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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Victoria & Abdul is based on a true story about Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim. He started as a servant. She made him her teacher and trusted confidante, much to the dismay of her inner circle.
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Ebony Magazine held a beloved place in black households for more than seven decades. But like a lot of magazines, it was feeling pinched between rising costs and falling subscriptions. Ebony was sold last year to a black private equity firm that was very slow to pay its writers what they were owed. Some responded with a scathing social media campaign, EbonyOwes.
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A new biography celebrates the life and legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, who wrote about ordinary black life using extraordinary language. -
The 1992 Los Angeles riots left more than 50 people dead and destroyed an estimated $1 billion in property all over the city. NPR explores how people in LA think of the riots 25 years later and why the event is still relevant.
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A new poll asks Americans to name the most famous feminists. Three of the top four are African-American — Michelle Obama, Oprah and Beyoncé. NPR looks into what it means to have three women of color as the new face of feminism.
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Sammy Lee, a Korean War veteran and the first American platform diver to win gold in consecutive Olympics, dies of pneumonia at the age of 96. -
Pipeline and prisons and tantrums at Starbucks: these are a few of our favorite stories this week. -
What's popping with race this week? Here are few hardy racial matters to chew on as you head into Thanksgiving week. -
Many experts agree with an appeals court's decision last month that dreadlocks aren't a common racial characteristic. But left undecided: What's a common racial characteristic? -
The actress became famous for her role in TV's Empire, but the road to Cookie wasn't easy. In her new memoir, Around the Way Girl, Henson shares stories of pushing her way to the top.
