As Cincinnati Enquirer race and social justice beat reporter, Mark Curnutte has covered the conflicts and triumphs of West End, Avondale, Walnut Hills, Kennedy Heights, and Evanston-many of the neighborhoods populated by black citizens of Cincinnati-with sensitivity and insightfulness for more than a quarter of a century. He explored neighborhoods and organizations and got to know African Americans around the city, his articles working as snapshots of the black experience. In Across the Color Line, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist compiles these snapshots into a moving view of race relations and the black community of Cincinnati across almost three decades.Curnutte's beat started in 1993 with his exploration of race relations in Cincinnati after a year of controversy that included racist comments by former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott and the Cincinnati City Council that allowed the Ku Klux Klan to place a cross in Fountain Square. The resulting series, "A Polite Silence," would mark the genesis of Curnutte'sjournalistic and personal immersion in the city's predominantly black communities.Curnutte highlights this personal journey in his introduction, discussing how his work resulted in relationships that would change his career and his life. His selected works cover a range of individual experiences, from black veterans who came home to a country that treated them like second-class citizens despite their service to the experiences of black youthsin their everyday lives. He shows readers how the families of Sam DuBose and Timothy Thomas have continued moving forward after their losses.

He gives readers a glimpse into the lives of civil rights icons Rosa Parks and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.In each article, Curnutte approaches his subjects with accuracy and allows them their inherent dignity, shedding light on their lives while covering the facts. The narrative he weaves offers readers a snippet of what it means to be black in Cincinnati, and it shows readers how, as a white man, his life's work did indeed change his worldview for the better.