“Anti-Black racism is a national security threat.” Those were the simple, direct words of disinformation specialist Mutale Nkonde, CEO of AI for the People, on a listserv of journalists and academics recently. A group of us were in a vigorous debate over how much weaponized racial resentment was linked to…

The Rise of the New White Nationalism and Inadequate Establishment Whiteness Response I’m posting this essay, which I wrote right after the 2016 election results, because I’ve begun to speak more openly about how constrained I was in covering racial resentment and white nationalism during my time at FiveThirtyEight. On…

The launch story… and the next level! Hi folks: It’s the end of 2020 and I have been charting what I aim to manifest in the world and releasing resentments that could hold me back. Now is the time to clean old wounds and heal; and to be ready to…

I’m creator and host of the radio show/podcast Our Body Politic, centering the political and cultural power of Black women and all women of color. And as part of our next show, we want to hear from you what you made and paid in taxes. You can do that by recording a voice memo on your phone, and emailing it to OurBodyPolitic@Protonmail.com. (Voice memos sound a LOT better than voicemails. Here’s some tips on recording voice memos.)

Reflections from a Black Female Journalist on America at the Precipice Hello friends: I offered a version of these remarks to a powerful civic group recently. As part of my discourse on America in peril, I explained how hard it has been to be a Black female journalist. This may…

In 2020, journalism went from rapid economic disruption to a full-blown existential meltdown. Already wracked by #MeToo scandals, major outlets found themselves failing to meet the political moment sparked by the killing of George Floyd. These failures of perspective and inclusion don’t just affect communities that have historically been left…

I’m writing this on Juneteenth. This year I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on how journalism has often marginalized (not to mention underpaid) reporters of color, women, LGBTQ mediamakers, and whites from poor and working-class backgrounds. The exclusion and bias in our field has materially made us — “us”…

Running for president isn’t easy, especially when race trumps all — “Eleven months ago, at the launch of our campaign in Oakland, I told you all, ‘I am not perfect.’” Kamala Harris chose those careful words as she terminated her race to become the United States’ 46th president. But those of us autopsying her campaign should ask if a Black woman…

Farai Chideya The coverage of race and xenophobia in American life and politics has often lacked adequate pattern recognition and historical context. I spoke about this in a speech in March, posted below as text and video; and am posting it now, spurred by the recent mass killing in El…