Zenobia Jeffries Warfield

is the former executive editor at YES!, where she directed editorial coverage for YES! Magazine, YES! Media’s editorial partnerships, and served as chair of the YES! Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. A Detroit native, Zenobia is an award-winning journalist who joined YES! in 2016 to build and grow YES!’s racial justice beat, and continues to write columns on racial justice. In addition to writing and editing, she has produced, directed, and edited a variety of short documentaries spotlighting community movements to international democracy. Zenobia earned a BA in Mass Communication from Rochester College in Rochester, Michigan, and an MA in Communication with an emphasis in media studies from Wayne State University in Detroit. Zenobia has also taught the college course “The Effects of Media on Social Justice,” as an adjunct professor in Detroit. Zenobia is a member of NABJ, SABJ, SPJ, and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. She lives in Seattle, and speaks English and AAVE.

Articles By This Author

Issues

Introduction: Personal Journeys

Your work starts with you.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 16, 2022

Social Justice

Call for Submissions: The Pleasure Issue

Send us your leads and pitches by Jan. 23.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 4, 2022

Issues

Introduction: A New Social Justice

The theme for our 100th issue was inspired by the political earthquake of 2020 and the butterfly model of transformative social justice.

Sonali Kolhatkar, Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 15, 2021

Issues

The Third Reconstruction

New momentum in the continuing march toward a more equitable society.

Anoa Changa, Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 15, 2021

Dear Readers

Join Alicia Garza, Dallas Goldtooth, and More at Day 2 of YES! Fest

Get your free ticket for Oct. 7-8. You’ll also enjoy a panel on transformative justice and an "Ask YES! Anything" panel with our editors.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Sep 29, 2021

Issues

Getting to Enough

What is enough? The question is relative, and can be asked and answered in a number of ways. Answers may vary from quantitative to qualitative responses. We had this in mind when considering the question of enoughness: What is enough money, time, work, food, stuff?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Chris Winters | Aug 10, 2021

Issues

Telling a Different Story About What’s Going on and What’s Possible

A conversation with YES! founding editor Sarah van Gelder.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 10, 2021

Opinion | Social Justice

How Many More Times Must We Say the Same Thing?

No more reforms. It’s time for true transformation.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Apr 15, 2021

Issues

Evolving Into an Ecologically Civilized State of Mind

An interview with YES! Magazine co-founder David Korten.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 16, 2021

Issues

Toward an Ecological Civilization

The path toward an ecological civilization moves us from an uncivilized society based on selfish wealth accumulation to one that is community-oriented and life-affirming.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 16, 2021

Opinion | Democracy

This Is America

This country was founded on violence and desecration. If you want it to be better, prove it.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 7, 2021

Opinion | Social Justice

2020 Has Shown Us the Way Forward

As you spend time at the end of this year reflecting and setting goals for 2021, here’s one to consider.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Dec 29, 2020

Issues

Introduction: What the Rest of the World Knows

There are real solutions to our problems in the U.S., and we might find them by learning from the rest of the world.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 3, 2020

Introduction: The Black Lives Issue

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Angela Bronner Helm | Aug 26, 2020

Opinion | Social Justice

An Uprising Was Inevitable

George Floyd’s death—and so many before his—was avoidable. But until Black Lives Matter to elected officials, police officers, and White Americans, the uprisings will continue.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | May 29, 2020

Issues

A Vision for Racial Equity

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 19, 2020

Opinion | Democracy

What the White Debate Stage Says About Racial Equity

Is the U.S. really ready for change?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 14, 2020

Issues

The Collective Healing That Is Owed

Reparations is no longer only about a one-time payout to Black descendants of slavery.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 12, 2019

Issues

The Bridges We're Building

The United States has yet to live up to its foundational ideals of a union where “all [people] are created equal,” and deserving of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Today, we find ourselves polarized along so many different axes—race, politics, gender—that many people have retreated to the extremes. We look at those different from us not just as others, but sometimes as enemies.

