Soledad O'Brien,

Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien was born on this date in 1966. She is an Afro-Cuban-American journalist.

She was born on Long Island, NY, to a Black Cuban mother and an Irish-Australian father. Her baptismal name was Маriа de la Soledad O’Brien. O'Brien attended Harvard from 1984 to 1988, but did not obtain a degree until she returned in 2000. She worked at two local television stations, WBZ-TV in Boston, MA, and KRON in San Francisco, before joining NBC News as a producer in 1991. She was one of the first faces of the MSNBC cable news network, hosting The Site, one of the first news programs dedicated to computers and the internet.

She began her career as an associate producer and news writer at the then-NBC affiliate, WBZ-TV in Boston. Starting in 1999, she hosted a weekend news program on NBC, Weekend Today. O'Brien's work has been honored several times, including receivng a local Emmy for her work as a co-host on Discovery Channel's The Know Zone. She has been named to People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful" in 2001 and People en Espanol’s 50 most beautiful in 2004.

O'Brien also was included in Crain's Business Reports' "40 under 40" and Essence Magazine’s "40 under 40," both in 2004. O'Brien was named to Irish American Magazine's "Top 100 Irish Americans" on two occasions.

She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. O'Brien also serves on the board of directors for The Harlem School for the Arts.

She joined CNN in 2003 and returned to her post as co-host of CNN's flagship morning show, American Morning. The veteran journalist, who has attracted new viewers since joining the network last year, brings experience from NBC's Today Show, NBC's Nightly News, MSNBC's The Site, and the Discovery Channel's The Know Zone, for which she received a local Emmy Award.

O'Brien says that she checks three boxes on the U.S. Census form: African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian. "I define myself as multiracial," she says. "Definitions are important to other people. They make no difference to my life."

She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and is on the board of directors of the Harlem School for the Arts. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Brad Raymond, and their daughters, Sofia and Cecelia, and twin boys, Charlie Raymond and Jackson Raymond.

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