American broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien chatted with students as part of a Student Programming Association (SPA), University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), and Martin Luther King Jr. Commenoration Student Committee collaboration to host the award-winning anchor.

O’Brien introduced herself, her story, and the motives behind her journalistic passions. She later sat with Gary Abdullah, the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications dean for diversity and inclusion, in a familiar question-and-answer format with an opportunity for questions from the audience.

In her introduction, O’Brien discussed how writing and producing news about race was ingrained in her before she was born. O’Brien’s parents, an interracial couple, met in 1958, fell in love, and were married long before the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage.

Instead of being crushed by an overwhelming amount of hatred and lack of freedom, O’Brien’s parents remained optimistic. O’Brien’s mother would say, “We knew America was better than that,” in the face of race adversity.

This quote was somewhat of a through line during O’Brien’s lecture as a motivation for her work is to promote positive social change.

“It’s where my optimism comes from,” O’Brien said. “I think you have an opportunity to wake up every day and think, ‘What can I do to improve our world?’”

A leading example of O’Brien’s mantra is the documentary she produced: “The Rebellious Life Of Mrs. Rosa Parks.”

The documentary focuses on the unpublicized life of the iconic activist. O’Brien pushed the idea of showing the truth even if it’s “too black” or it might “scare viewers away.” Despite the standard “safe” history retellings, Parks was not a softspoken woman who engaged in quiet protests. She was a mother, a wife, and a radical activist who worked with the black panthers.

“Rosa Parks was misquoted. She wasn’t ‘tired.’ She was ‘tired of being pushed around,'” O’Brien said.

O’Brien specifically cited examples of deficit and asset framing in the media. She noted how during coverage of an extreme weather event, deficit frames of black families wading through flooded streets were labeled as “looters” in contrast to an asset frame of a white family seen doing the same thing but “gathering resources for their family.”

“We need to imbue humanity into people. It’s what’s fair,” O’Brien said.

Peppered in between entertaining work stories, O’Brien also advised students working in the media industry about its problems, what to expect, and how to prepare.

These tips ranged from making lists for planning out your life and being an amenable person who “just gets it” when you’re starting your career.

“It really is about building the plane while you’re flying it,” O’Brien said. “Whatever you do, do not quit. These jobs are hard to come by.”

Something O’Brien mentioned multiple times was the strength of producing. O’Brien explained how producers are the ones with the final say. They are the ones who choose what stories get coverage, who tells the story, and who the audience should sympathize with.

O’Brien covered a wide range of topics from how to remain unbiased when faced with difficult subjects, to how times have changed with technology in the field, and then how to get started in media as a student while fielding questions from the audience.

“Everyone had the idea of Soledad in their minds, so I reached out to some middle agents, and they said she’s amazing to work with,” fourth-year kinesiology student and SPA lecture chair Meghan Boyle said.

O’Brien is working with Hearst Television, anchoring and producing the program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.”

Before this, the critically acclaimed journalist made a name for herself through numerous projects and features in well-known companies like NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, and A&E. O’Brien also wrote multiple op-eds for “The New York Times” and “Huffington Post.”

Outside of the news world, O’Brien is a notable philanthropist and social justice activist. O’Brien’s main philanthropy is the PowHERful Foundation which she created with her husband Bradley Raymond. The Foundation aims to provide financial assistance and mentorship for female college students. On Twitter, O’Brien is extremely vocal on topics like civil rights, mass incarceration, and women’s issues.

Both O’Brien’s activism and media experience motivated SPA and the commemoration committee to host her at Penn State.

“She’s also got a lot of experience in communication and broadcasting so she’s going to be able to maybe inspire students who are in that type of field or major,” third-year public relations student and SPA public relations chair Micah Hurd said.

The final notes left for students echoed O’Brien’s 40 years worth of expertise in the field: make lists to plan your life, advocate for yourself, aim to put out the best possible work, and “it’s not your story, but how can you get to tell it?”

“There’s a great saying. The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. And it’s a little bit like that,” O’Brien said.