Former national newspaper and magazine music journalist, arts editor and theatre critic. Present women’s editor and features commissioning editor at The Guardian.
Cathy Lew
I write humor pieces for the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs; personal essays; and essays on pop culture trends, digital lives (as they evolve with tech), music, and sports. I was the founding editor of AboveAverage.com, a comedy website in the Broadway Video family. I’m currently an associate producer at The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and look forward to writing more pieces on a range of topics.
Links
Locations
Navneet Alang
Links
- Must We Forfeit Our Ghee? (Hazlitt)
- There Is No Garden For Us To Return To (Hazlitt)
- Google Glasses and the Myth of Augmented Reality (The Atlantic)
- calculating the weight of the object (Snarkmarket)
Topics
Danny Kerry
I’m aspiring magazine writer pursuing a career in sports and pop culture writing. Complex, Grantland, ESPN, Slam, The Atlantic and New York Times magazine are my favorite publications and I would consider any of those destinations a dream job. However, as a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Maryland, I am willing and eager to work anywhere I get the opportunity.
Links
- The Most Efficient Point Guard In College Hoops! (The Mars Effect)
- Josh Gray’s Long Journey Home (The Mars Effect)
- Tracking Fido: New technology allows owners to monitor pets' activity (Capital Gazette)
- Maryland's Medical Marijuana Process Slow Going (Perry Hall Patch)
- Harriet Tubman National Park Nears Approval (Capital News Service)
- Students ask university to suspend contracts with VF Corp (Public Asian)
Topics
Ezekiel Kweku
Ezekiel Kweku is a pseudonym.
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Locations
Danielle Young
Links
- Author Archive: Hello Beautiful (Hello Beautiful)
Locations
Craig Jenkins
Links
Locations
Anita Little
Links
- Why Michael Brown’s Death Is a Reproductive Justice Issue (Ms Magazine)
- While Loving Lupita, Don’t Forget Gabourey (Ms Magazine)
- If These Walls Could Talk: Fighting harassment with street art (Ms Mogazine)
Locations
Pirooz Kalayeh
Pirooz Kalayeh received an MFA from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. He is the founding member and proprietor behind the musical group, The Slipshod Swingers, and the records Orange Lamborghini (2006) and Transistor Radio (2008). Kalayeh has also served as an Associate Producer and Post Production Coordinator with Weller Grossman Productions and Screen Door Entertainment on several television programs, including STRICTLY SEX WITH DR DREW (DISC), CRAFTLAB (DIY), and LOOK WHAT I DID (HGTV). In 2009, Kalayeh’s first solo directorial feature SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL (2012) was released under his personal label ILIKENIRVANA and had a theatrical release at select theaters throughout the United States. Kalayeh’s documentary feature about Buddhist teacher Brad Warner, entitled BRAD WARNER’S HARDCORE ZEN (2013) premiered at the Buddhist Film Festival in Amsterdam on October 5, 2013. THE HUMAN WAR (2013) was co-produced and co-directed by Kalayeh and premiered at the Beloit International Film Festival on February 21, 2014. His novel THE WHOPPER STRATEGIES details an advertising executive’s journey to package Enlightenment in a Box. Kalayeh is currently working on several web series and film narratives, including the much-anticipated comedy, ZOMBIE BOUNTY HUNTER M.D. He lives with his wife in Los Angeles and South Korea. He interviews various entertainers and artists on his blog, Shikow.
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Christina Lee
Killer Mike once said, “Tell him, first of all, that this woman is a genius and he needs to know that.” He was talking about me.
Links
- Straight Outta Stankonia (Creative Loafing)
- Run the Jewels: The New Avengers (Paste Magazine)
- Like Japanese, Chinese or Even Asian: Mapping Asian Stereotypes in a Post-Wu Era (Pitchfork Review)
- Fresh Off the Boat Is Huge For Rap Fans and Asian-Americans Alike (Deadspin)
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Catherine (Cate) Young
I can pretty much do anything, but my favourite things to write about and discuss are the feminist intersections of pop culture. I love television, I love movies and I love talking about what television and movies say about us as a collective. I can write for eternity about the way sexuality is perceived differently by race and how history feeds into those assumptions, but I can also write about the amazing way that Frozen subverted the “true love” trope and what it means to have overtly feminist media representations for children. If you need something written about pop culture, I’m your gal.
