Errin Haines

Errin Haines wants to shake up how we talk about race, gender and politics. As editor-at-large for The 19th—an independent, nonprofit newsroom that focuses on gender and politics—Haines is helping reshape the media narratives around Black women and their political power. (The 19th takes its name from the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote; the asterisks in the company logo acknowledge that the right mostly applied to white women.) The Atlanta native and MSNBC contributor, who was the national reporter of race and culture for the Associated Press before joining The 19* in January 2020, has been essential to the site's meteoric ascent by scoring major scoops—like Kamala Harris' first interview after she was named Joe Biden's running mate. Even before the death of George Floyd and the global protests that followed, Haines was writing stories about Breonna Taylor, helping bring national attention to her case while exploring whether Taylor's death didn't receive wider attention because she was a woman—a Black woman at that. When the coronavirus brought the campaign trail to a halt, Haines—with support from the Pulitzer Center—pivoted to documenting the lives of Philadelphia women of color during the pandemic in Portraits of a Pandemic. The project earned Haines the 2020 Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence, which honors journalists reporting on issues that significantly impact Black lives. We can expect to see more from Haines in the future: Earlier this year, she scored a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. The first, tentatively titled Twice As Good—which will chronicle the role of Black women in politics—will be published in early 2022.