By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 2, 2019 — I am a huge, huge fan of Joy-Ann Reid, host of “AM JOY,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on MSNBC. She is one of the most intelligent and analytical political pundits on television and I seldom miss tuning into her show.
Of course, as a veteran Black journalist, I am extremely proud of the success that the “Sister” has achieved since graduating from Harvard University in 1991 with a concentration in film. She is also a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow.
According to her official biography, Joy-Ann Reid is also the author of the book “Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide” (William Morrow/Harper Collins 2015), co-editor of “We Are The Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama” (Bloomsbury USA), and a columnist at The Daily Beast.
“Reid was previously the host of ‘The Reid Report,’ a daily program that offered Reid’s distinctive analysis and insight on the day’s news,” her biography states. “Before that, Reid was the Managing Editor of theGrio.com, a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences. Reid joined theGrio.com with experience as a freelance columnist for the Miami Herald and as editor of the political blog The Reid Report. She is a former talk radio producer and host for Radio One, and previously served as an online news editor for the NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miramar, FL.”
Reid’s biography adds, “During the 2004 presidential campaign, Reid served as the Florida deputy communications director for the 527 ‘America Coming Together’ initiative, and was a press aide in the final stretch of President Barack Obama’s Florida campaign in 2008. Reid’s columns and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, New York magazine, The Guardian, the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Times and Salon.com.”
I decided to officially introduce followers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE to this highly accomplished “Black Sister” in the news business because of the amazing response a photo I posted on “The Original A.M. Joy Fan Page” on Facebook Tuesday morning. It was a photo of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, incoming Chairperson of U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, and her husband Sidney Williams, a former U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas, attending a New Year’s Eve Gala at the Lyford Cay Club in Nassau, Bahamas. In the photo Congresswoman Waters and Mr. Williams are pictured with Dr. Rodney Smith, President of the University of The Bahamas (UB), and his wife Dr Cristina Smith.
In less than an hour, the photo had generated more than 100 “likes” and numerous written comments. When I checked a notification I received this morning, the “likes” had skyrocketed to well over 1,000 and there were more than 70 comments, many of which expressed well-wishes and support for Congresswoman Waters as she assumes the Chairmanship of the powerful Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, January 3.
This is clearly an affirmation of support for the axiom “the power of the press,” but it is also an indication of Joy-Ann Reid’s huge fan support. Given the fact that her professional background indicates that she worked for quite a while in the Miami, which is only a half-hour or so by plane from The Bahamas, I think it is almost a certainty that Joy Ann-Reid — being the accomplished journalist that she is – has already investigated why The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism can boast that “It’s Better In The Bahamas”, one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.
If Ms. Reid has not yet visited the country of my birth, as one of her die-hard fans, I’m extending an invitation for her to do so at some point in the near future and experience why Congresswoman Maxine Waters, during an interview with a reporter from The Tribune while watching the recent Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade in Nassau, declared: “My husband (Sidney Williams) was a former ambassador to The Bahamas from the United States for four and a half years (1994-1998), supported by (former US President Bill) Clinton. And so we’ve been coming here for many years and certainly we love Junkanoo. So we try to get here every year. I think we’ve only missed two years in the last 10 or 15 years.”
Congresswoman Waters and Mr. Williams were house guests over the Christmas holidays of Sir Franklyn Wilson, Chairman of Sunshine Holdings Limited, and his wife, former President of The Bahamas Senate Lady Sharon Wilson, with whom they have been close friends since Mr. Williams’ tenure as U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas. They attended the Lyford Cay Club event as guests of the Wilsons.
