Journalist and producer Soledad O’Brien visited University of Massachusetts Boston on Wednesday for her “Black in America” tour, which brings her CNN series about race to college campuses across the country. She was joined by economist, commentator, and author Julianne Malveaux; former NAACP president Benjamin Jealous; and Aminah Pilgrim, assistant professor of Africana studies at UMass Boston. At a press conference before the discussion, O’Brien said , “We need to have a complicated and nuanced conversation about race. They’re messy, they’re ugly, but they’re also very helpful. I like to talk to college students because they have no fear in the questions they want to ask.” The event, which was held in front of about 250 people from the UMass community, was mostly about the relationship between police and the black community, and included clips from O’Brien’s work on the issue.
Soledad O'Brien brings series to UMass Boston
