Congratulations are in order for Melissa Harris-Perry.

Not only will the Tulane University professor be hosting her own two-hour show on MSNBC, but the show will be the only politically themed program hosted by an African-American woman on a cable news network.

The Melissa Harris-Perry Show will premiere Feb. 4 and will air on Saturday and Sunday.

“Melissa’s thoughtful analysis has been an incredible addition to our primetime programs and I’m thrilled to have her join our expanded weekend line-up,” said MSNBC President Phil Griffin.

Harris-Perry is a long-standing political analyst and contributor to MSNBC. She frequently appears as a guest on Al Sharpton’s PoliticsNation, and she also serves as occasional host of The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word.

Harris-Perry will continue to write her “Sister Citizen” column for The Nation magazine. She will also continue to teach and promote her recently published second book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (Yale 2011), which examines the effects of persistent harmful stereotypes on Black women in politics. Her first book, Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity,” said Harris-Perry. “All I’ve ever wanted to be is a teacher. Phil Griffin and MSNBC are giving me the chance to have a much bigger classroom.”

We’ll be tuning in. Congratulations again, Dr. Harris-Perry!

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