Mary C. Curtis talks 'She the People'

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Mary C. Curtis talks 'She the People'

By Carlton Hargro – January 4, 2012

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Charlotte-based writer/TV personality Mary C. Curtis.

Unlike New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and a handful of other cities, Charlotte isn’t exactly known for being one of the nation’s powerful media hubs. So, it’s definitely newsworthy when a Q.C.-based journalist like Mary C. Curtis lands a regular role with a major outlet with an international reach like the Washington Post.

This week, Curtis — a former columnist with The Charlotte Observer and a current contributor to Fox News Rising and Creative Loafing (as well as us Qcitymetro), among others — started writing for the new nationally focused, women-centric Post blog She the People.

Her work will reportedly appear several times per week on the new blog, which focuses primarily on politics, and will undoubtedly help to raise her profile — as well as thrust our region further into the national spotlight. We recently chatted with Curtis and she gave us the lowdown about her new role and the blog itself.

Qcitymetro: What’s the concept behind She the People?

Mary C. Curtis: Well, it’s a very simple message. It’s called “She the People — the world as women see it.” And it’s a forum on politics, culture and news and whatever’s out there. It’s the stories between the lines; to take the headlines and give special perspective from some of the top women writers around the country … (but we do have someone from England, too). I’m out of Charlotte, but we have writers from Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and more. Most of them are based in the Washington area, but [the goal is] to get different perspectives … and also get at parts of issues that maybe the traditional political and cultural reporters [wouldn’t] write on. It specifically appealed to me because I like to write about politics, about culture, about social issues and about ideas — and this encompasses all of those things.

How did you get connected with the blog?

The editor of She the People is Melinda Henneberger … who writes about politics for the Washington Post. And she founded PoliticsDaily, which was a site by America Online that was up for a couple of years. I actually used to work with Melinda briefly at The New York Times … we didn’t really know each other then, but she knew my work. So when PoliticsDaily started, she asked me to contribute … [as a national correspondent] but particularly for the Southeast … It was a great experience working with Melinda. So, when she started [She the People] at the Washington Post, she said, “I want you to be a part of this.”

What kinds of topics will you be writing about for the blog?

The initial post for the launch [on Monday] was a roundup where Melinda asked all of [the writers] what our predictions were for the Iowa Caucus … Also, I wrote about Jim Sensenbrenner, the Republican congressman from Wisconsin, his comments on Michelle Obama’s “large posterior” and how she shouldn’t be talking about healthy eating. And I felt that [it objectified] the first lady in ways that are just unacceptable, and also in ways that, sadly, recall how African American women … have not been respected … That’s a comment that was made, but I felt it disappeared from the headlines very quickly and it needed to be talked about — a political issue with a social context. I won’t primarily be writing about things from an African American point of view, but at the same time, I am an African American woman, so I may see things in a way that may be different … So, that’s the kind of thing I will write about.

Where does a blog like this fit in the national conversation?

Well, so much political coverage is so similar … It is a horserace mentality, where you’re talking less about the issues than who’s on top, who’s surging and who’s dropping … I think that everyday concerns of people are more about living your life, raising kids, earning a living, what you do for fun on a budget … [She the People] definitely will add to the political conversation, when you want to get beyond the results of last night’s polls. It’s really exciting!