Editorial Director
New York, NY
Kai Wright is editorial director of Colorlines.com and an Alfred Knobler Fellow of 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. For more information, check out KaiWright.com.
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Thank You Don Cornelius, for Your Love, Peace and Blackness
by Kai Wright on February 1 2012, 6:18PM
Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius is dead at age 75. Go out and celebrate the love of blackness he flaunted for the world.
Topics: Celebrate Love, Now
Obama’s Big Shift: Let’s Truly Investigate the Banking Sector’s Crimes
by Kai Wright on January 25 2012, 10:21AM
President Obama said he’s eager to debate equal opportunity in last night’s State of the Union. But he also offered a huge policy change he’s avoided for four years: investigate the banks’ housing boom crimes.
Why the GOP’s Spectacular Collapse Isn’t Good for Social Justice
by Kai Wright on January 10 2012, 10:41AM
Elections are for incumbents all about accountability for the choices they’ve made. And the Obama camp desperately needs a reality check with the reformist voters who bought into it’s message of change four years ago.
Topics: GOP Primary, Kai Wright, Politics
What’s Ahead in 2012? Colorlines.com Writers Weigh in on the New Year
by Kai Wright on December 23 2011, 10:03AM
It’s been quite a year, and we conclude it today at Colorlines.com. From our family to yours, we’re wishing you all health, happiness and love!
Topics: Now
Republican Congressman Says Michelle Obama Has a ‘Big Butt’
by Kai Wright on December 22 2011, 1:55PM
Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner told a church gathering that Michelle Obama’s butt is too big, so she has no right leading an anti-obesity campaign. Seriousy.
Our Economy Was Built on Bull. Until We Admit That, We’re Screwed
by Kai Wright on December 21 2011, 10:00AM
We have organized society around a misguided belief in unfettered growth and unrestrained capitalism. The question of 2012 must be how we begin building a society based on something different.
Topics: 2012: What's Ahead?, Economy, Kai Wright
Condi Rice As the GOP’s Vice Presidential Pick? Hey, It Could Happen
by Kai Wright on December 20 2011, 11:55AM
Rumors, rumors. The election’s coming, so might as well start now playing the what-if game.
Ron Paul Takes Lead Among Iowa GOP, Where Voters Party Like It’s 1964
by Kai Wright on December 19 2011, 10:16AM
The Texas libertarian is leading a new poll of Iowa Republicans, stealing the scene from Newt Gingrich. Among Paul’s greatest hits: Bragging that he’d have voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Topics: GOP Primary, Now, Politics
The News Never Slows Down, But Sometimes We Must
by Kai Wright on December 19 2011, 9:47AM
Colorlines.com is slowing down for the holidays—and getting ready for a big year in 2012. This week: Rinku Sen, Akiba Solomon and other Colorlines writers discuss what to expect in the year ahead.
Topics: Now
A Bronx Tale: How Racism Created Poverty, and Still Perpetuates It
by Kai Wright on December 16 2011, 10:20AM
The poverty in which millions of people of color live is not accidental. It’s the result of decades of political choices that first created ghettos and then left them prey to a growing industry that profits from their existence. The Bronx offers a uniquely clear example.
Topics: Dispatches, Economy
Investigative Journalism Matters—And So Do You!
by Kai Wright on December 8 2011, 11:36AM
We need your help to keep putting reporters on the racial justice beat. Please donate to support Colorlines.com’s investigative journalism today. The more you give, the more we can dig up!
Topics: Kai Wright
Colorlines Investigations Are Expensive—and Crucial. Donate Today!
by Kai Wright on November 10 2011, 2:54PM
The more you give, the more we can dig up. Donate today to keep Colorlines.com on the racial justice beat for you.
Topics: Kai Wright
Is President Obama’s Jobs Drumbeat Working?
by Kai Wright on October 14 2011, 11:26AM
No, Obama can’t wave his magic wand and pass bills. But he can use the substantial bully pulpit he occupies to at least force the right conversation. He’s been doing so for weeks, and there are signs that it’s working.
Topics: Jobs Crisis, Kai Wright, Politics
![Which Occupy Movements Are Doing Right by Race? [Reader Forum]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2010/11/comment_073010-thumb-640xauto-471-thumb-640xauto-1216-thumb-640xauto-1288-thumb-120x120-1550.jpg)
Which Occupy Movements Are Doing Right by Race? [Reader Forum]
by Kai Wright on October 13 2011, 1:48PM
One commenter says Occupy L.A. has built a stronger movement by being intentional about race. Any other examples from the ground?
Topics: #Occupy, Kai Wright
Harry Belafonte: ‘You Can’t Wish the Issue of Race Away’
by Kai Wright on October 12 2011, 10:30AM
The 84-year-old artist and activist has published a memoir of his life and career. Colorlines.com’s publisher Rinku Sen spoke with him a year ago about the wisdom that career generated for today’s generation of change makers.
Topics: Kai Wright, Politics
Six Cities Where Black People Are Living in a Depression
by Kai Wright on October 7 2011, 10:48AM
Black unemployment is at levels comparable to the Great Depression in six cities. But then again, black populations in dozens of cities were in acute recessions before the national crisis ever began. The actual numbers are striking.
Topics: Economy, Jobs Crisis, Kai Wright
Are Lawmakers Listening? The Consumer Watchdog Vote Will Tell
by Kai Wright on October 6 2011, 3:20PM
There’s a quite specific way our representatives can show if they’re listening to the growing movement: get the consumer watchdog fully up and running. And there will be many, many fights to follow.
Topics: #Occupy, Economy, Kai Wright
Here’s to Occupying Wall Street! (If Only That Were Actually Happening)
by Kai Wright on October 3 2011, 10:05AM
The Occupy Wall Street movement is building steam as protestors battle with NYPD over the right to peaceful assembly. That’s great, but the crisis at hand—crippling economic inequity—is once again lost in the din.
Topics: #Occupy, Economy, Kai Wright
Homeowners to Banks: Clean Up the Mess You Left in Our Neighborhood
by Kai Wright, Sita Bhaumik on September 29 2011, 10:02AM
Amid all the deficit and campaign talk, it’s easy to forget the foreclosure crisis continues to destroy neighborhoods. Community organizers in East Oakland got fed up and delivered the dirty problem to its source.
Topics: #Occupy, Economy, Kai Wright
It’s President Obama Who Needs to ‘Stop Complaining’ and Get to Work
by Kai Wright on September 28 2011, 11:51AM
Obama ruffled feathers with a speech telling black leaders to take off their “bedroom slippers” and join the battle for his jobs bill. Funny thing is, that’s just what they were trying to tell him.
Topics: Economy, Jobs Crisis, Kai Wright, Politics
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