Brent Staples (born 1951) is an American author and member of the editorial board of The New York Times, where he specializes in coverage of education, criminal justice and economics.
His parents moved from rural Virginia to Chester as part of the Second Great Migration of Southern Blacks to urban centers in the North.
[11] He was convinced to attend Widener University (then known as Penn Morton College) by the only African American professor at the school as part of a program named Project Prepare.
[16] Staples taught psychology at Widener University and various institutions in Chicago from 1977 to 1981, but began to pursue a separate career track in journalism.
[17] His essay "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space", published in Ms. Magazine in 1986,[18] was so influential that it soon became required reading in numerous college courses.
[7] In a 1994 interview with Paul Galloway of the Chicago Tribune,[19] Staples reflected: "Being Black enriches my experience; it doesn't define me ....
[20] His editorials highlighted the history of racism in the United States and were described by the Pulitzer Prize committee as being "written with extraordinary moral clarity".