Melissa Harris-Perry

Solid Ground is thrilled to announce that Melissa Harris-Perry will present the keynote address at our May 11, 2012 Building Community Luncheon. She will speak on “Racial justice and its relationship to fighting poverty.”

Harris-Perry, a longstanding political analyst and contributor to MSNBC, is a frequent guest of PoliticsNation with Rev. Al Sharpton, and also serves as occasional host of The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word. Beginning mid-February she will host her own show (as yet unnamed) on MSNBC on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am – 12noon.

Harris-Perry “take(s) on the most-challenging issues of the day with the kind of sophisticated sass and vigor that is often lacking on mainstream television,” according to NewsOne for Black America.

An award-winning author and columnist for The Nation, Harris-Perry is also a professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race and Politics in the South.

Her latest book is called SISTER CITIZEN: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America – For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Politics When Being Strong Isn’t Enough.

Luncheon guests will be treated to Harris-Perry’s warmth, intelligent humor and sharp analysis. For a preview, check out this clip from her January 9, 2012 appearance on The Colbert Report.

Luncheon sponsors and table hosts will be invited to a special Q&A session with Harris-Perry following the event. For more information on sponsoring or hosting a table, contact Megan Locatelli at 206.694.6862 or meganl@solid-ground.org.