Rachel L. Swarns facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rachel L. Swarns
Swarns in 2012
Born	1967 (age 57–58) New York City, U.S.
Education	Howard University (BA) University of Kent (MA)
Occupation	Reporter, author, journalism professor

Rachel L. Swarns, born in 1967, is an American author, news reporter, and professor. She has worked for The New York Times since 1995. There, she has been a reporter and a foreign correspondent. Since 2017, she has also taught journalism at New York University. Swarns has reported from many places, including Cuba, Russia, and southern Africa. In Africa, she was the head of the Times' office in Johannesburg. She has written several books, including American Tapestry (2012), which explores the family history of Michelle Obama. She also helped write Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives. In 2023, she published The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church. This book tells the story of families who were forced into labor and sold to help build the American Catholic Church.

About Rachel Swarns

Rachel Swarns has shared details about her life and family. In 2023, she wrote an article for The New York Times about her family and her religious beliefs. She described herself as "a Black woman and practicing Catholic." This article came out around the same time as her book. Her book shows how the Catholic Church in the U.S. was connected to the practice of forcing people to work without pay. Swarns's mother moved to the U.S. from the Bahamas. She raised her children on Staten Island. A well-known Catholic activist named Dorothy Day was a godmother to one of Swarns's uncles.

Her Reporting Career

Before joining The New York Times, Rachel Swarns worked for other newspapers. These included the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times. She covered important topics like the justice system and policing. She reported on the L.A. riots. Swarns also reported from Cuba, covering Guantánamo Bay and the visit of former Pope John Paul II. She was part of a team that investigated the damage after Hurricane Andrew. This team won a Pulitzer Prize for their work. She also covered the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns.

Important Investigations

In 2016, Swarns wrote a series of investigative stories. These stories looked into Georgetown University's historical ties to forcing people into labor. These reports gained a lot of attention across the country. She also investigated Black professional leaders in South Africa. Her work covered welfare reform policies under Rudy Giuliani. She also reported on health care, homelessness, and race relations in South Africa. Swarns covered civil unrest in Zimbabwe and the Angola civil war.