For 12 years, ColorLines has given you reporting and analysis on racial justice. In recent years, we’ve noted a change from our readers that all news organizations are experiencing: more of you are asking for electronic versions of our articles. Readers want to send the stories they enjoy in print to friends, allies and colleagues across the country, next door and abroad. The Internet has indeed changed not just how we read the news but how we interact with it. Today, it’s readers like you who are distributing the news, and thanks to you, our stories about race and politics are reaching more people than ever.

We’ve decided to take more of our content online this year in a determined effort to deliver stories about race and politics to a larger audience. The election of President Obama has shifted the conversation on race and created an even more urgent need for stories that focus on institutional practices and collective demands. As we move forward, we want to give more of you the stories you need to pursue racial justice in your communities.

This means you’ll find more content more frequently at ColorLines.com. You’ll now be able to read the Gulf Coast Update regularly online, as well as reported stories, opinion pieces, and reviews of music, film and books. In short, we want ColorLines.com to be your destination site for information on race and politics.

For those of you who enjoy the magazine on your daily commute, have no fears. We are keeping a shorter print edition for the rest of 2009 as we explore ways for you to continue having ColorLines in print. Since this is the last issue on the newstands, we encourage you to renew your subscription and consider buying gift subscriptions for your friends and family.

Whether you’re reading this issue in print or online, we hope you’ll take special note of Kai Wright’s cover story on gay marriage. His reporting and commentary remind us of the price we pay in other fights for social justice when we avoid talking about race. Two other feature stories in this issue also reveal the degree to which we are still living in a world where the color of your skin and the religion you practice remain great determinants of how vulnerable you are to police shootings and hate crimes at school.

We are also at an inspiring point in history. Just a few months ago, hundreds of workers in Chicago refused to leave their factory and instead took it over. As union leader Armando Robles says in this issue: “When there is unity and solidarity from the greater community, we know we can win.”