Anderson Cooper came to Phoenix on Saturday, April 24th,
at the invitation of Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. The afternoon was billed as a discussion on
diversity, which is a very timely and important topic for all of us, especially
those in the African American community who made up a large part of the
audience.
The event was held at the Pilgrim Rest Baptist
Church in downtown Phoenix. This is no
ordinary church, its outreach broadcasts are watched by thousands of people
each Sunday and the sanctuary seats 2,500 worshipers. But as impressive as that is the choir is the
crowning jewel of this ministry, in my opinion.
They shared their talents with the audience on Saturday, singing ‘We
Shall Overcome’ along with several other selections before Anderson spoke,
getting the event off to a rousing and inspiring start. The audience for Cooper’s appearance included
church members, college students, members of the community, elected officials
and the ever devoted AC fans. The common denominator among attendees was
community improvement and understanding why police violence toward men in the
AA community repeats in every news cycle these days. On this subject Anderson said he thinks that
this violence is nothing new (a fact to which many in the audience could
attest) but we hear more about it now because cameras are everywhere. He praised the young man in South Carolina who
was brave enough to keep his cell camera rolling as Walter Scott was murdered
by police. He also talked of how he
spent time with Scott’s mother and family, privately with cameras off, as they
prayed and grieved for their lost loved one. He marveled at their strength and
grace.
Several local notables, including Phoenix's mayor Greg
Stanton, made opening remarks. Mayor
Stanton mentioned that he had briefly switched to MSNBC but was back to
watching CNN. Later AC's remarks
included his memorable line about why would anyone want to be a blown dry
anchor or a politician….why be a fake person when you can be a real person? And
then without missing a beat he apologized to the Mayor but said he had it
coming for the MSNBC remark.
Anderson went on to
mention a few more of his stock talking points, fake press pass, wear vertical
stripes, his time roaming Africa, losing his father at a young age and then his
brother’s suicide. He also laughed at
his useless focus at Yale on Communism (the Berlin Wall fell right before his
senior year) and other stories most ATA readers are familiar with. He limited
himself to this brief introduction before turning the program over to Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker, the director of CSRD at ASU who
led a discussion with Anderson that was interspersed with questions from
audience members. There were no personal
questions, I should note, everything stayed on topic focusing on civil rights,
diversity and democracy.
One question of note was a Native American student from ASU
who asked Anderson’s opinion on the situation with Native Americans in our
country. AC admitted he was not familiar
with this issue and realized he needed to learn more so he would educate
himself starting on Monday. Since AC couldn't answer her question she got a
follow up and asked his opinion on the controversy over using Native American
objects and nicknames for team mascots, i.e. Redskins, Braves, etc. AC
talked around the question for a while and then personalized it by saying he wouldn't
like it if a team were named the New York Fairies. It brought a laugh but
he expounded upon it and related prejudice against gays to other minorities’
struggles. Anderson said that he knows many effeminate gays and the great
hardships they are subjected to. From being ostracized, beaten up, mocked
and worse their lives aren't easy. He went on to say he was lucky because
he could 'pass' (meaning it's not as obvious he is gay). He said society
perceives effeminate gays as weak but they are some of the strongest people he
knows because of what they've endured. It was a very touching moment and
a viewpoint that you don't often hear.
Anderson also touched a bit on his program and CNN’s current
focus on certain stories. He said that
news is driven by what viewers want to see and they don’t typically give high
ratings to stories happening outside of the US (excluding disasters or war) or
good news stories. He also said he doesn’t believe that the world is less safe
than it was when he was a child, citing statistics that backup his statement. He said we just know more these days because
of social media and the never ending news cycle. He went on to mention Nepal and the
earthquake as an example. He said he had
already heard from CNN 2012 Hero Pushpa Basnet that she and the children of her
orphanage in Nepal were safe but homeless.
That’s the power of communication in our world today, someone on the
other side of the Earth can reach out after a devastating disaster to a friend
just to say they are alive.2Anderson also gave high
marks to his employer on their diversity.
He said,“CNN has
major initiatives to make newsrooms diverse, this doesn't just have to be race,
but with gender, sexuality, politics and geography. Diversity is incredibly
important.”
Here’s
a short clip of Anderson answering ASU Cronkite student Stephanie Guzman’s question:
A few more brief notes of things that caught my attention:
Anderson mentioned he did not have kids and then a pause and
added …….yet.
An ASU professor shared that when he told him mother that AC
was the keynote speaker this year she said ‘my baby Anderson?’. The professor feigned jealousy and told us
that he thought he was the only person on this Earth that his mother called
baby. He also referred to Anderson as a
brother from another mother a few times, which seemed to please Mr. Cooper.
At the beginning of the program it was mentioned that
Saturday was the Nerd Prom (White House correspondents dinner) in Washington,
DC. The speaker said we were lucky that
Anderson choose to come to Phoenix instead of going to be with the POTUS. I had to chuckle because AC hasn’t gone to
the Nerd Prom since the early 2000’s when Paula Zhan forced him to dance with
her.
Another funny moment came when a
young lady who seemed to be crushing on this newsman particularly hard (admit
it we’ve all been there) asked a question from her balcony seat. She was a cute as could be, tossing her hair
and smiling sweetly while he talked. For
the life of me I can’t remember her question, just that flirty way she asked
it.
Anderson talked at length about Gordon Parks and the
influences he had on AC’s life. He
mentioned Parks friendship with both his parents and implied that there was a
very close bond with Parks and Anderson’s mother after the death of Wyatt. He
educated the audience a bit on who Gordon was and the many strides he made for
all African Americans including being the first Black Life Magazine
photographer, the first Black director in Hollywood (Shaft) and other notable
mentions.
So
there you have my impressions of Anderson’s appearance in Phoenix, Arizona. I started this blog almost 10 years ago and
while I’m not actively posting anymore I still tune in to 360 most evenings. In all those years our readers have had one up
on me, most of them have heard AC speak in person. From book signings, field reporting, commencement
speeches and the like you email ATA with your impressions and your photos. It’s nice to finally be able to say I’ve had
the pleasure too. Thank you for coming
to Phoenix Mr. Cooper. ~ Phebe
Twitter
blew up with pictures of Anderson at this event. If you’re interested in seeing more try searching
the hashtags #Democracy15 @CSRDatASU.
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