Reading List #23 (Patreon)

Hey guys! This week's accidental theme is investigative journalism. Half of these pieces are long, and SPILL SO MUCH TEA! Here are 8 articles I recommend. 

1) The Welfare Queen (Josh Levin) 12/19/13

This is a sprawling piece of investigative journalism into the life of the woman who sparked the Welfare Queen myth. Linda Harris's life is a true roller coaster ride, and I find this piece both disturbing and illuminating because she did things much worse than committing welfare fraud. Settle in with a cup of tea for this one.

Read Length: Long

2) "We Were Madly, Madly In Love": The Untold History of MLK's White Girlfriend (Patrick Parr) 4/1/18

In this piece a white woman (first alleged to have had a romantic relationship with Martin Luther King Jr in 1968) is tracked down to recount details on the stunning connection. It turns out MLK was pretty serious about the woman, named Betty, but he cared too much about his career to follow through with a long term relationship or marriage.

The only time King ever made a reference to Betty in public comes from a 1964 MLK biography by Lerone Bennett, titled What Matter of Man. In it, Bennett masks the quote with a tricky set of pronouns, so the source of it is unclear. King, then a married father, is quoted as saying: “She liked me and I found myself liking her. But finally I had to tell her resolutely that my plans for the future did not include marriage to a white woman.”

Read Length: Medium

3) We Saw Nuns Kill Children: The Ghosts of St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage (Christine Kenneally) 

First, let me give you a heads up: this piece is LONG. But by the time you finish reading it, whatever disgust you had for the Catholic Church's flippant attitude towards sexual abuse will be tenfold. The author does a good job of sowing doubt in your mind towards claims of a murder throughout the piece, but thanks to her amazing investigation, nearly everything is clarified into undoubtable truth. There are tons of pictures that make this piece even more eerie.

Read Length: Long

4) America’s prisoners are going on strike in at least 17 states (German Lopez) 8/22/18

A quick guide to the currently occurring prison strike that is barely being covered in mainstream media. 

Read Length: Medium

5) What Dorothy Porter’s Life Meant for Black Studies (Kara Bledsoe) 8/22/18

This woman impacted the discipline of black studies and I can't recall hearing of her before this article. 

An avid bibliophile and writer, Porter earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard, then made her way to New York at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, where she became acquainted with some of the movement’s biggest names. Throughout her education, she coupled her passion for Africana with her interest in cataloguing and preservation. She persevered through discouragement and discrimination, becoming the first Black woman to receive a library science degree from Columbia.

Read Length: Short

Because this article is so short, here's related reading on her:

The Early Life and Library of Dorothy Porter (Julie Botnick)

Read Length: Long

6) Revealed: Notorious Pro-Trump Misinformation Site True Pundit Is Run By An Ex-Journalist With A Grudge Against The FBI (Craig Silverman) 8/27/18

BuzzFeed News with another spectacular piece of investigative journalism. I'd personally love to see more pro-Trump media outlets and personalities dissected with such care. 

Reading Length: Long

7) The Risks and Rewards of Royal Incest (David Dobbs) September 2010

Watching a friend livetweet her thoughts on Game of Throne sparked my interest in the prevalence of incest in royal families throughout history. 

Read Length: Short

8) Mel Mermelstein Survived Auschwitz, Then Sued Holocaust Deniers in Court (Patrick Sauer) 8/27/18

It never gets any easier to hear people deny the Holocaust- a gruesome historic event that has spawned endless studies, scholarship, and literature that are testaments to its existence. This piece documents one man's journey to have the Holocaust declared real in a court of law. 

Read Length: Medium