Karen Grigsby Bates

Dumbfoundead: A Rising Star In A Genre In Transition

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:26:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZFRlV9G9eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmk4a76CXTw

'American Winter' Families Struggle To Survive Fall From Middle Class

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:26:00 +0000

It's a visual no parent wants to picture: a child describing what it's like to live in a house with no power for lights, heat or cooking. For many middle-class American parents, it's hard to imagine their family ever facing a situation like that.

1963 Emancipation Proclamation Party Lacked A Key Guest

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:52:00 +0000

Fifty years ago, the White House was the site of an unusual party.

It was a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation's centennial, held on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and many of the guests were descendants of the people Lincoln's historic document freed.

But noticeably absent was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Bloomingdale's Lays Out Welcome Mat To Chinese Shoppers

Karen Grigsby Bates — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:36:00 +0000

A number of luxury retailers are rolling out tactics this year to mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year. For Bloomingdale's in New York City, though, reaching out to Asian shoppers during the cultural celebration is a decades-long tradition.

The upscale department store's marketing strategy traces back to 1971, the year President Nixon lifted the U.S. trade embargo with the People's Republic of China.

'Living' In Color, Long Before 'Girls'

Karen Grigsby Bates — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:19:00 +0000

The second season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Girls begins Sunday night, but the show about 20-something girls navigating their social and work lives in New York has itself been criticized for not being diverse enough.

By now, most of you have heard the buzz about Girls: It's written by 26-year-old Lena Dunham, and stars a quartet of young women whose plans sometimes crash face-first into life's nasty realities.

The show's smart dialogue attracted writer Allison Samuels, a cultural critic for Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

"I love the writing," she says.

New Policy For Young Immigrants Creates Paperwork Deluge

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:03:00 +0000

In the six months since a new law opened a path to temporary legal status for some young immigrants in the U.S., more than 300,000 people have applied — and have rushed to request qualifying documents from their schools.

The law, Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, offers legal status, renewable every two years, to people ages 30 and younger who were brought to the country as children. Applicants must prove they were in the U.S.

Susan Straight: One Home Town, Many Voices

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:21:00 +0000

Think of all the great writers who have made their hometowns literary history — William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Thomas Wolfe, to name a few. Now, Susan Straight is getting the same praise for her portrayal of Riverside, Calif. It's a small town at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains, an hour east of Los Angeles.

Read any of Straight's 10 books, and you hear tales of a tight-knight black community in a working-class neighborhood, with voices that sound lively and real. Then you meet Straight, and do a double take: she is petite and blond.

Controversial Casting For A Nina Simone Biopic

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:26:00 +0000

The rumors that had been around for a couple of years have finally been confirmed: At long last, there's a film in the works about the turbulent life of Nina Simone, otherwise known as the "High Priestess of Soul."

Simone was famous from the 1950s through the '70s for her music and her civil rights activism. And although she died in 2003, her voice remains popular on TV, movie soundtracks and commercials.

Originally, hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige was slated to star in the film, called Nina, but she dropped out last year after shooting was delayed.

A Mohawk Hero In The Not-So-Diverse Gaming World

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:33:00 +0000

The Assassin's Creed video game series has become a megahit for gaming enthusiasts.

Robert Crais: LA Is A 'Natural Canvas' For Nightmare

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 07:26:00 +0000

It's been a few decades, and many published books, but Robert Crais can tell you exactly when mystery writing first caught his attention: He was a bright 15-year-old living in Baton Rouge, La., when he read Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister, which depicted the shady side of sunny Los Angeles through the eyes of private investigator Philip Marlowe.

Since then, Crais has found huge success with his own crime novels, also set in LA.

At Bravo, A Pop-Culture Kingpin Works Day And Night

Karen Grigsby Bates — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 08:10:00 +0000

Andy Cohen has been yakking for most of his 44 years. He has a book titled Most Talkative — a title he earned in high school.

"My mouth has been my greatest asset and also my biggest Achilles' heel," he says.

Most days, it's an asset.

You may not know who Cohen is, but if you've ever seen Top Chef or any of the Real Housewives series, you've seen his work.

A Trailblazing Black Architect Who Helped Shape L.A.

Karen Grigsby Bates — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:54:00 +0000

Paul Revere Williams began designing homes and commercial buildings in the early 1920s. By the time he died in 1980, he had created some 2,500 buildings, most of them in and around Los Angeles, but also around the globe. And he did it as a pioneer: Paul Williams was African-American. He was the first black architect to become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923, and in 1957 he was inducted as the AIA's first black fellow.

His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, has been chronicling Williams' life and work for the past two decades. Her latest book, Paul R.

Nailing The American Dream, With Polish

Karen Grigsby Bates — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:11:00 +0000
If you've had a manicure in California, odds are the person at the other end of the emery board was of Vietnamese heritage.
Vietnamese immigrants now dominate California's nail-care industry — and make up a significant percentage of all manicurists nationwide.
The story began with a hurried immigration after the fall of Saigon almost four decades ago.
Sparked by the interest of a group of refugees and the help of a Hollywood star, the demand for affordable manicures quickly became the foundation of the American dream for many Vietnamese newcomers.
On The Job Market, Fast

Obama To Visit View Park, Calif.

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:18:00 +0000
Transcript
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene.
The latest jobs numbers were worse than economists had been forecasting. And the unemployment rate for African-Americans in the United States is especially dismal. At 13.6 percent, it is nearly double the national average. Some analysts predict that could spell political trouble for President Obama.

