Farai Chideya is a multi-media journalist who has worked in print,
television, and online. Five years ago she founded
PopandPolitics.com, an online
journal of news and opinion for a diverse national and international audience.
She is currently a Knight Fellow at Stanford University.
Chideya has been a correspondent for ABC News, anchored the prime time
program "Pure Oxygen" on the Oxygen women's channel, and contributed
commentaries to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and BET. In 1996 Chideya spent the Presidential
election season as a CNN Political Analyst and was named to the New York Daily
News' "Dream Team" of political reporters and commentators.
Chideya's stereotype-shattering 1995 book, Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting
Cultural Misinformation About African-Americans (Plume Penguin) is now in its
eighth printing. In 1999, William Morrow published her second book, The Color of
Our Future. Both books have been featured in college curricula across the
country, including Duke, Syracuse, and Stanford Universities. From 1994-96
Chideya was a writer at MTV News, and from 1990 to 1994 she reported for
Newsweek magazine in New York, Chicago and Washington, where her political
coverage ranged from labor issues to following the President as a pool reporter
on Air Force One.
She was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland
and graduated with a B.A. from Harvard University magna cum
laude in 1990.
Farai is thrilled about the publication of her first novel in
May 2009 by Atria Books. It's called Kiss the Sky, and Essence
Magazine has named it its book club pick for the month of May.
Kiss The Sky tracks the life of Sophie “Sky” Lee, a
thirtysomething black rock musician making a comeback in New
York City in 2000. There are a few hitches to her plans: Sky's
guitarist is her mercurial, drug-abusing ex-husband; her manager
is also her boyfriend; and Sky herself is frightened of the cost
she'll pay to reach the pinnacle of fame. Add to that her
struggles with religion, her family, and her meddling
girlfriends and you have a book which blends substantial themes
of love, faith, and longing with contemporary pop culture. Kiss
the Sky also has a catalogue of music references on par with
books like High Fidelity
Trust
: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters
Click to order via Amazon
ISBN: 1932360263 Format: Paperback, 245pp Pub. Date: September 2004 Publisher: Soft Skull Press, Inc.
In these provocative pieces, Farai Chideya looks at and beyond the daily
political struggles to the heart of a nation at war with itself. The 2000
election highlighted the rift between liberal/conservative and Red State/Blue
State. But that superficial crack, says Chideya, indicates much more serious,
indeed foundational, damage. The United States, she argues, lacks the moral,
legal, and psychological framework for debating complex issues in a pluralistic
society, relying instead on an outdated dichotomy model that says each issue has
two opposing sides instead of many interested parties. Covering recent and
current campaigns and controversies, Chideya skips the easy answers, showing how
black-and-white thinking (a key element of the Bush administration) stifles our
moral and political responses. Topics include the War on Drugs, prisons, the
Bush tax cuts, and, on a hopeful note, the silver lining of the 2000
presidential election.
Who are the 100 million Americans—half of the electorate—who
are unlikely to vote in 2004? Political analyst Farai Chideya looks beyond
day-to-day political struggles to the heart of a nation at war with itself. The
contentious 2000 election was decided by only 537 votes, while millions of
Americans stayed away from the polls. It highlighted the rift between
liberal/conservative and " Red State "/ " Blue State ." But that already
profound divide is evidence of a much more serious, indeed foundational, damage
in our society. The United States , Chideya argues, lacks the moral, legal, and
psychological framework for debating complex issues in a pluralistic society.
Instead we rely on an outdated idea of dichotomy, that each issue has two
opposing sides instead of many interested parties. And in so doing, we have
lost, in effect disenfranchised, half the country.
Chideya's title essay compliments many other ones written in
the course of covering campaigns and controversies. She skips the easy answer,
showing how black/white thinking (a key element of the Bush Adminstration)
restricts our moral and political responses. A real democracy will allow us to
acknowledge the complexity of our own lives, as well as our political interests.
As we do that, we will be able to craft a working vision of government and civic
life.
Format: Hardcover, 272pp. ISBN: 0688165303 Publisher: Morrow,William & Co Pub. Date: January 1999
Since the Civil Rights movement, most Americans have thought of race as a
black and white issue. That won't be the case for long. By the year 2050, there
will be more nonwhite than white Americans, and most of the nonwhite population
will be Asian and Latino, not black. Increasingly, America is becoming a
multiracial society. Americans in their teens and twenties are at the forefront
of this cultural revolution. In The Color of Our Future, young journalist Farai
Chideya explores how members of the next generation deal with race in their own
lives and how the decisions they make determine America's future.
Don't
Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans Click to order via Amazon
Chideya's stereotype-shattering 1995 book, Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting
Cultural Misinformation About African-Americans (Plume Penguin), is now in its
eighth printing. Using statistics, she systematically undercuts the argument
that African-Americans are at the root of problems like crime, welfare and
drugs.
Related Links
Farai Chideya...
Wednesday's show: The Future of the Democratic Party The
Case for the Secular Church By Farai Chideya Democrats right now are like one of
... www.faraichideya.com/
Pop and Politics... Trust. by Farai Chideya. The right to vote is something
we now take for granted. ... more », The “Lord of the Beltway” Political Geek
Quiz. by Farai Chideya. ... www.popandpolitics.com
Farai has something good to say about AALBC.com...