Isabel Wilkerson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Isabel Wilkerson
Wilkerson at the 2010 Texas Book Festival
Born	1961 (age 63–64) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, author
Education	Howard University (BA)
Genre	Journalism, History
Notable works	The Warmth of Other Suns Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Notable awards	George S. Polk Award Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

Isabel Wilkerson, born in 1961, is an American journalist and a famous author. She wrote two important books: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (2010) and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020). She made history as the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

Wilkerson was the main editor for her college newspaper at Howard University. She also worked as an intern at big newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Later, she became the Chicago Bureau Chief for The New York Times. She has also taught journalism at several universities.

For her book The Warmth of Other Suns, Wilkerson talked to over a thousand people. This book shares the stories of African Americans who moved from the Southern states to cities in the North and West during the 20th century. Her book Caste explains how racial differences in the United States can be seen as a caste system, like in other parts of the world. Both of her books became best-sellers.

Early Life and Education

Isabel Wilkerson was born in Washington, D.C. in 1961. Her parents had moved from Virginia as part of the Great Migration. Her father, Alexander Wilkerson, was one of the brave Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

Wilkerson studied journalism at Howard University. While there, she became the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, The Hilltop. During her college years, she gained experience by interning at well-known newspapers.

Career Highlights

In 1994, Isabel Wilkerson was working as the Chicago Bureau Chief for The New York Times. That year, she became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. She won the award for her amazing stories about the 1993 midwestern floods. She also wrote a moving story about a 10-year-old boy who was taking care of his four younger brothers and sisters. Some of her articles are even in a book called Pulitzer Prize Feature Stories.

Wilkerson has also been a professor at several universities. She taught journalism at places like Emory University, Princeton University, and Boston University.

The Warmth of Other Suns

After fifteen years of hard work, research, and writing, Wilkerson published The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration in 2010. This book explores the three main paths African Americans took when they left the Southern states between 1915 and the 1970s. She tells these stories through the real-life experiences of people who made these journeys. To write the book, Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,000 people who were part of this big move.

The book quickly became a huge success. It reached number 5 on The New York Times Bestseller list for nonfiction. Many reviewers, including The New York Times and The New Yorker, listed it as one of the best books of 2010. In 2011, The Warmth of Other Suns won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. It also won several other important awards, like the Anisfield-Wolf Award.

In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Wilkerson with a National Humanities Medal. This award recognized her for "championing an unsung history," meaning she brought attention to important stories that had not been widely told.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Wilkerson's 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, suggests that the way society is divided by race in the United States is like a caste system. She compares it to similar systems found in India and even in Nazi Germany.

Many people praised Caste. A review in The New York Times called it "an instant American classic." Publishers Weekly described it as a "powerful and extraordinarily timely social history." The book was chosen for Oprah Winfrey's Book Club, and Oprah herself said she was deeply moved by it. Caste became the number one nonfiction best-seller on The New York Times list. In October 2020, Netflix announced that Ava DuVernay would create a movie based on Caste.

Personal Life

Isabel Wilkerson has been married twice. She married Roderick Jeffrey Watts in 1989. Later, she married Brett Kelly Hamilton in 2009. Sadly, Hamilton passed away in 2015 after being ill for some time.

Awards and Honors

Isabel Wilkerson has received many awards for her excellent journalism and writing:

• 1993: George S. Polk Award for Regional Reporting
• 1994: Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Writing
• 1994: Journalist of the Year award from the National Association of Black Journalists
• 1998: Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2010: National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) for The Warmth of Other Suns
• 2011: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for The Warmth of Other Suns
• 2015: National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities
• 2020: Los Angeles Times Book Prize Current Interest winner for Caste

She has also received honorary doctorates from many universities, which are special degrees given to honor her achievements.

Legacy and Impact

In 2023, Ava DuVernay directed a movie called Origin. This film is a drama about Isabel Wilkerson and how she wrote her book Caste. The actress Aunjanue Ellis played Isabel Wilkerson in the movie. She described Isabel as a "journalistic, literary Indiana Jones," meaning she is a brave and adventurous researcher. The film explores Wilkerson's personal experiences and her deep look into the history of race in the United States.

Wilkerson's book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents was part of efforts to remove books from some libraries in Texas in 2023. Wilkerson has said that such actions actually "brings more attention to the necessity of reading and knowing our history."

See also

In Spanish: Isabel Wilkerson para niños