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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In 1948, eight African-American men joined Atlanta's police force. Those pioneer officers — who couldn't drive squad cars or even step foot in headquarters — inspired Thomas Mullen's new novel. -
In Charcoal Joe, Mosley brings his iconic private eye Easy Rawlins into the haze of the late '60s, extending a literary odyssey through the transformation of black Los Angeles. -
Many African-Americans keep guns for self-defense, dating back to Emancipation. But the shooting in Dallas, and recent killings of black men by police, have raised hard questions for black gun owners. -
In her new novel, I Almost Forgot About You, McMillan's heroine confronts midlife malaise by reconnecting with men from her past. -
Juneteenth, the day when many African-Americans mark the end of slavery, is also associated with traditional foods from the black community. One woman wants to revive a traditional treat: tea cakes. -
A new book, Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, explores how faith brought two African-American icons together and eventually tore their relationship apart. -
Once Morris Robinson dreamed of fame on the football field. Now, he's moving audiences across the world with the power of his voice, and changing the face of opera. -
The veteran singer, songwriter and producer recently released The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, which combines old-fashioned blues music with new technology. -
The second mystery by Mette Ivie Harrison boasts details about contemporary Mormon life that most of us aren't privy to. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates says His Right Hand is is her "one that got away."
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A new young adult book tells the story of a police beating from two perspectives: the black boy who was beaten, and a white boy who witnessed it.
