# Melissa Harris-Perry
**Melissa Harris-Perry** (born 1973 in Seattle, Washington) is an American political scientist, author, and broadcast journalist who hosted the weekend MSNBC talk show *Melissa Harris-Perry* from 2012 to 2016 and holds the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at [Wake Forest University](https://www.edgepedia.org/wake-forest-university)[1](https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/melissa-harris-perry) • [2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/). Her work combines scholarship on race, gender, and American politics with a media career spanning cable television, public radio, and podcasting[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973, Seattle, Washington[1](https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/melissa-harris-perry) |
| Education | B.A. in English, Wake Forest University; Ph.D. in political science, Duke University, 1999[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/) |
| Signature show | *Melissa Harris-Perry*, weekend mornings on MSNBC, February 2012 to February 2016[3](https://hillmanfoundation.org/node/3139) |
| Award | 2016 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism[3](https://hillmanfoundation.org/node/3139) |
| Books | *Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought* (2006) and *Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America* (Yale University Press, 2011)[4](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165548/sister-citizen/) |
| Current post | Maya Angelou Presidential Chair, Wake Forest University; founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/) |
| Radio | Host and Managing Editor of WNYC's *The Takeaway*, named October 2021[5](https://www.kosu.org/people/melissa-harris-perry) |
## Education and academic career
Harris-Perry enrolled at Wake Forest University in [Winston-Salem, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/winston-salem-north-carolina), at age 16 in 1990 and graduated in 1994 with a degree in English and a political science minor[6](https://magazine.wfu.edu/2014/09/18/from-cable-to-classroom-melissa-harris-perry-94-returns-to-her-alma-mater/). She earned a Ph.D. in political science from [Duke University](https://www.edgepedia.org/duke-university) in 1999 and also studied theology at [Union Theological Seminary](https://www.edgepedia.org/union-theological-seminary) in New York[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/).
Her academic appointments ran through the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and [Tulane University](https://www.edgepedia.org/tulane-university), where she was a tenured professor of political science in New Orleans from 2011[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/) • [7](https://www.newswise.com/articles/msnbc-host-melissa-harris-perry-to-join-wake-forest-university-faculty). In 2014 she returned to her alma mater as a Presidential Chair, an endowed position, later named the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair; she teaches in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Program in [Environment](https://www.edgepedia.org/environment) and [Sustainability](https://www.edgepedia.org/sustainability)[7](https://www.newswise.com/articles/msnbc-host-melissa-harris-perry-to-join-wake-forest-university-faculty) • [2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/).
## Scholarship
Her first book, *Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought* (2006), examined how Black Americans generate political knowledge in everyday community spaces, and won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award[4](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165548/sister-citizen/). Her second, *Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America* ([Yale University Press](https://www.edgepedia.org/yale-university-press), 2011), used literary analysis, political theory, focus groups, surveys, and experimental research to study how African American women respond to pervasive negative race and gender images; it was a finalist for the 43rd [NAACP Image Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/naacp-image-awards) in the Nonfiction Literature category[4](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165548/sister-citizen/).
At Wake Forest she founded and directs the Anna Julia Cooper Center, an independent organization that advances justice through intersectional scholarship and action[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/).
## The MSNBC show
Harris-Perry began appearing on national television around 2004 as a commentator on PBS and CNN, joined MSNBC as a guest in 2006, and became a regular contributor and substitute host for [Rachel Maddow](https://www.edgepedia.org/rachel-maddow) and [Lawrence O'Donnell](https://www.edgepedia.org/lawrence-odonnell) in 2010[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/melissa-harris-perry-give-new-face-to-cable-news/2012/02/22/gIQAg0nbWR_story.html). In February 2012 the network debuted her two-hour weekend morning show, which she nicknamed "Nerdland" for its audience[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/melissa-harris-perry-give-new-face-to-cable-news/2012/02/22/gIQAg0nbWR_story.html) • [9](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/melissa-harris-perry/umc.cpc.5ha5hq71rejtzfbmeub8pz8ny?l=es).
The show mixed political analysis with cultural criticism, covering mass incarceration, the racialized politics of climate change, and pop culture alongside electoral politics[10](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/why-melissa-harris-perry-msnbc-show-mattered). Its guest roster set it apart from other weekend news programs: a 2014 Media Matters study found that only a quarter of its guests were white men, a proportion the Guardian described as much more reflective of actual US demographics[10](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/why-melissa-harris-perry-msnbc-show-mattered). Frequent guests included New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb and [Black Lives Matter](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-lives-matter) activist [DeRay Mckesson](https://www.edgepedia.org/deray-mckesson), who appeared infrequently elsewhere on cable news[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/is-msnbcsowhite-the-departure-of-melissa-harris-perry-raises-the-issue/2016/02/29/8bc69096-df06-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html). The show chronicled the nascent Black Lives Matter movement and fostered national discussion of racist policing, and it won the 2016 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism[3](https://hillmanfoundation.org/node/3139).
