Erin Aubry Kaplan is a journalist, essayist and columnist who was the first weekly African American opinion columnist for the L.A. Times. She writes regularly for the LAT, the New York Times and has published two books, “Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line” and “I Heart Obama.” In 2019, she was honored for socially impactful journalism by the progressive news website Capital & Main. She teaches creative writing at Antioch University Los Angeles.