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Melissa Harris-Perry

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This article is about the professor, author and TV host. For her eponymous show, see Melissa Harris-Perry (TV series).
Melissa Harris-Perry
Born
Melissa Victoria Harris

(1973-10-02) October 2, 1973 (age 51)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
EducationWake Forest University (B.A.)
Duke University (Ph.D.)
Occupation(s)Professor, author
Spouse(s)Dennis Lacewell (1999–2005)
James Perry (2010–present)
Children2 daughters: Parker b. 2002, baby girl born February 14, 2014[1]
Parent(s)William M. Harris Sr.
Diana Gray
Websitemelissaharrisperry.com

Melissa Victoria Harris-Perry (born October 2, 1973; formerly known as Melissa Victoria Harris-Lacewell) is an American writer, professor, television host, and political commentator with a focus on African-American politics. Harris-Perry hosts the Melissa Harris-Perry weekend news and opinion television show on MSNBC. She is also a regular fill-in host on The Rachel Maddow Show as well as a professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is the founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. Prior to this, she taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago. She is also a regular columnist for the magazine The Nation, and the author of Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.

Early life

Harris-Perry was born in Seattle but grew up in Chesterfield County, Virginia, one of the counties adjoining the independent city of Richmond, Virginia attending Thomas Dale High School. Her father was the first dean of African-American Affairs at the University of Virginia.[2] Her mother, Diana Gray, taught at a community college and was working on her doctorate when they met. She went on to work for nonprofit organizations that provided such services as day-care centers, health care for people in rural communities and access to reproductive care for poor women.[3]

Harris-Perry graduated from Wake Forest University with a bachelor's degree in English and received a PhD in political science from Duke University. She also received an honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School and studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York.[4][5]

Career

Harris-Perry was associate professor at the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University and left in 2011 after being denied a full professorship because of “questions about her work and an assessment of where she is” in her career, according to the Center's director at the time, Eddie S. Glaude Jr.[6] Currently she is Professor of Political Science at Tulane University. MSNBC announced on January 5, 2012 that Harris-Perry would host her own weekend show, which began airing on February 18, 2012.[7]

Harris-Perry has been both lauded and criticized by numerous political commentators for statements she has made on her program—including those related to collective parenting, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and abortion.[8][9][10]

Harris-Perry apologized for a "photos of the year" segment that aired on her program on December 28, 2013. Harris-Perry and a panel of comedians had made several jokes about a family picture featuring former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's family, including his adopted black grandson.[11][12][13]

Bibliography

  • Harris-Lacewell, Melissa Victoria (2004). Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought (First ed.). Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11405-7.
  • Harris-Perry, Melissa V. (2011). Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16541-8.

References

  1. ^ {cite news | url = http://newsone.com/2891598/melissa-harris-perry-welcomes-daughter-on-valentines-day/ | title = Congratulations! Melissa Harris-Perry Welcomes Daughter On Valentine’s Day | work = News One | date = February 15, 2014 | accessdate = February 15, 20114}
  2. ^ Williams, Michael Paul (February 6, 2011). "Chesterfield native, now MSNBC commentator, speaking at VCU". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  3. ^ Pope, John (October 2, 2011). "New Orleans transplant has a life rich in politics, pedagogy". The Times-Picayune.
  4. ^ "About Melissa Harris-Perry". MelissaHarrisPerry.com. 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  5. ^ Levin, Anne (October 10, 2007). "From House to Home". U.S. 1 Newspaper. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  6. ^ Plump, Wendy (February 12, 2012). "Princeton Center for African American Studies loses two high-profile figures, but gains renewed sense of purpose". The Times of Trenton. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  7. ^ Tommy Christopher (2012-01-05). "Melissa Harris-Perry To Host MSNBC Weekend Show Starting In February". Mediaite. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  8. ^ Freedlander, David (11 April 2013). "Melissa Harris-Perry and the Firestorm Over 'Collective' Parenting". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  9. ^ Poor, Jeff (26 May 2013). "MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry likens Guantanamo detainees to American slaves". The Daily Caller. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  10. ^ McMurry, Evan (21 July 2013). "MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry Dons Tampon Earrings To Protest Texas Abortion Bill". Mediaite. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  11. ^ Peter Grier (2013-12-31). "Melissa Harris-Perry Apologizes for Romney Grandchild Jokes". CS Monitor. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  12. ^ LoGiurato, =Brett (2014-01-02). "Here's Melissa Harris-Perry's Tearful Apology For The Controversial Segment On The Romneys' Black Grandchild". San Francisco, CA: SFGate. Retrieved 2014-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  13. ^ Melissa Harris-Perry (2013-12-31). "An apology from Melissa Harris-Perry". MSNBC. Retrieved 2014-01-06.

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