COLORLINES - Jamilah King

Jamilah King

News Editor
New York, NY

Jamilah King is the news editor at Colorlines.com, coordinating story assignments as news breaks, as well as covering urban politics and youth culture. Before joining Colorlines she was associate editor at WireTap Magazine, an online political publication that was a project of The Nation Institute. Jamilah serves on peer review board of the Youth Media Reporter, previously worked as contributing editor with YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia, and has covered the youth vote for Colorlines.com.

Jamilah is a former McNair scholar and Kopkind Fellow. She graduated with degrees in English and Black Studies from Pitzer College and also studied gender and development at the University of the West Indies along with labor history at City University of New York. Born and raised in San Francisco, Jamilah grew up in a single parent, working class household. She has written about her family's personal experience with violence, and is dedicated to using art to articulate new visions for the future. Jamilah participated in the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) where she organized passenger service workers in Oakland with the Center for Third World Organizing. She studied labor history at City University of New York and worked as an organizer with SEIU and low income workers in the Bronx. She has also volunteered in the HIV community, doing outreach with Bay Area Young Positives and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, Gays, and All-Sexuals in Kingston.

Jamilah frequently appears on community radio and media conferences around the country, including National Conference on Media Reform and Allied Media Conference. Jamilah's writing has also appeared on New America Media, TheNation.com, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Alternet, and Racialicious. She's an avid basketball fan and a recovering music junkie.

Check out Jamilah's media appearances here.

Jamilah tweets at @jamilahking.

RIP Chris Kelly: Watch This 1992 Kris Kross Performance at the Billboard Music Awards

by Jamilah King on May 2 2013, 9:06AM

The 34-year-old died on Wednesday at an Atlanta-area hospital.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Father of Wrongly Accused Teen in Boston Bombing May Sue New York Post

by Jamilah King on May 1 2013, 10:09AM

The paper may have to pay for its careless reporting.

Topics: /NOW Blog

New York’s Public Housing Tenants Sue Over Slow Pace of Repairs

by Jamilah King on April 30 2013, 10:42AM

The Big Apple is a bad landlord, according to a new lawsuit.

Topics: Economy, /NOW Blog

9 LGBT Athletes of Color Who Paved the Way for Jason Collins

by Jamilah King on April 30 2013, 6:00AM

NBA player Jason Collins became the highest-profile openly gay black man in America yesterday. As with any big step, he didn’t get there alone. Here, a look at some LGBT athletes of color who came before him.

Topics: Arts & Culture, Gender & Sexuality

Network of Black Farmers Calls New York Times Investigation ‘Inaccurate’

by Jamilah King on April 29 2013, 9:59AM

America’s non-white, non-male farmers are in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Top WNBA Pick Brittney Griner on Being Gay: ‘Don’t Hide Who You Really Are’

by Jamilah King on April 18 2013, 10:36AM

Top WNBA draft pick and Baylor University senior Brittney Griner nonchalantly became one of the highest profile LGBT athletes in the country recently when she confirmed in an interview that she is gay. In an interview with ESPN, Griner joined…

Topics: /NOW Blog

Meet Skylar Diggins, the WNBA Draft Pick With Social Media Sex Appeal

by Jamilah King on April 17 2013, 6:00AM

Skylar Diggins, the Notre Dame point guard just added to the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, is one of the most talented ballers in the country. In the age of Twitter, will a focus on her appearance become a dangerous distraction?

Topics: Arts & Culture, Gender & Sexuality

Federal Judge Stops Mississippi’s Anti-Choice Law — For Now

by Jamilah King on April 16 2013, 4:43PM

The state’s last remaining abortion clinic will remain open.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Injured Saudi Man is a Witness, Not a Suspect, in Boston Marathon Violence

by Jamilah King on April 16 2013, 2:47PM

Clearing up some of the chaos from Monday’s violence.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Magic Johnson’s Fabulously Gay Son Doesn’t Care About Haters

by Jamilah King on April 16 2013, 12:36PM

The 20-year-old was forced into the spotlight. And he’s loving it.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality, /NOW Blog

It’s Bigger Than Rick Ross: How to Organize Against Sexism in Hip-Hop

by Jamilah King on April 15 2013, 2:01PM

Dani McClain writes that when it comes to organizing against misogyny, we need to organize against those who benefit from it financially.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Jackie Robinson Biopic Is Most Popular Baseball Movie Ever

by Jamilah King on April 15 2013, 10:22AM

The baseball legend is still making big plays — this time at the box office.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Who Was the Real Jackie Robinson?

by Jamilah King on April 12 2013, 6:00AM

“42,” the Hollywood film about Jackie Robinson’s first year in the racially segregated major leagues, comes out today. Inside the racial politics and legacy of the baseball trailblazer.

Topics: Arts & Culture, History, Jackie Robinson

Reebok Dumps Rick Ross Over Date Rape Lyrics

by Jamilah King on April 11 2013, 4:41PM

Organizing works.

Topics: /NOW Blog

6 Native American Basketball Facts, Inspired by Louisville’s Star Sisters

by Jamilah King, Jorge Rivas on April 9 2013, 7:30AM

Basketball is an important part of life Native American communities. And nothing shows that better than the ascendence of Louisville’s Shoni and Jude Schimmel.

Topics: Arts & Culture, March Madness