Once a journalist, always a journalist. Rochelle Riley has dedicated much of her life to finding and writing about the truth.
Riley is currently the Director of Arts and Culture for the City of Detroit. Before that, she was a senior writer for the Dallas Morning News and went on to be a nationally syndicated columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Her work highlighting ways to improve race relations and other system issues plaguing communities across the country.
“I was always taught that you have to work twice as hard for half the credit,” Riley said in an interview regarding race relations in America. “You need to see us. You need to see this problem and you need to understand how this is.”
Her 2018 book, “The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impacts of Slavery” uncovers truths that are deeply rooted in American society. The essays within the book cover a wide range of perspectives into the African American experience -- one that has been an uphill battle for more than 400 years.
In her interview, Riley talks about her hope for the future and how we can get there, collectively.
