Farai Chideya -mash down cultural sterotypes

From Rastafari Education Daily,
A regular column by kaya, Sep 03, 2005         

Summary: Ms. Chideya made such an impression on I when I read her "Dont Believe the Hype" a book that exposes the Welfare Myths about Black People in this country. I promise if you read this book you will see just how "brainwashed" even the most Afrocentric pan African in this country truly is. All of her books are eye opening and I encourage readers to read them if you havent allready!

 
Farai Chideya is a multimedia journalist who has worked in print, television, online, and radio. 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. Prior to joining NPR's News & Notes with Ed Gordon, Chideya hosted Your Call, a daily news and cultural call-in show on San Francisco's KALW 91.7 FM. Chideya has also 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. She got her start as a researcher and reporter at Newsweek magazine. In 1997 Newsweek named her to its "Century Club" of 100 people to watch. Chideya, who was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated with a B.A. from Harvard University magna cum laude in 1990, is also the founder of PopandPolitics.com, an online journal for younger Americans. Chideya and PopandPolitics.com have won awards including a MOBE IT Innovator award, being named one of Alternet's New Media Heroes, and ranking in PoliticsOnline.com's worldwide survey of "25 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics." Chideya has published three books. Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African-Americans (Plume Penguin is now in its eighth printing). The stereotype-shattering 1995 book, printing was so well researched and left INI with a real taste in our mouths of just how the system lies and how people are eager to believe it!! Both this book and her second "The Color of Our Future" were award winners. The Color of Our Future was named one of the best books for teens by the New York Public Library. It and Don't Believe the Hype are featured in college curricula across the country including Duke, Syracuse, and Stanford Universities. In 2001-2002, she was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University,which disburses over $20 million in journalism-related grants each year. Chideya's newest book, Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters (Soft Skull, 2004), shows why half of Americans are cut out of the political system -- and what we can do about it. She has published articles in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Time, Spin, Vibe, O, The California Journal, Mademoiselle, and Essence. Awards for her writing and broadcast work include a 2004 “Young Lion” award from the Black Entertainment & Telecommunications Association (BETA), a GLAAD Award for the Spin article “Hip Hop’s Black Eye,” and a National Education Reporting Award for work at Newsweek.

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