## Departure from MSNBC
In early 2016, as MSNBC shifted from liberal talk programming toward breaking-news and campaign coverage, Harris-Perry's show was repeatedly preempted; on [Super Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl) weekend its branding was replaced with the network's generic "Place for Politics" title[12](https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/27/media/melissa-harris-perry-msnbc/). On February 26, 2016 she emailed her staff that the show had been "taken" without comment or discussion, writing, "I am not a token, mammy or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by [NBC executives] or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back," and she refused to host that Saturday[13](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-will-cut-ties-with-show-host-who-wrote-critical-email-to-colleagues/2016/02/27/bce30c8e-dd82-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html). MSNBC severed ties with her that weekend; executives said there had been no plan to cancel the show and disputed her account, while her departure prompted the hashtag #MSNBCSoWhite and renewed criticism of the network's treatment of nonwhite personalities[13](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-will-cut-ties-with-show-host-who-wrote-critical-email-to-colleagues/2016/02/27/bce30c8e-dd82-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html) • [11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/is-msnbcsowhite-the-departure-of-melissa-harris-perry-raises-the-issue/2016/02/29/8bc69096-df06-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html). In a follow-up interview with the New York Times she softened the racial framing, saying she did not know whether there was a personal racial component[13](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-will-cut-ties-with-show-host-who-wrote-critical-email-to-colleagues/2016/02/27/bce30c8e-dd82-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html).
## Later media work
After leaving MSNBC, Harris-Perry served as editor-at-large for Elle.com and for ZORA, a Medium publication for women of color, and continued as a contributing editor at [The Nation](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-nation)[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/). In 2016 she launched a mentorship program pairing five Wake Forest undergraduates with professional journalists to produce content on issues affecting women and girls of color[14](https://time.com/4594213/melissa-harris-perry-elle-mentorship/). With Dorian Warren she co-created and co-hosts the *System Check* podcast for The Nation[2](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/). In October 2021 she was named Host and Managing Editor of *The Takeaway*, WNYC Studios' nationally syndicated public radio news program, after serving as interim host from July of that year[5](https://www.kosu.org/people/melissa-harris-perry) • [15](https://media.wnyc.org/media/resources/2021/Dec/13/FY22_Fall_Impact_Report.pdf).
## Personal life
Born Melissa Victoria Harris, she published as Melissa Harris-Lacewell before changing her name in 2010 following her second marriage, to New Orleans housing activist and politician James Perry[9](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/melissa-harris-perry/umc.cpc.5ha5hq71rejtzfbmeub8pz8ny?l=es). She has described leaving MSNBC as one of the consequential decisions of her career, alongside leaving an abusive first marriage[16](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/liberating-power-no/620612/).
## References
1. [Melissa Harris-Perry's Biography, The HistoryMakers](https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/melissa-harris-perry)
2. [Melissa Harris-Perry, Department of Politics & International Affairs, Wake Forest University](https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/melissa-harris-perry/)
3. [2016 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism, Hillman Foundation](https://hillmanfoundation.org/node/3139)
4. [Sister Citizen, Yale University Press](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165548/sister-citizen/)
5. [Melissa Harris-Perry, KOSU](https://www.kosu.org/people/melissa-harris-perry)
6. [From cable to classroom: Melissa Harris-Perry ('94) returns to her alma mater, Wake Forest Magazine](https://magazine.wfu.edu/2014/09/18/from-cable-to-classroom-melissa-harris-perry-94-returns-to-her-alma-mater/)
7. [MSNBC Host Melissa Harris-Perry to Join Wake Forest University Faculty, Newswise](https://www.newswise.com/articles/msnbc-host-melissa-harris-perry-to-join-wake-forest-university-faculty)
8. [Melissa Harris-Perry give new face to cable news, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/melissa-harris-perry-give-new-face-to-cable-news/2012/02/22/gIQAg0nbWR_story.html)
9. [Melissa Harris-Perry, Apple TV biography](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/melissa-harris-perry/umc.cpc.5ha5hq71rejtzfbmeub8pz8ny?l=es)
10. ['She gave me space to be unapologetically black': why Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC show mattered, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/why-melissa-harris-perry-msnbc-show-mattered)
11. [Is #MSNBCSoWhite? The departure of Melissa Harris-Perry raises the issue, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/is-msnbcsowhite-the-departure-of-melissa-harris-perry-raises-the-issue/2016/02/29/8bc69096-df06-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html)
12. [Melissa Harris-Perry 'highly unlikely' to return to MSNBC, CNNMoney](https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/27/media/melissa-harris-perry-msnbc/)
13. [MSNBC severs ties with Melissa Harris-Perry after host's critical email, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-will-cut-ties-with-show-host-who-wrote-critical-email-to-colleagues/2016/02/27/bce30c8e-dd82-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html)
14. [Melissa Harris-Perry Launches Mentorship Program For Female Journalists, TIME](https://time.com/4594213/melissa-harris-perry-elle-mentorship/)
15. [WNYC FY22 Fall Impact Report](https://media.wnyc.org/media/resources/2021/Dec/13/FY22_Fall_Impact_Report.pdf)
16. [How About Never?, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/liberating-power-no/620612/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Broadcast journalists and news presenters › American broadcast journalists and news presenters › MSNBC journalists and anchors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license