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Race. In your face.
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To Love And Not Forgive

Somebody's Daughter, by Ashley C. Ford. Sylvie Rosokoff/Flatiron hide caption

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Sylvie Rosokoff/Flatiron

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To Love And Not Forgive

For much of her childhood, Ashley Ford's father was incarcerated, and her mother struggled to raise her while grappling with her own upended life plans. In her new memoir, Somebody's Daughter, Ford looks at how her upbringing shaped her understanding of childhood, authority, forgiveness and freedom.

To Love And Not Forgive

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Words To Set You Free
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Review

Code Switch

Words To Set You Free

Some of the best books can make you feel free — free from your daily grind, free to imagine a new reality, free to explore different facets of your identity. This month, the Code Switch team is highlighting books that dig deep into what freedom really means.

Words To Set You Free

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What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

Maria Hinojosa (left) and Maria Garcia. Krystal Quiles for NPR hide caption

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Krystal Quiles for NPR

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What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

Maria Garcia and Maria Hinojosa are both Mexican American, both mestiza, and both relatively light-skinned. But Maria Hinojosa strongly identifies as a woman of color, whereas Maria Garcia has stopped doing so. So in this episode, we're asking: How did they arrive at such different places?

What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

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Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

Kaitlyn Greenidge Syreeta McFadden/Workman hide caption

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Syreeta McFadden/Workman

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Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

This month on Code Switch, we're talking about books — new and old — that have deepened our understandings of what it means to be free. First up, a conversation with author Kaitlyn Greenidge about her new novel, Libertie, which tells the story of a young woman pushing back against her mother's expectations of what her life should look like.

Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

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'Where We Come From': By Any Other Name

Podcast host and author Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Elton Anderson Jr. hide caption

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Elton Anderson Jr.

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'Where We Come From': By Any Other Name

Anyone with a name that isn't super common in the United States will tell you that the simple act of introducing yourself can lead to a whole interrogation: Where are you from? What does your name mean? Help me pronounce it using words I understand! So on this bonus episode from our friends at the "Where We Come From" series, we're getting into what, exactly, is in a name — and what names can tell us about where we've been and where we're going.

'Where We Come From': By Any Other Name

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A Taste Of Freedom

Beloved Black cookbooks for Juneteenth. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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LA Johnson/NPR

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A Taste Of Freedom

Juneteenth commemorates the day that enslaved Texans found out — more than two years after Emancipation Day — that they were free. It's also a day known for celebratory meals and red drinks. But as the holiday becomes more widespread, we wondered: Is there a risk that certain people (and corporations) will try to keep the food and lose the history?

A Taste Of Freedom

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The Racial Reckoning That Wasn't

Friends Jennifer Chudy, an assistant professor of political science at Wellesley College who studies white public opinion around race, and Hakeem Jefferson, an assistant professor at Stanford University, scoured public opinion data together in order to write an essay for the New York Times last May called: "Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement Surged Last Year: Did It Last?" Lisa Abitbol; Harrison Truong/NPR hide caption

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Lisa Abitbol; Harrison Truong/NPR

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The Racial Reckoning That Wasn't

In the wake of several high-profile police killings last summer, support for Black Lives Matter skyrocketed among white Americans. Their new concerns about racism pushed books about race to the top of the bestseller lists, while corporations pledged billions of dollars to address injustice. A year later, though, polls show that white support for the movement has not only waned, but is lower than it was before. On this episode, two researchers explain why last year so-called racial reckoning was always shakier than it looked.

The Racial Reckoning That Wasn't

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Where Are You Really From?

Immigration activist and temporary protected status holder César Magaña Linares poses for a portrait. Michael Zamora/NPR hide caption

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Michael Zamora/NPR

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Where Are You Really From?

If you're a person of color living in the United States, chances are you've been asked more than you care to remember where you're from — no, where you're really from. In her new series "Where We Come From," NPR's Anjuli Sastry lets immigrants of color answer that question broadly, with the space and context it deserves.

Where Are You Really From?

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Code Switch's Recommended Reads About The Tulsa Massacre

This archival photo shows crowds of people watching fires during the June 1, 1921, Tulsa Race Massacre. Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa via AP hide caption

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Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa via AP

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Code Switch's Recommended Reads About The Tulsa Massacre

Here's the books and articles about the 1921 Tulsa massacre that we recommend for a deeper dive into the events from the day.

Tulsa, 100 Years Later

The view from Tulsa Mayor Bynum's City Hall conference room, showing the construction of the new BMX headquarters and train tracks in the distance. Christopher Creese for NPR hide caption

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Tulsa, 100 Years Later

In the spring of 1921, Black residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood neighborhood were attacked by a mob of angry white people. More than 300 people were killed, and thousands were left homeless. Now, 100 years later, Tulsa is still reckoning with what lessons to take from that deadly massacre.

Tulsa, 100 Years Later

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The Sum Of Our Parts
LA Johnson/NPR

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The Sum Of Our Parts

People of color have a diverse set of interests, experiences, backgrounds and cultures. And the way we experience race and racism can be really different. So why do we continue to use big umbrella terms like "POC"? And what do we risk if we lose them?

The Sum Of Our Parts

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The Kid Mero Talks 'What It Means To Be Latino'

An illustration of author, podcaster and entertainer, The Kid Mero. Krystal Quiles for NPR hide caption

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Krystal Quiles for NPR

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The Kid Mero Talks 'What It Means To Be Latino'

We've said it multiple times on the show: Latinos are the second largest demographic in the United States. But...what does that actually mean? Are Latinos a race? Ethnicity? Culture? We try (and fail) to answer some of these questions with Dominican American podcaster and entertainer the Kid Mero.

The Kid Mero Talks 'What It Means To Be Latino'

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Black Americans And The Racist Architecture Of Homeownership

Robert Lee Johnson in his old neighborhood in Compton. Johnson remembers moving in one day in 1961. "I see moving vans, trucks and everything all down the street," he says. Johnson was 5 years old at the time, so he says he thought "it was moving day for everybody." And he noticed that all the other families moving in were were Black, too. Nevil Jackson for NPR hide caption

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Nevil Jackson for NPR

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Black Americans And The Racist Architecture Of Homeownership

Owning a home is a part of the American dream. It's also the key to building intergenerational wealth. But Black Americans continue to face discrimination in housing, including through higher costs.

Black Americans And The Racist Architecture Of Homeownership

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Show Me The Money

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Qieer Wang for NPR

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Show Me The Money

Two friends living in Vermont decided to try a radical experiment: They asked White people in their community to give money directly to their Black neighbors — a DIY, hyper-local "reparations" program, of sorts. Our friends at the Invisibilia podcast took a look at how the community reacted, for better and for worse.

Show Me The Money

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Live From Philly*: A Code Switch Jawn
WHYY / NPR

Opinion

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Live From Philly*: A Code Switch Jawn

OK, so we weren't really in Philly (it's still a pandemic, after all.) But we did talk all things race and Philadelphia with special guests Erika Alexander and Denice Frohman. On the docket for the night: reparations, basketball, poetry and of course, the word "jawn."

Live From Philly*: A Code Switch Jawn

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Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?
Dion MBD for NPR

Code Switch

Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?

Calls for racial justice are met with a lot of different proposals, but one of the loudest and most enduring is to invest in Black businesses. But can "buying Black" actually do anything to mitigate racism? To find out, we're taking a look at the surprising link between Black capitalism and McDonald's.

Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?

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