Journalist Michele Norris is writing a book inspired by her Peabody Award–winning Race Card Project.
Simon & Schuster will publish Norris’ Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity next year, the press announced in a news release. Simon & Schuster describes the book as “a transformative dialogue on race and identity in America.”
Norris, a columnist for the Washington Post, founded the Race Card Project in 2010, when she was a co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered. The project invited people to share their thoughts on the word race in six words.
The submissions, Simon & Schuster says, “have been challenging and complicated. In the twelve years since…Norris first posed that question, over half a million people have submitted their stories to The Race Card Project inbox. The stories are shocking in their depth and candor, spanning the full spectrum of race, ethnicity, identity, and class.” Some sample submissions included “White privilege, enjoy it, earned it” and “Lady, I don’t want your purse.”
Norris’ book contains essays, stories, and photographs inspired by the project. The cover features a painting by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson, known for his New Yorker magazine covers and children’s books, including The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander.
“This powerful book offers an honest, if sometimes uncomfortable, conversation about race and identity, permitting us to eavesdrop on deep-seated thoughts, private discussions, and long submerged memories,” Simon & Schuster says.
Our Hidden Conversations is scheduled for publication on Jan. 16, 2024.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
