Mark Reynolds Interview
Mark Reynolds is a critic/essayist at the intersection of history, race, and culture. Mark began writing in the ’80s and had a long tenure at PopMatters, where he published the long-running “Negritude 2.0” column.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
I actually didn’t set out to do print work. My first love was radio, and a few years after graduating college, I did an unpaid stint at the NPR station in Cleveland as a reporter and talk show host, just to get some current experience. Part of that work was writing scripts, and I enjoyed flexing my writing muscles for the first serious time.
After a few years of that, I wrote a letter to the editor of the local alt-weekly, Cleveland Edition, responding to some piece about a local Black journalist. The editor got in touch with me, and that dialogue resulted in me freelancing for the paper (my first professional byline was a cover story!) I wrote mostly about local racial issues and a few book reviews, and also picked up gigs at other local Black and Brown publications (one of which was where I met my wife).