Links
- Blog
- This Is What I Mean When I Say White Feminism
- My Feminism Will Never Look Like Yours
- The Beyoncé Conversation: Black Women, Feminism and the Presumption of Sexual Agency
- Discussions of Sexuality Are Not the Same for Women of Colour
- Solidarity is for Miley Cyrus
- I Am Not Okay With Lily Allen's New Video
- Sexualization, Exploitation, And Black Female Celebrities: On The Subtle Womanism of Rihanna and Nicki Minaj
Brian Fleurantin
I began writing in 2011, and I joined Netsdaily.com on a full time basis in October 2013. Offline, I work for a non-profit organization that works with the developmentally disabled.
Links
- Tumblr
- On Derrick Rose and Athletes Speaking Up (Nets Daily)
- The NBA's Atlanta Hawks problem (Nets Daily)
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Jaz Joyner
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Topics
Locations
Penny Wrenn
Former staffer at Essence, Redbook and Esquire; Jill of all trades (from service journalism to first person essays)
Links
- Are Butterflies in the Belly Really a Sign of Love? (Marie Claire)
- The Energy Makeover (O: The Oprah Magazine)
- Penny For Your Thoughts: Confession: I Think About Killing Myself Every Day (Madame Noire)
- Penny For Your Thoughts: Can You Be Pro-Black in Life and Pro-White in Love? (Madame Noire)
- Penny Wrenn: Clips
- Penny Wrenn: Blog
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Locations
Leesa Cross-Smith
Author of EVERY KISS A WAR, shortlisted for both the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award.
Editor of WhiskeyPaper, WhiskeyPaper Press.
Represented by Kerry D’Agostino/Curtis Brown Ltd.
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Topics
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Ashley Clark
From London, England; live in Jersey City, USA
Curated “Space is the Place: Afrofuturism on Film” at BAMcinematek, Brooklyn
Have appeared on BBC One Film Show as a guest critic
Frequently moderate onstage Q&As and panels
Links
- The LA Rebellion: when black film-makers took on the world - and won” (The Guardian)
- Daily Show: now it’s not all white on late night, but what about the women? (The Guardian)
- Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly album cover: an incendiary classic (The Guardian)
- Breathing Space: Nothing But a Man (Reverse Shot)
- Back to black: the 101-year making of the oldest black American-starring feature (Sight & Sound)
Locations
Deron Snyder
Links
- The Washington Times archive (Washington Times)
- News Press archive (News Press)
- The Root archive (The Root)
- USA Today archive (USA Today)
Locations
Fabiola Ching
Links
- ABS's Black-ish Revolutionary-ish (Style)
- The Foreign and the Familliar (The Coalition)
- Thursdays Were Reserved for Falling In Love All Over Again (The Coalition)
- Gyrl Gaze (Polyester Magazine)
Locations
Kandace Siobhan Walker
Links
- Kandace Siobhan (Kid Pallas)
- INDIGO (Kandace Siobhan Walker)
- Kandace Siobhan (Wake Magazine)
Topics
Victoria Namkung
-I have a master’s from UCLA in Asian American Studies
-I’m a stem cell donor to an unrelated donor who survived thanks to transplant
-My mom is Jewish from Ireland and my Dad is Korean
-Author of forthcoming novel, The Things We Tell Ourselves
Links
- Unsuccessful Pickup Lines Used on Asian Women I Know (The Toast)
- Kimchi and Latkes: Growing up Korean and Jewish (Huffington Post)
- Linsanity Arrives in Los Angeles (Huffington Post)
- Are Cars Driving Into the Sunset (Time)
- Personal Website
Locations
Deesha Philyaw
I write fiction, nonfiction, personal essays, and reviews
Links
- When Divorce Magnafies Adoption Losses (New York Times)
- How Can You Be Mad at Someone Who's Dying of Cancer (Full Grown People)
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Locations
Carina Browder
Soon-to-be graduate at Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor’s in Communication and Media Studies. Currently seeking freelancing opportunities. Top writer for Candor News, writer for Lucy Out Loud, social media intern at Paste Magazine, Open Our Eyes, and Infectious Magazine. Previously published writer in a poetry anthology in 2008.
