A Brief Shining Moment on Television

The Melissa Harris Perry Show, nicknamed Nerdland, is no more.


I think I started watching the show within a few months of its debut in February 2012. By the time I was making calls against Minnesota's voter suppression referendum that fall, I had been watching it for a while. I remember discussing Harris-Perry with one of the people I called. The show had a recurring segment called "This Week in Voter Suppression."

I learned so much from the show and found out about dozens of activists and thinkers I wouldn't have without it. I hope the video archive on MSNBC's website will remain, but I'm doubtful.

At some point, the Right turned its malevolent attention toward Harris-Perry. I first heard about it after the network promo spots where she basically said, it takes a village to raise a child. They found that outrageous. Then there was the photo of the Romney family with its adopted black grandchild. Lately they seem to be bent out of shape because she pointed out that enslaved people worked hard. Outrageous again. (Meanwhile, Donald Trump gets a pass for retweeting white supremacists, and is lauded for calling Mexicans rapists, and more.)

Journalist and journalism professor Stacey Patton wrote this on Facebook about the show's end and commented separately, "Quite frankly, sometimes a woman has to burn a bridge and use the fire to light a new path."

I will watch for what MHP does next to maintain her connection with all of us outside the academy,

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Past posts inspired by Melissa Harris-Perry and her guests:

Breeding Money

Structured Settlements Are Structured for a Reason

Constructing Criminality and Racing to Incarcerate

Now Here's an Example of White Privilege

Immigration Detention: An Invisible Assault

After the Deluge of the Election