Karen Attiah

Washington, D.C.

Columnist writing on international affairs, culture and human rights issues.

Education: Northwestern University, BA in communication studies, minor in African Studies; Columbia University, master's in international affairs

Karen Attiah is a columnist for The Washington Post and writes a weekly newsletter. She joined The Post in 2014 as a digital producer in the Opinions section. Attiah often writes on issues relating to race, gender and international politics, with a special interest in Africa. Previously, she reported as a freelancer for the Associated Press while based in the Caribbean. Attiah was the winner of the 2019 George Polk Award and was the 2019 Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists.
Latest from Karen Attiah

It was Ta-Nehisi Coates who asked the tough questions on ‘CBS Mornings’

Tough questions are always welcome. That’s why Ta-Nehisi Coates is always asking them.

October 14, 2024
Ta-Nehisi Coates in Atlanta on June 7, 2023.

A painful divide in Black feminism will be a reckoning for Harris

Keeping silent on Gaza is too steep a price to pay for electing the first Black woman president.

August 19, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign bus stops in Moon Township, Pa., on Sunday. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

At NABJ, Trump was both a missile and a mirror

At the NABJ convention, Donald Trump was given a forum to attack and degrade us while we listened politely. Is no price too high for access?

August 1, 2024
Donald Trump, left, and Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, right, at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday. (Joel Angel Juarez for The Washington Post)

The senseless police killing of Sonya Massey is a call to action

Vice President Harris should lead on the intolerable pattern of Black women being fatally shot by police — even in their own homes.

July 29, 2024
Edward Ward, left, and Rev. Chauncey Brown join marchers on Saturday protesting the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in Chicago. (Joel Angel Juarez for The Washington Post)

The first clean-up job for Harris is Biden’s horrible Gaza policy

Young Americans won’t vote for further support of Israel’s brutal war.

July 24, 2024
Vice President Harris speaks at a campaign event at West Allis Central High School on Tuesday. (Sara Stathas for The Washington Post)

Biden’s silence on Tulsa survivors is a growing pain point

The very least Biden could do is announce support for a federal investigation into the Tulsa massacre.

July 15, 2024
Viola Ford Fletcher inside Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library on Aug. 24, 2023.  (Gioncarlo Valentine for The Washington Post; Wardrobe styling, hair and makeup by The Teknique Group)

How to be patriotic in today’s America

Post columnists on how to build a new sense of belonging.

July 4, 2024

America, we love you. But it’s hard.

It’s the week of the Fourth of July and the word patriotism is as divisive as the rest of American politics. Theodore Johnson, Karen Attiah and Jason Rezaian discuss the good and the bad about the United States, and how to reconcile its shortcomings while pushing for a better future.

July 3, 2024

What the Caitlin Clark uproar is really about

The rookie phenom has handled her arrival in the WNBA with grace. Her most extreme fans, not so much.

June 21, 2024
Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards (24) in D.C. on June 7.  (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)

No one should be surprised a Black politician is the canary in AIPAC’s coal mine

Will Democrats allow their foes to choose their candidates? New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman hopes not.

June 11, 2024
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference in D.C. on May 23. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters)