Karen Grigsby Bates
Karen Grigsby Bates is the Senior Correspondent for Code Switch, a podcast that reports on race and ethnicity. A veteran NPR reporter, Bates covered race for the network for several years before becoming a founding member of the Code Switch team. She is especially interested in stories about the hidden history of race in America—and in the intersection of race and culture. She oversees much of Code Switch's coverage of books by and about people of color, as well as issues of race in the publishing industry. Bates is the co-author of a best-selling etiquette book (Basic Black: Home Training for Modern Times) and two mystery novels; she is also a contributor to several anthologies of essays. She lives in Los Angeles and reports from NPR West.
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After an editor asked him to tone down his racial politics, the first-time author walked away from his book deal, moved to a smaller press and eventually published two books to critical acclaim. He hopes his story helps make the case for why publishers should welcome different voices to the table. -
James Van Dyke Evers was only 3 when his father, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, was shot and killed in the family's driveway. Van Evers chose not to follow in his father's footsteps — at what cost? -
In 1955, it was virtually unheard of for a black man to testify against a white person. Willie Reed, who changed his last name to Louis after fleeing to Chicago, died last week at 76. -
Many African-Americans are pleased that President Obama spoke frankly about the inequities experienced in this country by blacks. They say understanding the distress over the Zimmerman verdict is key to honest discussions about race. -
DreamWork's Turbohas been touted for having a multicultural cast, but does the movie, with its distinctly "urban" garden snails and its ethnic characters, really move beyond racial tropes? -
George Zimmerman's acquittal in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin spurred emotional reaction around the country. -
Six years ago, the mystery writer sent Easy Rawlins off a cliff, seemingly killing him. Now, Easy's back on the streets his creator once called home. Mosley says other than Los Angeles, he and his detective hero don't have much in common, but NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates begs to differ. -
The 51-year-old actor died on Wednesday in Rome. Reports attribute his death to a heart attack. Gandolfini had been a character actor for years before he was given a chance to read for Tony Soprano in a new series about a New Jersey mob boss HBO was producing in the late 90s.
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In 1965, sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who would later become a U.S. senator from New York, authored a controversial report. It concluded the decline of the black nuclear family was a major component to black poverty. Nearly 50 years later, the Urban Institute has released a follow-up to Moynihan's study that looks at the current barriers poor black families continue to face, and compares those findings to the country's other ethnic groups.
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African-American and Mexican, Nick Gabaldon carved a path for surfers of color. He died in 1951, but access to surfing can still be limited.
