Velshi and Gerri Willis and will focus on the economy and presidential politics. The hour will include guests and panelists live from the CNN Grill on site. CNN Newsroom will return from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with Soledad O'Brien leading CNN's special convention coverage with frequent highlights and reports live from St. Paul. The Situation Room will pick up at 4 p.m. with Wolf Blitzer anchoring from the convention floor, and then the network will move into its special primetime convention coverage beginning at approximately 6 p.m. Campbell Brown, Gloria Borger and John King, along with the "magic wall," will join Blitzer on CNN's floor set. The coverage will extend late into the night and lead into a special midnight edition of Larry King Live. Throughout the day and evening, CNN's political team will once again offer the latest news and thoughtful analysis. Correspondents include Dana Bash, Candy Crowley, Joe Johns, Suzanne Malveaux, Bill Schneider and Jessica Yellin.

Black in America on DVD

On September 2, the DVD version of the CNN Black in America - series was released.

Hosted by Soledad O'Brien, the documentary series addresses stereotypes and challenges that African-Americans face today. The original broadcasts this year drew over 2 million viewers and created much discussion, pro & con, on the Net. The series is the highest-rated documentary in CNN's history. The DVD release should bring it not only a wider audience, but inclusion in classrooms.

The DVD is available through Amazon.com and other major retailers.

Soledad Speaks on Diversity
September

Soledad 'O'Brien opened the University of Dayton's 2008-2009 Diversity Lecture Series on the UD campus. 

Her appearance followed two weeks of Presidential convention coverage for CNN. Her address "Diversity: On TV, Behind the Scenes and in Our Lives" on, September 10 was free and open to the public.

The University of Dayton's Diversity Lecture Series is part of a larger strategic plan to increase inclusion and diversity on campus and prepare students, faculty, staff and the Dayton community for success in a global society. Past speakers have included Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Spike Lee, Kirk Franklin, Clarence Page, Nikki Giovanni, Azar Nafisi and Johnnetta B. Cole. The University of Dayton's commitment to diversity is founded in its Catholic heritage of social justice and the Marianist tradition of equality and being inclusive of people from all segments of society.