COLORLINES - Kai Wright

Kai Wright

Editorial Director
New York, NY

Kai Wright is editorial director of Colorlines.com and a reporting fellow of the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. His investigative reporting and news analysis appears regularly in The Nation, The Root and The American Prospect, among other publications, and he is a regular commentator on National Public Radio and in other broadcast media. His work explores the politics of sex, race and health. He has closely covered the foreclosure crisis and the ensuing economic collapse.

Kai is author, most recently, of Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York. He is also the author of two books of African-American history: The African American Experience: Black History and Culture Through Speeches, Letters, Editorials, Poems, Songs, and Stories, and Soldiers of Freedom: An Illustrated History of African Americans in the Armed Forces, which explores America's struggle with race as it has been dramatized by the need to staff a viable military.

You can follow Kai on Twitter at @kai_wright, or look for him in his Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn neighborhood. Check out Kai's media appearances here. For more information, check out KaiWright.com.

Coming Out to My Dad, on NPR

by Kai Wright on June 23 2011, 1:18PM

It’s all about living “the honest life,” as my father puts it.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality, Kai Wright, LGBT Pride 2011

Take the Colorlines.com Reader Survey—and Get Cool Free Stuff!

by Kai Wright on June 16 2011, 12:05PM

People keep asking who Colorlines readers are. You tell us! We’ll be able to build our community with real information, and you’ll get a free gift from comedian Kamau Bell.

Topics: Kai Wright

Donate $10 and Help Me Edit Anti-Immigrant Slurs Out of News Media

by Kai Wright on June 10 2011, 10:11AM

I don’t use the word “illegal” because, as a journalist and a writer, I know my words matter. Help me convince my colleagues not to use it either.

Topics: Drop the I-Word, Kai Wright

How the Next U.S. Economy Is Already Failing

by Kai Wright on June 8 2011, 10:00AM

The future that today’s young students and workers hope to build remains trapped by the inequities of yesterday and today.

Topics: Economy, Kai Wright

The Ability to Kill Osama Bin Laden Does Not Make America Great

by Kai Wright on May 2 2011, 10:54AM

If we could build a just society rather than spending billions on violence, then we could be triumphant.

Topics: Kai Wright, National Security, Osama Bin Laden

Haley Barbour’s Out of the GOP Field, But Racist Campaigning’s Here to Stay

by Kai Wright on April 26 2011, 10:57AM

Donald Trump is just a preview of what’s to come.

Topics: Kai Wright, Politics

Haley Barbour’s Increasingly Toxic Pre-Campaign for President

by Kai Wright on April 21 2011, 11:15AM

The Mississippi governor will be among the most serious 2012 GOP contenders, and that’s troubling.

Topics: Health, Kai Wright, Politics

Tell Us About Your Activism and Win a Trip to Speak in D.C.

by Kai Wright on April 20 2011, 3:58PM

If you’re 18-30, speak up and win a shot to give a keynote speech at Campus Progress’ national conference in July.

Topics: Kai Wright

Six Public Goods That Have Shaped My Life—Or, Why Taxes Are Cool

by Kai Wright on April 15 2011, 9:47AM

My mom’s retirement, the subway, books in Washington and more. Chime in with your own examples of why we should all be happy to contribute to the collective good.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright

Obama’s Government Spending Pitch: The Great Society Is Patriotic

by Kai Wright on April 14 2011, 10:43AM

Obama says America’s safety net makes it great. But that’s only been true since the 1960s, and the GOP is at the endgame in a decades-long effort to undue it.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright

Colorlines.com Chosen as a Webby Award Honoree

by Kai Wright on April 12 2011, 5:09PM

Not bad for nine months as a digital publication.

Topics: Kai Wright

A Swamp of Predatory Lending Drowns Struggling Neighborhoods

by Kai Wright on April 11 2011, 9:44AM

A growing number of states are trying to regulate high-cost, small-dollar loans. But the industry, with Wall Street’s backing, is moving fast to evade new rules.

Topics: Economy, Wealth Gap

Follow the Media Reform Conference With Colorlines on Twitter

by Kai Wright on April 8 2011, 2:32PM

Jamilah King is tweeting the whole affair. Follow along or come say hello at our panels and exhibit table.

Topics: Kai Wright, NCMR 2011

The Love Lady Day Taught Us—Happy Birthday Billie Holiday

by Kai Wright on April 7 2011, 6:17PM

Her “Strange Fruit” brought uncounted numbers of lynched black folks back to life.

Topics: Celebrate Love

Obama Can Save Government by Reviving His 2008 Mastery of Values

by Kai Wright on April 7 2011, 11:54AM

The president once argued the budget was a values-based document. Now, he’s all about process over purpose.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright, Politics

We’re Nowhere Near the Mountaintop King Described Before His Death

by Kai Wright on April 4 2011, 11:29AM

King lent his celebrity to the black men who labored in Memphis’ refuge because they symbolized a global economy built upon exploiting black and brown people.

Topics: Economy, History, Jobs Crisis, Kai Wright