Gene Demby

Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Gene Demby is the lead blogger for NPR's Code Switch team.

Before coming to NPR, he served as the managing editor for Huffington Post's BlackVoices following its launch. He later covered politics.

Prior to that role he spent six years in various positions at The New York Times. While working for the Times in 2007, he started a blog about race, culture, politics and media called PostBourgie, which won the 2009 Black Weblog Award for Best News/Politics Site.

Demby is an avid runner, mainly because he wants to stay alive long enough to finally see the Sixers and Eagles win championships in their respective sports. You can follow him on Twitter at @GeeDee215.

The George Zimmerman Trial, One Year Later

By Gene Demby • Jul 15, 2014

George Zimmerman's trial for killing Trayvon Martin became a flashpoint for raucous, heated debates — conversations about racial profiling, gun laws and the criminal justice system. Zimmerman's acquittal was seen by many as an outrage, but any outcome would have been unsatisfying for many people, since criminal trials are horrible proxies for the resolutions of big, thorny social issues.

Another Murder Case In Florida Sparks National Outrage

By Gene Demby • Feb 21, 2014

The Michael Dunn case is of a type that we see with harrowing regularity. An unarmed black man is shot and killed by a police officer or a white person. The shooter says he felt threatened.

Dolphins' Story Is About Race And Bullying, But Not The Way You Think

By Gene Demby • Nov 8, 2013

Over the last few days, the sports media has been transfixed by the story of Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito, two burly offensive lineman who play for the Miami Dolphins. Martin, a 24-year-old, second-year pro, abruptly walked away from the team last week after an incident with Incognito, 30, his frequent tormentor and the offensive line's unofficial leader.

The Talk: What Did You Tell Your Kids After The Zimmerman Verdict?

By Gene Demby • Jul 14, 2013

A few weeks ago, Levar Burton, the actor best-known for his role as Geordi LaForge in Star Trek and the host of the long-running kids' show Reading Rainbow, appeared on a CNN roundtable and offered up a sobering how-to on driving while black:

The Two Trials of George Zimmerman

By Gene Demby • Jul 9, 2013

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on NPR's Code Switch blog, which explores race, culture and ethnicity.

One gray spring afternoon last year, thousands of people descended on Manhattan's Union Square for a rally to call for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin. It had been several almost four weeks since Martin, an unarmed black 17 year-old, was killed by Zimmerman, then 28, who identifies himself as Hispanic, after a confrontation one Sunday night in a gated housing community where both Zimmerman and Martin's father resided.

The police in Sanford, Fla., held Zimmerman for a night and released him after deciding he'd acted in self-defense.

The Secret History of the Word 'Cracker'

By Gene Demby • Jul 1, 2013

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on NPR's Code Switch blog, which explores race, culture and ethnicity.

Last week, Rachel Jeantel took the stand in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin after an altercation. Jeantel was on the phone with Martin moments before the fateful encounter.

Jeantel said that Martin told her that a "creepy-ass cracker" was following him. She told Don West, George Zimmerman's attorney, that she didn't think the phrase was racist; West argued that it was.

Hold up a second. Cracker? In 2013?

LeBron James — 'Up, Up And Away'

By Gene Demby • Jun 20, 2013

LeBron James is Superman to Michael Jordan's Lex Luthor.

That's going to sound blasphemous, but more than the San Antonio Spurs, whom he faces for all of the marbles in tonight's NBA finals, or any other team he might face in the future, James' biggest foil is actually Michael Jordan, The Greatest Basketball Player Ever.™