With the news that MSNBC has cancelled Joy Reid’s prime time show, my Twitter feed filled up with the laments of the left over that, and the inevitable complaints that she was fired because of raaaaacism the network hates black women. Former Representative Jamaal Brown (D-NY) tweeted:
Joy Reid educated a nation every single night. She is a beacon on MSNBC and all of media! Shame on MSNBC for this. SHAME SHAME SHAME! We have to build our own multimedia empire. Anchored in truth, and justice and humanity. We stand up for Black people, and GAZA and the LGBTQ, and oppressed people and vulnerable people everywhere! And we will never stop!
I absolutely support the right of Dr Brown — he tells us that he’s an “Ed.D.” in his Twitter handle — to build his own multimedia empire! We have freedom of speech and of the press in this country, and anyone can say anything he wishes, can start and try to build a show, at network, a publishing empire, whatever.
Elie Mystal, whom Dr Brown included in his tweet, is the “Justice Correspondent and Columnist” for The Nation, the socialist-left opinion journal, so he had plenty of space to express his opinion.
The Value of Joy
By canceling Joy Reid’s cable news show, MSNBC has not only silenced a brilliant host: It’s silenced the next Black voice you haven’t yet heard.