My current dream piece would be to interview young activists (and young celebs like Amandla Stenberg, Willow Smith, etc.) on how they became knowledgeable about the issues they are passionate about, and how their politics differ from older generations.
Links
- Recap: #Monumentour @ Atlanta, GA (Candor News)
- Your Concert Essentials (Candor News)
- Behind "Hand of God: the Musical (Candor News)
- On Your Mark, Set Go! with IM5 (Candor News)
- On One Direction Zayn and the Radical Action of Liking things (Carina Blogs)
- "Girl in a Country Song" is a Musical Callout (Carina Blogs)
- Review: The Never Ending- 'ONE' EP (Candor News)
- Review: Taylor Swift-'1989' (Carina Blogs)
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Araceli Cruz
Links
- RAE's Latest Art Show Opened Friday Night in the Basement of a Chinatown Butcher Shop (Vice)
- Noblesse Mp3: Why I've Started Buying Music (Pitchfork)
- Araceli Cruz (Buzzfeed)
- Araceli Cruz (Village Voice)
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Israel Daramola
I’m currently a freelancer and contributer to smaller blogs in the DC area. I intend to write a book of essays as well as more screenplays.
Links
- On Coming to Terms With the Fact that I Actually Like the New Lupe Fiasco Album (Noisey)
#Film: The Big Deal about Linklaters 12-Years-in-The-Making Drama, "Boyhood" (Obsessed)
Israel Daramola (the cakes and crown blog)
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Locations
Vanessa Willoughby
Vanessa is a Prose Editor for Winter Tangerine Review.
Links
- Ugly Girls, by Lindsay Hunter (Bookslut)
- Into the Go-Slow, by Bridgett M Davis (Bookslut)
- Insel, by Mina Loy (Bookslut)
- The White Beauty Myth (The Hairpin)
- Black Girls Don't Read Sylvia Plath (The Hairpin)
- I Am, I Am, I Am: Writing While Black and Female (The Toast)
- Nice Guys (The Toast)
- Welome to Connecticut. Now Go Home. (The Toast)
- Nicki Minaj Shows the Importance of Fighting Abortion Stigma (Bitch Magazine)
- Lemony Snicket and a Series of Predictably Racist Events (Bitch Magazine)
- Vanessa Willoughby (Karma Loop)
- Vanessa Willoughby (Literally, Darling)
- Bloodletting Season (Good Reads)
Locations
Mikki Kendall
Because I also work in comics and speculative fiction my audience is larger than average and spans a wide variety of communities.
Links
- The police can’t police themselves. And now the public is too scared to cooperate with them. (Washington Post)
- All pieces - Bustle (Bustle)
- Leaking Photos Is Sexual Assault, and It's Time to Stop Blaming the Victims (XO Jane)
- The Harassment Game (Model View Culture)
- John Crawford: Killed Holding a 'Gun' in an Open Carry State (Ebony)
- All pieces - RH Reality Check (RH Reality Check)
- A Nigerian Sorceress Makes Her Way (Publisher's Weekly)
Jacqui Germain
Julianne Hing
I’m a freelance reporter and writer soon to be based in New York City (May 2015).
Links
- LA Girls and Women of Color Demand ot Be Heard Amidst My Brother's Keeper (Color Lines)
- Dispatch from Murrieta, Calif.: Protesting Migrant Children (Color Lines)
- The Chinese American Community Grapples With Affirmative Action, and Itself (Color Lines)
- Oscar Grant Called Me Grandma (Color Lines)
Topics
Locations
Fariha Roisin
I’m hardworking, and a very, VERY good writer that deserves more work, if I do so say so myself! I have written a book and I would like to get it published soon! Everything from Race—to Films/TV Show—Pop Culture—to Zayn Malik—to Feminism—to Serial Killers. I can write the shit out of many things. I love writing about all the aforementioned topics because I can write passionately about them by applying personal experiences, facts, and history on to them, creating a tapestry of writing that is both profound, and entertaining.
Links
- Let Me Love You (The Hairpin)
- Free Speech has not been kind to Muslims (Aljazeera America)
- Devil in Disguise (N+1)
- Not The Way White Girls Do (The Hairpin)
Kelsey Riley
Kelsey is a live tweeter, cultural critic, militant millennial and proud HBCU grad who has traveled the world. She is surviving her Quarter-Life Crisis and is a Chicago native.