Karen Grigsby Bates

Karen Grigsby Bates appears in the following:

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

We've heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott. But Parks was just one of many women who organized for years. In this episode, those women tell their own story.

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The Rev. Calvin Butts left behind a legacy of prayer and political activism

Friday, October 28, 2022

Butts died Friday at home New York of pancreatic cancer. He was 73. The pastor and powerbroker lived a life filled with prayer and political activism.

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NPR's top picks for 2022 fiction books

Sunday, August 07, 2022

Four NPR staffers recommend new novels in an early taste of our annual Books We Love round-up: "How High We Go in the Dark," "Vladimir," "Mecca" and "The Candy House."

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How COVID exposed racial disparities in all aspects of the healthcare system

Monday, June 20, 2022

NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates from the podcast Code Switch talks with journalist Linda Villarosa about how COVID exposed racial disparities in all aspects of the healthcare system.

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Chef Nicole A. Taylor talks red birds, red drink, and Juneteenth

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Here on Code Switch, we love food just as much as we love history. So we couldn't let the Juneteenth pass by without getting into the culinary traditions that have been passed down for generations.

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The life of a 'Civil Rights Queen'

Thursday, February 03, 2022

Constance Baker Motley's life—as a lawyer, as a politician and the first Black woman appointed to the Federal bench – is outlined in a new biography by author Tomiko Brown-Nagin: Civil Rights Queen.

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Fashion journalist and ex-'Vogue' creative director André Leon Talley dies at 73

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Talley, who worked at Women's Wear Daily and Vogue, was a regular in the front row of fashion shows in New York and Europe. At 6-feet-6 inches tall, he cut an imposing figure wherever he went.

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Sidney Poitier: actor, activist, and trailblazing heartthrob

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Tributes have cascaded in since Sidney Poitier died. And so they should have. He was an unparalleled actor, a committed activist, and a beloved family member. He was also, frankly, a heartthrob.

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Virgil Abloh, fashion designer, dies at 41 after a private battle with cancer

Monday, November 29, 2021

Designer Virgil Abloh died Sunday at age 41 after fighting a rare form of cancer. The founder of the label Off-White and the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear was known as a visionary.

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Virgil Abloh dies at age 41

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Famed menswear designer Virgil Abloh died today. He was 41.

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In Rebecca Hall's 'Passing,' people aren't always who they seem

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

"We are all passing for something or other, aren't we?" says Tessa Thompson's character Irene Redfield. But the movie asks: what does one give up to live a white life?

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Jocelyn Nicole Johnson talks home, identity, and 'My Monticello'

Thursday, October 14, 2021

In her debut book, My Monticello, author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson asks what it means to claim a home in a place like Charlottesville, Va., — where whom the city belongs to has long been in question.

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Little Women Remixed, But Not Reimagined

Sunday, September 12, 2021

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.

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The Story Of J.P. Morgan's 'Personal Librarian' — And Why She Chose To Pass As White

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

For the Code Switch podcast, we talked to authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss The Personal Librarian — the fictionalized account of the very real Belle da Costa Greene.

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Romance Writers Of America Was Doing Better With Race — Until A Recent Award Choice

Thursday, August 05, 2021

After a racism controversy, the national trade organization for romance writers had been making progress. Then, it gave a major prize to a book whose hero murdered Native Americans at Wounded Knee.

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J.P. Morgan's Personal Librarian Was A Black Woman. This Is Her Story.

Sunday, July 04, 2021

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.

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'Know The History': A Texas Chef's Thoughts On Food And Juneteenth

Friday, June 18, 2021

Chef Chris Williams from the Houston restaurant Lucille's talks about how he started the restaurant, the nonprofit that grew from it, and his mixed feelings about Juneteenth.

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The Neighborhood Of The Tulsa Race Massacre Faces Increasing Gentrification

Tuesday, June 01, 2021

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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In Both Fact And Fiction, The Truth Of Tulsa Is Hard To Stomach

Saturday, May 29, 2021

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.

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Code Switch's Recommended Reads About The Tulsa Massacre

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Here's the books and articles about the 1921 Tulsa massacre that we recommend for a deeper dive into the events from the day.

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