Rick Sanchez

Ricardo León Sánchez de Reinaldo (born July 3, 1958) is a Cuban-American journalist, radio host, and author. After working as the lead local anchor on Miami's WSVN, Sánchez moved to cable news, first as a daytime anchor at MSNBC, later at CNN, where he began as a correspondent and ultimately rose to become an anchor. On CNN, he hosted his own show Rick's List and served as a contributor to Anderson Cooper 360° and CNN International, where he frequently reported and translated between English and Spanish. Sánchez was fired from CNN on October 1, 2010, following controversial remarks he made on a radio program. In July 2011, Sánchez was hired by Florida International University, to serve as a color commentator for radio broadcasts of the school's football team. He worked as a columnist for Fox News and Fox News Latino, and a former correspondent for Spanish language network Mundo Fox. He hosted The News with Rick Sanchez on RT America for several years. Early life Sánchez was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba, a township of Havana, and emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of two. He grew up in Hialeah, Florida, a suburb of Miami, and attended Mae M. Walters Elementary School, Henry H. Filer Middle School, and Hialeah High School, graduating in 1977. Sánchez accepted a football scholarship to Minnesota State University Moorhead and transferred to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on a CBS/WCCO Journalism Scholarship in 1979. Of his childhood Sánchez has said: "I grew up not speaking English, dealing with real prejudice every day as a kid; watching my dad work in a factory, wash dishes, drive a truck, get spit on. I've been told that I can't do certain things in life simply because I was a Hispanic." He prefers to be called Rick Sánchez rather than use his birth name. He said in a newscast in 2009: "I want to be respectful of this wonderful country that allowed us as Hispanics to come here, and I think it's easier if someone's able to understand me by Anglicizing my name." Career