Ai-jen Poo, Terrance Hayes and Khaled Mattawa Among MacArthur Geniuses

By Jamilah King Sep 17, 2014

Ai-jen Poo, the dynamic organizer and leader of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, is among this year’s 21 MacArthur Genius Grant fellows. She’s just one of a handful of people of color on the list, which also includes poets Khaled Mattawa and Terrance Hayes, social psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt, public artist Rick Lowe and jazz composer Steve Coleman. Each winner earned a suprise grant of $625,00 from the MacArthur Foundation, which they’re free to use in service of their craft. 

Here’s more about some of them:

Khaled Mattawa:

Terrance Hayes:

Jennifer L. Eberhardt:

Rick Lowe:

Steve Coleman: