There wasn’t an empty seat in the house as NAMIC members and conference participants alike sat to network and celebrate NAMIC’s Diversity 2.0 and Anderson Cooper’s Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement award.
Before he went to the stage to receive his award we heard of how “Anderson Cooper refused to let America look the other way.” He was thanked “for being more than an impartial observer” and as Andrew Heller, Turner, President and Honorary Co-chair said, “He covers the stories no one else wants to cover.” And “I can’t think of a more fitting award for him to win.”
It was inspiring to see the on-camera journalist be so humble in his speech as he spoke of going to Africa more than 20 times. His intro video showed a passionate Anderson sternly speaking directly into the camera when he speaks of the Tsunami and the images aired on CNN in the days after the disaster. He says, “We’ve received your emails that the images on the Tsunami are too graphic but look at them we should or it will be like they never existed.”
As he stood at the podium, I just thought to myself, humanitarian is the right word to describe him even as he says “words and pictures are all I have to offer.”
I beg to differ and am sure Mickey Leland would have agreed.
Once again, NAMIC has shown me that they have it right and they did in choosing Anderson Cooper for the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement award.
-Jean-Michelle Lopez, MTV Networks
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