Born in Brooklyn to a Guyanese mother and Congolese father, Joy Reid, who made a splash covering politics for the Miami Herald before serving as managing editor of TheGrio.com, is one of MSNBC’s latest “greatest hires.” The Reid Report, named for Reid’s popular blog, highlights current hot button issues and exposes what people should be talking about next.
What was your first big break?
I actually had a series of “big breaks” [but] the first time I realized I could make it as an opinion writer was when I sold my first piece to Salon.com in 2000. The editor was Joan Walsh, who’s now my colleague as an MSNBC contributor.
When did you first appear on MSNBC?
The first show I went on was Weekends with Alex Witt and after that I was in the regular guest rotation for Chris Jansing’s show, Jansing & Co. The rest, as they say, is history.
At The Reid Report, what is your mission?
To deliver smart, compelling television covering the news of the day, politics, policy and culture, hopefully in an entertaining, engaging way. And I want to get people to focus on voting— especially in midterm elections—and valuing their vote.
Being a mother, wife and career woman, would you say you’re ‘leaning in’ or are you ‘striving to thrive’?
Striving to thrive, definitely.
With so much already going on, what’s next on the horizon?
My book! It’s called Fracture and will deal with race, history, the Democratic Party and the threads that link LBJ to Barack Obama and the Clintons. It comes out January 2015, just in time to kick off the 2016 election season.
Photo credit: Keith Major