Rochelle Riley

ROCHELLE RILEY’s commentary on social, political and cultural issues appears in the Detroit Free Press. She also blogs at www.rochelleriley.com. She makes frequent television and radio appearances, including on National Public Radio, WDET and WDIV’s “Flashpoint.” And she is a public speaker who addresses college students, women’s groups and business and family organizations around the country.

Rochelle writes passionately about, among many things: responsible government, community responsibility, public education, children aging out of foster care and Michigan’s reading crisis. At the Detroit Free Press, she has waged a 10-year campaign to improve adult literacy, recruiting thousands of volunteers and tens of thousands of dollars to the cause.

But the two things Rochelle has done most consistently is advocate for improved race relations and improved lives for Michigan’s children.

Rochelle’s career has taken her around the country with stints at The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post and the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where her 1996 debut column, which called for a museum honoring Louisville native Muhammad Ali, helped spur an $80 million campaign to build the Muhammad Ali Center, which opened in 2005.

Rochelle has won many state and national honors, including four Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association awards for best column writing and the 2011 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. She was the 2011 recipient of the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for community service. She just received the 2011 Neal Shine Award for Media Commitment to Philanthropy from the Association of Fundraising Professionals for her dedication in and work around Detroit. The Michigan Press Association has named her Michigan’s best local columnist three times, most recently in 2010.

She was born in Tarboro, N.C. and earned her journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was named the 2010 Harvey Beech Outstanding Alumna last year. She was a 2007 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, where she studied social media, film and creative writing.

She is the author of three collections – “From the Heart,” “Life Lessons” and the current “Raising A Parent: Lessons My Daughter Taught Me While We Grew Up Together.” She has just completed her first novel.

To schedule Rochelle for an appearance, interview, acting gig, recording session, speaking engagement or soap opera, please send an e-mail to rochelle@churchstreetmedia.com with the time, date and explanation of event. Please include how long you want Rochelle to speak and how long you want her to stay at the event.