Media
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Radio
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Television
Watch Patrice’s appearances on OPRAH and Dateline NBC.
How racism kills Black people
Black men embracing yoga to reduce stress
Why this artist built guitars out of a tree that was once used in a lynching
The creative process begins as soon as Freeman Vines touches the wood.
“Nobody believes me. The wood actually lives. Each wood has an inner spirit, and if you listen you will find some magnificent stuff on it,” Vines said, his voice thick with the accent of rural North Carolina, his home for 78 years and his family’s home since they were enslaved.
Families of the Charleston Church Shooting
What Does Forgiveness Look Like?
It’s in the eyes of some of those who lost loved ones a year ago at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Yes Magazine – Restoring Lives: Now That’s Justice
It was the summer of 2009. I was on my second day of work for the U.S. Census Bureau, knocking on doors in rural South Carolina. My cell phone rang. It was my supervisor. “Patrice, headquarters called me and told me to send you home immediately and to take back all government property,” she said. “I don’t know why.”
The New York Time – Lives; Local Color
I think I’m the only black person living in my South Carolina neighborhood of 1,100 residences. If there are others besides me, I haven’t seen them. I certainly have looked.
I didn’t think I cared who lived in this gated community, though I took note of its unfortunate name: River Hills Plantation. I moved here because it’s just outside Charlotte, N.C., where I lived in my younger days and still maintain friendships. I was looking for peace and quiet in my middle age, and when I saw this place, I fell in love with it…
Essence Magazine – After A Violent Death
Hank “Henry” Lloyd, Jr., was killed on a summer night by a gunman who fired wildly into a crowd of young men sitting on the steps of a Washington, D.C. church. Bullets also grazed my nephew, Brian, in four places and two of his friends were shot in the legs. Hank, who had just turned 19 and was headed for college, had stood up to make a point, the way boys do when they tell stories. Some believe that when Hank stood up, separating himself from the others, the gunman was able to shoot him in the head.
This Old House
When Patrice’s parents died, it was time to let go of the family homestead.
When my mother was dying, at the point when her body was weak but her mind was still alert, I took a lawyer friend by the house to help Mother make out her will. Her largest possession, the only thing she and my father had ever owned that was worth any money, was the house where they had raised their seven children, the house we moved into in 1963, the summer before I was in ninth grade.
Vive Les Femmes! A Villa Vacation to Cherish
A humorous tale of the vacation of 8 1/2 women in France
I call my most recent vacation “One villa, two weeks, and 8 1⁄2 women.” Of course, there was not half of a woman. It’s just that my friend Romenia Singleton, “The Goddess” from Tucson, was with us in the South of France for just one week – or half of our planned two-week vacation.
Radio
Do You Really Know Who's Behind Bars?
Michael Martin – TELL ME MORE from NPR News
There’s been a dramatic shift in the racial makeup of America’s prison inmates, especially female inmates. To find out why, host Michel Martin talks with Sentencing Project Executive Director Marc Mauer, and author Patrice Gaines, who has worked with women in prison for more than 20 years. They say changes in drug crime enforcement, sentencing laws, and the economic downturn all played a role.
What Happens When Justice Fails?
Michael Martin – TELL ME MORE from NPR News
Defense attorneys recently argued that the men convicted of a 1985 murder should be exonerated or given a new trial. Patrice Gaines reported on the crime, and had doubts about the police version. Years later, she re-investigated and talks about the case with host Michel Martin. Advisory: This segment may not be comfortable for some listeners.
From Prison to Power
In 2004, award-winning journalist Patrice Gaines teamed up with her good friend Gaile Dry-Burton to open the Brown Angel Center. Together, they run monthly workshops for imprisoned women in Charlotte. The two help inspire women to reflect on their past decisions and find the tools to move forward. Gaines is a former reporter for the Washington Post and the author of Laughing in the Dark and Moments of Grace: Meeting the Challenge to Change.
Snapshot: Good Cooking, Better Memories
From the world of high tech to the slower side of life, we head to Lake Wylie, South Carolina. That’s where former Washington Post reporter Patrice Gaines wrote today’s Snapshot. Patrice remembers how generations of good cooking shaped her own sense of family.
Ms. PATRICE GAINES (Former Reporter, Washington Post):
My grandmother made perfect biscuits – soft, flaky, golden on top. She made big pans of her biscuits for me whenever I visited her in Washington, D.C. She pulls them out of the oven and placed them lovingly on a dinner plate. She’d bring them to me along with a smaller saucer, a bottle of dark caramel syrup or Brer Rabbit Molasses. I’d slather the biscuits with butter, poured syrup or molasses into the saucer and use the bread to sop it up. I was in my 20s. I didn’t have to think about my waistline.
Snapshot: Setting Sail on “D.C. Homegirls”
National Public Radio® FARAI CHIDEYA, Host
This summer, she’s trying her best to stay cool. She’s also been thinking about family and what it means to be a modern black woman.
Ms. PATRICE GAINES, Washington Post):
When I was growing up, my mother and grandmother occasionally said with great love, you’ve got to be three times better than white people just to be treated equally. The first time I really felt the weight of their words, I was the only little black girl in my kindergarten class and I’d peed by pants. It was just an accident, but I felt like I’ve embarrassed all the descendants of African people. How would they ever recover?
Snapshot: Putting the ‘Patrice’ in P-Funk
National Public Radio® FARAI CHIDEYA, Host
A few weeks ago, we introduced you to Patrice Gaines. She used to be an award-winning reporter for the Washington Post, but she burned out on big city life, packed her bags and moved to small town Lake Wylie, South Carolina.
There is just one catch – she’s black and Lake Wylie is almost entirely white. That’s made for some interesting and fun cross-cultural experiences.
Ms. PATRICE GAINES (Award-winning Reporter):
As part of my 58th birthday celebration, my sister Carole, my friend, Jeanette and I, decided to see George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. Fans of the group are called funkateers, and we four women consider ourselves among the most faithful funkateers around.
Patrice Reads Poem Entitled “9/11” on WPFW Pacifica Radio
Patrice Reads Poem Entitled “The Peacemakers” On WPFW Pacifica Radio
Television
CN2 Newscast
September 23, 2020
Starts at 0:40
Patrice Gaines, a York County woman’s interaction with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.