About the Author
Curtis Bunn is an award-winning journalist at NBC News BLK who has written about race and sports and social and political issues for more than 30 years in Washington, D.C., New York, and Atlanta. Additionally, he is a best-selling author of ten novels that center on Black life in America.
Michael H. Cottman is an author and award-winning journalist. He served as Program Editor for NBCU Academy, a journalism education and training initiative with the NBCUniversal News Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team. He is also the former Editorial Manager of NBCBLK, a division of NBC News Digital. Cottman is a former reporter for The Washington Post and The Miami Herald, among other publications. Cottman, who has received numerous awards, was also part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team for Newsday’s coverage of a deadly subway crash in New York in 1992. Cottman has authored, co-authored and edited eight non-fiction books and he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his work.
Patrice Gaines is author of the memoir Laughing in the Dark (Random House, 1995) and Moments of Grace (Random House, 1998). Gaines was a reporter at the Washington Post for 16 years. While at the Post, she was a member of a team nominated as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She was awarded a Soros Justice Media Fellowship to write a series of columns about the impact of incarceration on the Black community. At age 21, Gaines was found guilty of drug charges and forever labeled a “convicted felon.” In the decades since, she has spoken and taught in prisons and jails, and also lectured at colleges and conferences on the brutality and failure of America’s criminal justice system. Gaines is also a justice advocate and abolitionist.
Nick Charles has reported, written, and edited for various media at the local and national levels. He has been a reporter/writer and contributor to the Daily News, People, NPR, the Washington Post, The Undefeated, as well as several other publications. He was the Editor‑in‑Chief of AOL Black Voices and the VP of Digital Content for BET.com. Charles is the Managing Director of Word In Black, a collaborative of 10 Black-owned media and an editor and spokesperson for Save Journalism Project.
Keith Harriston is a writer based in Washington, D.C., who worked for 23 years as a senior newsroom manager, department editor, investigative reporter, and beat reporter covering public safety policy at The Washington Post. As a reporter at The Post, Harriston twice was a nominated finalist by the Pulitzer Prize Board. Since leaving The Post, Harriston has taught journalism at American University, Howard University, and George Washington University, where he currently is a professorial lecturer in journalism.