Chris Winters, Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 12, 2019

Social Justice

How to Be an Antiracist: A Conversation With Ibram X. Kendi

In his new book, the professor challenges traditional definitions of racism, and who can be racist.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Oct 25, 2019

Opinion | Social Justice

It’s Time for Effective Oversight of Police Violence

Would the possibility of mandatory sentencing make a police officer think twice before pulling the trigger? What about them having to forego their pensions, or pay victims’ families from their 401Ks?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Oct 15, 2019

Social Justice

After Incarceration: The Truth About a Loved One’s Return from Prison

Author Ebony Roberts gives voice to the unspoken struggle many women face when a loved one comes home.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 7, 2019

Why “Radical” Travel?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Lornet Turnbull, Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz | Jul 31, 2019

Social Justice

The Declaration of Independence Told Us What to Do About Tyrants Like Trump

Are we courageous enough to take action?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jul 26, 2019

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Opinion | Social Justice

On Reparations, the Question Isn’t If, but When and How

The House subcommittee hearing held on Juneteenth is the result of centuries of work.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 19, 2019

Opinion | Social Justice

Police Are Still Killing Unarmed Black People

The Hands Up Act could do something about it.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 11, 2019

Opinion | Social Justice

“When They See Us” Is Triggering. That’s Why You Should Watch It

Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries pulls back the layers of a corrupt, barbaric system that devalues Black and Brown lives.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 5, 2019

Social Justice

Damon Young Tells His Story in “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker”

I think that we should all know by now that trying to do or alter our behavior in a way to appease Whites is useless.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | May 31, 2019

Environment

The Kitchen as Classroom: How Food Helps Students Learn Leadership

The Detroit Food Academy works with local educators, chefs, and business owners to teach young people entrepreneurial skills.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | May 7, 2019

Health & Happiness

The History and Political Power of Black Motherhood

Author Dani McClain wants us to stop pathologizing Black mothers’ experiences in this country.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Apr 25, 2019

Social Justice

“What Does the World Beyond Jails and Prisons Look Like?”

Detroit Justice Center helps returning citizens navigate the red tape that comes with re-entry and avoid landing back in jail.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Apr 18, 2019

Social Justice

8 Must-Reads by Women Who Take on White Supremacy and Patriarchal Power

These authors pull no punches in tackling head-on the topics of race, gender, and justice.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Mar 21, 2019

Issues

Research has shown that certain movies have caused social justice change, or simply inspired good things to happen.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 21, 2019

Social Justice

Black Lives Matter Is Making Single Moms Homeowners

In Louisville, the group is purchasing vacant homes for low-income families to promote stability in the community and fight gentrification.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 5, 2019

Opinion | Social Justice

The Part About MLK White People Don’t Like to Talk About

Dr. King was widely disliked for his message of liberation for oppressed people in this country—Black people, Brown people, Native people, all poor people.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 22, 2019

Introduction: The Good Money Issue

Chris Winters, Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz | Jan 15, 2019

Social Justice

Black Mothers Change the Narrative By Telling Their Stories

Black women have been poorly represented in the mainstream. So a new yearlong fellowship prepares women to redefine the stories that are being told and control who gets to tell them.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 9, 2019

Opinion | Social Justice

Don’t Trash Thanksgiving. Decolonize It.

Despite the holiday’s false origin tale, we can celebrate with our families in ways that honor those who the day originally dishonored.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 21, 2018

Opinion | Health & Happiness

Dear White Women, Try On Our Struggle Instead of Our Looks

Blackness is way more than an aesthetic.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 21, 2018

Issues

Why Co-ops and Community Farms Can’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Circulating local dollars can’t create wealth when there’s not enough to begin with.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 9, 2018

Social Justice

How Reporters’ Biases Can Affect the News

Students from a historically Black college and a predominantly White university come together and learn how to navigate the intersections of race, class, gender, and disability.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 7, 2018

Social Justice

A Way to Talk About Race, 6 Words at a Time

The Race Card Project eases people into conversations around the uneasy topic of race and racism.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Sep 13, 2018

Danny Glover on New Film “Sorry to Bother You” and the Myth of Postracial America

What the actor wants that “White voice” to tell us and how we’ve gotten the American Dream so wrong.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 3, 2018

