I heart Soledad O'Brien!

Last night I was fortunate to go see CNN Corespondent Soledad O'Brien speak as part of Midwestern State University's (my Alma mater!) Artist Lecture Series. I was glad my Pappa and Max were there to share it with me.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN. Yes seriously! As a former reporter/anchor, woman, and mixed nationality- I was SUPA excited!!! I watched her on election night when Barack Obama won the Presidency. And here she was standing a few feet away from me with little make-up, hair up, and still beautiful. *too bad she was itty bitty and behind a huge podium/lighting was bad/no cameras... oh but lovely iphone with no flash- max saves the day!

She was such a spit-fire... really well-spoken (duh, i know!) but personable, funny, and sharp. Her major points were diversity and perseverance. I loved when she spoke about her family. Did you know that she is the 5th of 6 children, ALL Harvard graduates. (At this point, i leaned over to my Pappa and said, how come we didn't all go to Harvard? lol there's 6 kids in my family too) What i loved is when she shared the story of how her parents met. It's hard to believe that in the late 50's, it was illegal for bi-racial couples to marry. She talked about how her parents were turned away when they went out to dinner- that owners told her father he could come in but not her Black/Cuban Mother. It's hard to imagine that that wasn't that long ago.

She touched on when she first got into the business and was asked if she was willing to change "Soledad" and go by something else. Her Mother told her to refuse. For a second, I was proud of my crazy name- Micaela Lechuga. Try saying that while reporting live. :) Trust me, I may have messed up even my own name a time or two...

The thing that she wanted to leave us all with is: perseverance is not a talent. You just have to keep going.

*catch my fabulous friend ann's coverage here.