Professor Melissa Harris-Perry was an MSNBC employee with a self-titled program featuring racially-fueled topics. When MSNBC chose to begin her show with Presidential election coverage, she publicly released a strongly worded letter to her staff and fans.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - During the network's prime viewing time, MSNBC chose to open the "Melissa Harris-Perry" show (MHP) with relevant news coverage, assuming the nation was more interested in what was happening with the Iowa caucus than MHP's race-related stories.

The network's best ratings were reported to be during the daytime hours, but Harris-Perry viewed the decision as a way to silence the minority opinion.

Rather than speaking to network leaders or working within the perimeters of the rules, Harris-Perry took MSNBC's move, which continued for the next two weeks, personally.On Friday afternoon, Harris-Perry decided to sit out her show's Saturday airing. The specific reasons behind her decision were presented in an email she sent to her staff, then were made public via the Washington Post's Ellen McCarthy.

"Dearest Nerds," Harris-Perry began. "As you know by now, my name appears on the weekend schedule for MSNBC programming from South Carolina this Saturday and Sunday. I appreciate that many of you responded to this development with relief and enthusiasm.

"To know that you have missed working with me even a fraction of how much I've missed working with all of you is deeply moving. However, as of this morning, I do not have any intention of hosting this weekend."

The letter goes on to explain that Andy Lack or Phil Griffin, both of whom are members of the MSNBC leadership team, put her name on the roster in an attempt to "save face because there is a growing chorus of questions" from viewers who noticed she was no longer getting the air time she was previously allotted.

When other networks asked if the show was to be canceled, Harris-Perry wrote that she did not respond directly, but refused to "appear on air in order to quell concerns about the disappearance of our show and our voice."

She noted the show was "taken-without comment or discussion or notice-in the midst of an election season."Apparently, in Harris-Perry's eyes, an election season, which holds the fate of the country's future, is not as important as her air time. She claimed the interference from the presidential election forced minority voices to be "utterly silenced."Harris-Perry claimed that reading news concerning the election during her program stole the "distinctive" voice of MHP."I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin, or MSNBC," Harris-Perry wrote. "I love our show. I want it back. I have wept more tears than I can count and I find this deeply painful, but I don't want back on air at any cost. I am only willing to return when that return happens under certain terms."She then admitted that people who work before a camera have large egos, with herself being no exception, but the "utter insulting absurdity of the past few weeks exceeds anything I can countenance."Her rant then turned toward the fact that she holds a "PhD in political science" and taught "American voting and elections at some of the nation's top universities for nearly two decades, yet [she has] been deemed less worthy to weigh in than relative novices and certified liars."The only way she would return to continue MHP is if she were allowed to do "substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work."None of which apply to covering the presidential election, apparently.

Once it was decided she would not be returning to MSNBC, Harris-Perry Tweeted, "Farewell #Nerdland. Inviting diverse new voices to table was a privilege. Grateful for years of support & criticism," along with a picture of a television remote control resting on a folded #Nerdland T-shirt.

Neither Harris-Perry nor MSNBC have responded for further comment.

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