Social Justice

My Life-Changing Switch to Only TV Shows That Feature Real Black Lives

Three years ago I left behind television’s traditional White male narrative and found shows that affirm Blackness.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 7, 2018

Democracy

The World Is a Miraculous Mess, and It’s Going to Be All Right

In her latest book, author adrienne maree brown envisions a world of abundant justice, abundant attention, and abundant liberation.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Mar 27, 2018

Social Justice

The Racist Origin of the Second Amendment and the Rise of Black Gun Ownership

Many people of color are faced with uneasy support for a civil right that began as a way to oppress them.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Mar 13, 2018

Khalid giving a lecture on the origins of the stereotypes of Black inferiority using Chase Carroll's The Negro a Beast or in the Image of God. (Portland Community College

Social Justice

His Traveling Museum Is Bringing Black History to a Town Near You

After nearly 30 years of collecting rare artifacts, this Detroit teacher launched a mobile museum that travels the country educating people on African American history all year round.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 6, 2018

Health & Happiness

Me Too Creator Tarana Burke Reminds Us This Is About Black and Brown Survivors

There’s another “me too” story, about a movement that began a decade before it was a hashtag.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 4, 2018

Opinion | Democracy

After Erica Garner’s Death, I Can’t Breathe Through the Tears

Perhaps our grief can spark people to join the movement to end the oppression.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 3, 2018

Opinion | Social Justice

9 Essential Reads For Your Racial Justice Conversations

These authors will help you talk about White supremacy by using reasoning and research rather than anger and frustration.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Dec 19, 2017

Issues

How I Changed My Holiday Traditions to Match My Values

Five ways to celebrate without feeling financially and emotionally overwhelmed.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Dec 18, 2017

Democracy

Why Redneck Revolt Says Deal With Racism First, Then Economics

Addressing our systems of White supremacy cannot be dismissed as “identity politics.”

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 29, 2017

Democracy

The “Redneck Revolt” Is Showing Up at Gun Shows and KKK Rallies to End White Supremacy

This rural White organization put out a call for working-class Whites to “reject the idea of whiteness.”

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 17, 2017

Democracy

Why We Keep Talking About Racism

Sometimes difficult discussion about race and oppression is a solution in itself.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 9, 2017

Democracy

Van Jones’ “Messy Truth”: We’re All a Little Right, and We’re All a Little Wrong

Liberals and conservatives have too much in common—and too much at stake—to keep hiding behind differences.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Oct 13, 2017

Opinion | Democracy

What’s Stopping Media From Calling Las Vegas Killer a “Terrorist”? His Whiteness

Like other mass shooters before him, Stephen Paddock has the benefit of White privilege even in the most vicious of circumstances.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Oct 2, 2017

Charlottesville-White-Supremacy-Race-Riot-Domestic-Terrorism.jpeg

Opinion | Social Justice

Charlottesville Was Not a “Protest Turned Violent.” It Was a Planned Race Riot

Isn’t it time for the media to be honest and call White supremacists the domestic terrorists that they are?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 12, 2017

Health & Happiness

Why Police Violence Against Women of Color Stays Hidden

Data show more Black men are killed at higher rates than women, but police-misconduct attorney Andrea Ritchie says that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 10, 2017

Issues

Reality Check: More Police Officers Don’t Equal Safer Neighborhoods

Earlier this year, activists launched a campaign called Freedom Cities to protect and uplift all people of color. (And, no, it doesn't include more police.)

