The giving Back Awards: 15 People Who Make America Great
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—Catharine Skipp and Arian Campo-Flores
8 - The Professional
Soledad O'Brien
CNN
In a drowning city, who spoke out for those in despair? She did.
Soledad O'Brien's daughter, Sophia, was nervous. As O'Brien, the anchor of CNN's "American Morning," packed her "go bag" for New Orleans where she would cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 4-year-old Sophia, who'd been watching coverage of the storm for several days, feared her mom was putting herself in danger. "They don't have any water down there," Sophia protested. "CNN has water," O'Brien assured her. "What if you meet someone who doesn't have any water?" Sophia wanted to know. "Well," said her mother, "then you share."
Simple, human kindness--the kind you can teach a child--was embarrassingly absent in the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. As the country watched in horror as state and federal officials did little to help the stranded multitudes, television anchors, who so often act as though they're not of this world, for once understood the outrage. As the days wore on and the city continued to flounder, they articulated our astonishment at the vast incompetence we all witnessed.
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