Don Lemon
, CNN Newsroom Anchor
Don Lemon anchors CNN Newsroom during weekend prime-time and serves as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming. Based in the network’s New York bureau, Lemon joined CNN in September 2006.
A news veteran of Chicago, Lemon reported from Chicago in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, including an interview with then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel on the day he accepted the position of Chief of Staff for President-elect Barack Obama. He also interviewed Anne Cooper, the 106-year old voter President-elect Obama highlighted in his election night acceptance speech after he had seen Lemon’s interview with Cooper on CNN.
Lemon has reported and anchored on-the-scene for CNN from many breaking news stories, including the George Zimmerman trial (2013), the Boston marathon bombing (2013), the Philadelphia building collapse (2013), the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), the Colorado Theater Shooting (2012), the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson (2009), Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana (2008) and the Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007).
Lemon has also anchored the network's breaking news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and Joplin tornado. Lemon reported for CNN’s documentary Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King, which aired 20 years to the day of the beating. He is also known for holding politicians and public officials accountable in his "No Talking Points" segment.
Lemon joined CNN after serving as a co-anchor for the 5 p.m. newscast for NBC5 News in Chicago. He joined the station in August 2003 as an anchor and reporter after working in New York as a correspondent for NBC News, The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. In addition to his reporting in New York, Lemon worked as an anchor on Weekend Today and on MSNBC. While at NBC, Lemon covered the explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia, SARS in Canada and numerous other stories of national and global importance.
In addition to NBC5 and NBC News, Lemon has served as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for WCAU-TV, an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, an anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI-TV in St. Louis and an anchor for WBRC-TV in Birmingham. He began his career at WNYW in New York City as a news assistant while still in college.
In 2009, Ebony named him as one of the Ebony Power 150: the most influential Blacks in America. He has won an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C. snipers. He won an Emmy for a special report on real estate in Chicagoland and various other awards for his reporting on the AIDS epidemic in Africa and Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, he won three more local Emmys for his reporting in Africa and a business feature about Craigslist, an online community.
Lemon serves as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College, teaching and participating in curriculum designed around new media. He earned a degree in broadcast journalism from Brooklyn College and also attended Louisiana State University.
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Bond, James Bond.
Who is he?
He’s a fictional British Secret Service agent created by writer Ian Fleming in the 1950’s; a blend of a number of different people Fleming met as a Naval Intelligence officer during World War II.
What is he?
He’s white because Fleming says he based the character off of his brother and several other British military and Intelligence types.
His name is American though.
The real James Bond was a famous American ornithologist, an expert in birds of the Caribbean.
But what he’s not is black, according to Anthony Horowitz the latest and seventh writer to write an original James Bond novel.
Horowitz was responding to a groundswell that it’s time for the popular fictional character to evolve with the times and that black and British actor Idris Elba should him.
In an interview in The Daily Mail Horowitz said Elba is too “street” to play Bond.
Well, the internet exploded with the #TooStreet became the leading meme.
Most people weighed in by saying Horowitz should just admit that he wanted Bond to remain white.
There’s even a betting war going on in the UK about who will play the next James Bond when Daniel Craig is done.
While BoyleSports says actor Tom Hardy of Batman and Mad Max fame is the odds on favorite at 4/1, Elba is a close second at 3/1.
After the uproar over his comments Horowitz took to twitter to apologize writing, “I’m really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offence. That wasn’t my intention. I was asked in my interview if Idris Elba would make a good James Bond. In the article I expressed the opinion that to my mind Adrian Lester would be a better choice but I’m a writer not a casting director so what do I know? Clumsily, I chose the word ‘street’ as Elba’s gritty portrayal of DCI John Luther was in my mind but I admit it was a poor choice of word. I am mortified to have caused offence.
Elba finally responded yesterday by tweeting, “Always Keep Smiling!! It takes no energy and never hurts! Learned that from the Street!! #septemberstillloveyou.
Elba has said he’d be open to playing Bond.
At least one former Bond, Pierce Brosnan says it’s time for a bit more diversity in the role.
But, is the writer right?
Was he being racist or was he taken out of context?
After all, his original quote was this, “Idris Elba is a terrific actor, but I can think of other black actors who would do it better.’
He went on to name Adrian Lester who starred in Hustle and then said, “For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too “street” for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-3212827/James-Bond-new-book-Trigger-Mortis-written-Anthony-Horowitz-wanted-life.html#ixzz3ke8ibJZ4
We must keep in mind though that becoming a character is what all good actors do, no matter their gender or ethnicity.
And Idris Elba is a very accomplished actor.
Just like Meryl Streep who is not even British could morph into Margaret Thatcher, perhaps Idris Elba could do the same when it comes to Bond.
It’s called acting.
