Beth Macy

We need more leadership at every level: federal, state, and local. ”

My favorite novel ever is Abraham Verghese's 'Cutting for Stone.' It takes you so many places. I stayed up to 4 in the morning to finish it. ”

Photographers do more assignments than reporters do, so they know their communities better. ”

The heart of 'Truevine' is about the travails of two strong black women who agitate to get justice for their family. ”

So many white people don't want to talk about race; it's uncomfortable. Many reason that slavery happened more than a century ago, and people alive today had nothing to do with it. But the particulars of these stories, from slavery to segregation to civil rights and mass incarceration, are at the marrow of life in America today. ”

What I always do is go with the stories that put up the hair on the back of my neck or make me cry or make me laugh. ”

My husband and I like to listen to books on road trips. ”

You need time to build relationships with subjects to win their trust. ”

I think of Harriet Muse as one fierce lady. She couldn't read. She had no education. She did labor her whole life. And she stood up to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey at a time where she was told where to work, where to sit, and she demanded that they pay attention to her. ”

My dad was a house painter. He was often unemployed by the time I came along. ”