I guess you could say I've written a lot about one thing as a journalist. But I hardly ever saw it as exclusively about race. To my mind, it was more about telling stories of people who existed outside the mainstream's field of vision. Invisible people.

I didn't go into journalism thinking it would solidify my identity. I did it because I needed to make a living, and I was proficient in writing. But in becoming a journalist, I learned about other people who felt like they were on the edges of American mainstream life.

The thing about stereotypes as we all know, there is often truth in them, but it's almost always a partial truth.

You are validating someone's life by telling their story. Even if it's a sad one.

The one thing you've got to say about Columbia is that it has courses that are famous. It has alumni who come back and say it was the best thing they ever did.

When you're someone in the media, the good thing is, I guess, that you can reach a lot of people.