Karen Grigsby Bates

The reports from the border this week sent a collective shudder through many Japanese American communities around the country.

While the nation mourns the loss of the chef, writer and humanitarian, many people in communities on the margins are especially sad at the loss of a friend and champion.

"Cesar Chavez understood that (Bobby) was one of the only white politicians — maybe the only one — who truly and instantaneously got what was going on with the farm workers." Biographer Larry Tye

A love story between a black Army nurse and a German POW during World War II? You couldn't make that story up — and Alexis Clark, author of the upcoming book, Enemies in Love, didn't.

A group of black women gathered in Los Angeles to watch Meghan Markle marry her prince. They discussed their joy and pride in seeing a biracial Angeleno become a royal.

The end of Bill Cosby's trial also in effect marked the end of his career as a beloved entertainer and cultural icon. NPR looks back at Cosby's work as an entertainment pioneer, and how his growing conservatism and legal troubles have dimmed that luster for many of his admirers.

Kevin Young's new book of poetry, Brown, is colored by memories from his family and childhood, U.S. history and black culture.

National Geographic has released an issue on race. Which, considering the magazine's history on race, is either intriguing or ironic. Maybe both.

"Whoever thought that 50 years later, we'd still be talking about the same things? That's kinda sad," Kerner Commission member Fred Harris said.

Tayari Jones' new novel tells a story of love, race, justice and what happens when "normal" people come face-to-face with the unthinkable.