Kim Haas
Kim Haas | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Kim Haas is an American journalist. She is the producer and host of the PBS series Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haas.
Biography
[edit]Haas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rose and Spencer Lewis. She grew up in the West Mount Airy neighborhood and attended Philadelphia High School for Girls.[1] After graduating in 1986, she attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in Spanish and graduated in 1990.[2] In 1996, Haas earned a master's degree in bilingual and bicultural studies from La Salle University.[3]
Haas worked in the media for over 20 years for outlets including Telemundo,[4] where she was marketing director for the Philadelphia station WWSI-TV,[1] and as a pledge host for WYBE-TV.[2]
In 2020, Haas created a series on PBS stations called Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haas, with a grant from the Ford Foundation.[1] Inspired by a visit to Acapulco, Mexico with her grandmother as a child[4] and her time studying abroad in Seville, Spain during college, the show featured Black people's contributions to Spanish-speaking countries, out of her wish to see more Afro-Latino representation on television.[5] While Haas had initially pitched the show around 2009 to public television in Miami, it took several years for her to get funding[2] and for tourism boards to sign on.[6] Another inspiration Haas cited was the travel shows of Anthony Bourdain.[1]
The series premiered September 12, 2020. Its first two episodes were set in San José and Limón in Costa Rica and focused on Jamaican immigrants in the country,[5] in particular their role in building its railroad. Haas had planned to shoot future episodes that fall in Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, but the COVID-19 pandemic stalled those plans.[1] The third episode was shot in Cali, Colombia and is slated to air in 2023.[7]
Haas currently lives in Jersey City[5] and runs a communications firm in North Jersey and a blog, Los Afros Latinos, about Afro-Latino culture.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Gray, Ellen (23 September 2020). "Girls High grad launches a PBS travel show with a focus on Afro-Latino culture". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d Lear, Len (19 October 2020). "Mt. Airy producer makes Afro-Latino series for Public TV". Chestnut Hill Local. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ Berkery, Patrick (15 December 2020). "La Salle graduate brings diversity to travel-show landscape". La Salle University. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ a b Guadalupe, Patricia (22 December 2020). "Afro-Latinos in Latin America, Caribbean is the focus of this travel show". NBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ a b c Taylor, DeAnna (31 August 2020). "Meet Kim Haas: The Host Of The New PBS Show Celebrating Afro Latino Culture". TravelNoire. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ Estevez, Marjua (9 October 2020). "TV Host Kim Haas Is Tracing the African Link in Latin America". Conde Nast Traveler. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ Taylor, DeAnna (26 October 2022). "TV show host Kim Haas brings awareness to Afro-Latino culture with each episode". Ebony Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2023.