The L.A. Riots: Looking Back At A City Under Siege

Karen Grigsby Bates — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:18:00 +0000
Twenty years ago Sunday, Los Angeles erupted into destructive riots after the verdict in the Rodney King trial. The violence lasted six days and left more than 50 dead and over $1 billion in damage. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates remembers; she lived in the one of the neighborhoods that went up in flames.
Several years ago, I interviewed Karl Fleming for the 40th anniversary of the Watts riots.

Rodney King Comes To Grips With 'The Riot Within'

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:23:00 +0000
With a helicopter buzzing overhead, the videotape of Rodney King's encounter with police is so famous, you could say he was beaten into American history: The image of him writhing in pain as several Los Angeles police officers repeatedly beat, kicked and tasered him is, by now, world-famous — and synonymous with abuse of power.
When four of the officers were charged with use of excessive force, many who'd seen the video assumed they would be convicted. But a year later, a mostly white jury in the far northwest L.A.

Data Reveals Complex Picture Of Hispanic Americans

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:02:00 +0000
Just over half of Americans of Spanish-speaking origin have no preference between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino," according to new data from the Pew Hispanic Center.
Of those with a preference, 33 percent preferred "Hispanic," versus the 14 percent who said "Latino" better describes them.
How Hispanic-Americans identify themselves is only one aspect of the detailed picture provided by the Pew study released Wednesday.

Whitney Houston, A 'Perfect Instrument,' Dies

Karen Grigsby Bates — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:09:00 +0000
On the eve of the 54th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, the conversation was all about Whitney Houston. The 48-year-old pop diva was discovered dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Saturday afternoon. The cause of her death was under investigation.
Houston died alone in the same hotel that was the venue for a party she had often entered in triumph: the annual pre-Grammy Awards bash given by her mentor, recording impresario Clive Davis.
It was at Davis' A-list party that a teenaged Houston was introduced to the recording industry.

Connie Rice: Conscience Of The City

Karen Grigsby Bates — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000
For years, civil rights attorney Constance Rice says, she would wake up every morning trying to figure out new ways to sue the Los Angeles Police Department into policing minority communities more fairly.
In her memoir, Power Concedes Nothing, Rice details how she went from the LAPD's antagonist to reformer, convincing police that they needed to court the backing and support of the city's African-American and Latino populations.
Relations between the attorney and the police force have warmed over the years: The LAPD even hosted Rice's book release party.
"It's pretty fitting tha

For Teens, Weight Loss Sculpts New Lives

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:46:00 +0000
Second of two stories, which are part of an ongoing series on obesity in America. The first part begins in August as students start their weight-loss journey at Wellspring Academy, a boarding school in Brevard, N.C. The second checks in with students in late October.

Dr. Conrad Murray Sentenced In King Of Pop's Death

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000
Michael Jackson's personal physician has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the pop icon's death in 2009. Because of overcrowding in California's state prisons, Murray will serve his sentence in a downtown jail.

School Transforms Teens' Lives, One Pound At A Time

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:58:00 +0000
First of two stories, which are part of an ongoing series on obesity in America. The first part begins in August as students start their weight-loss journey at Wellspring Academy, a boarding school in Brevard, N.C. The second checks in with the students a few months later.
The gravel road announces families' arrival at Wellspring before they actually get there.

Celebrity Lawyer Takes Spotlight In Cain Case

Karen Grigsby Bates — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000
It seems like hardly a month goes by without seeing celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred on television. This week, Allred was in the news again, representing one of presidential candidate Herman Cain's sexual harassment accusers. Her bold use of media to call attention to her clients' causes has earned the respect of some, but the irritation of others. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates has a profile.

Herman Cain And The Politics Of Race

Karen Grigsby Bates — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:01:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSRONjYVvAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkFlHLROyE

Jury Finds Dr. Murray Guilty In Pop Star's Death

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000
Dr. Conrad Murray is being held in a Los Angeles jail. Michael Jackson's personal physician was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Monday. Murray will be sentenced later this month and faces up to four years in prison.

Cornel West, A Fighter, Angers Obama Supporters

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:46:00 +0000
Princeton University professor Cornel West has spent much of the past year battling with incensed Obama supporters from Al Sharpton to street demonstrators who resent his criticism of the president.
"He's ended up being the black mascot of the Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats!" West has insisted in several national forums.
Observations like that have earned him scorn and ad hominem remarks ("spoilsport" and "Uncle Tom" are two of the more polite ones).

Immigrants' Status Explored In 'Barbarian Nurseries'

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:01:00 +0000
If Hector Tobar turns out to be the Charles Dickens or the Tom Wolfe of the 21^st century, he owes a big thank-you to the people of California.
Some of them, anyway.
"Really, 187's passage is what made me want to write this book," he says.
Proposition 187 was the now-infamous voter initiative that was on the ballot in 1994. It denied basic assistance — social services, health care and public education — to illegal immigrants. After a lengthy legal contest, the federal government declared 187 unconstitutional.

Redondo Beach: Unusual Leadership Dodges Red Ink

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:59:00 +0000
Part 4 of a 6-part series
The wall in the hallway outside the Redondo Beach Mayor's Office kind of says it all: There is row after row of smiling faces. Almost all male. All pale. Some blond, some gray. All very indicative of what many Americans still think of when you say "California beach city," until the last photo in the last row.
The current mayor is male, but he's Asian, and looks significantly younger than many of his predecessors. That alone would make 48-year-old Mike Gin a break with his predecessors. But he's also gay. And Republican.