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jul 4, 2017

Democracy

Youth Sentenced to Life in Prison Get a Second Chance

A nationwide movement is seeking to end the practice of trying teenage criminal defendants as adults and, instead, granting them a new start.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 21, 2017

Opinion | Social Justice

White People, the Philando Castile Acquittal Should Make You Mad as Hell

You’ve been lied to.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 19, 2017

Opinion | Social Justice

Stop Making Excuses for Hateful White Men

Why is mental illness the go-to line for white men who commit acts of terrorism against people of color?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jun 5, 2017

Environment

What Is It Like to Live Without Running Water? Detroit Families Know

A recent study predicts that in the next five years, more than one-third of Americans will not be able to afford their water.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Apr 11, 2017

Issues

What DNA Ancestry Testing Can (and Can’t) Tell You

The social justice implications of spitting into a test tube.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Mar 10, 2017

Democracy

Black Communities, not Trump Executive Orders, Will End “Carnage”

In Chicago and Detroit, citizens already are protecting their neighborhoods from violence. If the president wants to send in help, they say, he can start with education, housing, and justice.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 13, 2017

Democracy

Detroit’s Massive Muslim Community Looks for Allies in the Trump Era

Fifty-five percent of Americans know very little or nothing at all about Islam, but this group wants to change that.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Feb 1, 2017

Democracy

Amid “Muslim Ban” Chaos, Van Jones Sends in His Love Army

Lawyers and protestors took action: “Nobody’s going to fight alone.”

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 30, 2017

Opinion | Democracy

To Women Marchers: Just Because You Don’t Feel Welcome Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Belong

Issues that impact the womanhood of any one of us—directly or indirectly—impact all of us.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 19, 2017

Democracy

Has History “Sanitized” King’s Words? Inside the Push to #ReclaimMLK Day

Organizers hope to connect today’s civil rights movements to those of the past with a week of demonstrations across the country leading up to Inauguration Day.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 16, 2017

Issues

What It Looks Like When Communities Make Racial Justice a Priority

From conversations that heal to land trusts that fight gentrification.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Araz Hachadourian | Jan 16, 2017

Issues

What It Takes to Get Women Out of Prison—and Stay Out

The rate of women in U.S. prisons is growing faster than men. But in New Orleans, one group is successfully tackling sentencing for drug use and sex work.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 12, 2017

It Was a Blighted City Block. But This Woman Is Turning It Into a Solar-Powered Ecovillage

Detroit-area resident Shamayim Harris bought several properties and is now converting them into sustainable community spaces for education, wellness, and economic development.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Dec 7, 2016

Democracy

How to Attempt Racial Healing—Even During a Trump Presidency

America’s past truth and reconciliation processes show us what works.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 21, 2016

Opinion | Social Justice

White People, It’s the Bigots Where You Live That Need You the Most

To address the bigotry that helped elect Trump, White people might consider the work ahead in their own families and communities.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 13, 2016

Democracy

The Call to “End the War on Black Lives” Starts With Accountability

Next year, the DOJ will collect nationwide data on police shootings and other violent encounters with the public. Is that enough progress?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Nov 3, 2016

Democracy

What to Do When Domestic Abuse Is Financial, Too

Millions of people suffer domestic violence, which can often involve economic abuse. But there are ways to break out of those relationships.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Oct 21, 2016

Opinion | Social Justice

When They Shot Terence Crutcher, This Time I Watched

Now I see that nothing can guarantee my son’s safety if he encounters police. That’s a hard thing for a mother. But it should be a hard thing for everyone.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Sep 22, 2016

Social Justice

In Detroit, Freedom Schools Offer an Alternative to City’s Struggling Education System

As Detroit’s public schools fight to stay afloat, Black families turn to a civil rights-era approach to education.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Sep 6, 2016

Democracy

As #BankBlack Moves Money, Black Credit Unions Are Ready

While the number of Black-owned banks is down to only 22, there are 318 Black credit unions uniquely positioned to invest in their communities.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Aug 20, 2016

Democracy

How We Report on Structural Racism Can Hurt Us—or Heal Us

Too many headlines and stories right now are contributing to a polarized society, but media could instead play an important role in revealing our shared humanity.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jul 27, 2016

Democracy

Fear: What Police Reform Doesn’t Address

The most effective reforms are the ones that build community trust between citizens and the police that serve them.

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jul 11, 2016

Democracy

What White People Can Do for Food Justice

Creator of Master Cooks Corps train-the-trainer program Chef Nadine Nelson says White people in the food movement should ask themselves: What are you doing to hold yourself accountable to people of color?

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield | Jan 24, 2015

Zenobia Jeffries Warfield

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