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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When Bethany Morrow was asked to write a new take on the beloved classic, she agreed on one condition: The new March family would look nothing like the old. -
Belle Da Costa Greene was one of the most prominent career women of her time, but the world didn't know she was Black. A new novel from Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray tells her story. -
The 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre commemorations are winding down, but the neighborhood where it took place, Greenwood, remains forever shaped by the event.
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When author Jewell Parker Rhodes tried to publish a novel retelling the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre, she found that not everyone was ready to reckon with the city's painful, traumatic history. -
Here's the books and articles about the 1921 Tulsa massacre that we recommend for a deeper dive into the events from the day. -
Paula Yoo discusses her new book From A Whisper to A Rallying Cry and how the 1982 death of Chin, a Chinese American man in Detroit, led a new generation of Asian Americans into political action. -
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III talks about how he turned entry into the Blacksonian into the hottest ticket in town and how the coronavirus is affecting the Smithsonians. -
Stories about Black history often focus on struggle and suffering—but Beverly Jenkins, the author of more than 40 historical romance novels, has spent her career telling stories about Black love.
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After the Capitol was cleared of insurrectionists on January 6, there was work to be done — and it wasn't lost on many that cleaning up the mess would fall largely to Black and Brown people. -
Lawrence C. Ross, author of The Divine Nine, explains why Black sororities showed up and showed out for Kamala Harris—and how Black Greek organizations have long pushed for enfranchisement.
