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Linda Villarosa

Biography

Villarosa is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where she covers race, inequality, health, and medicine. She previously edited the health pages of The New York Times and served twice as executive editor of Essence. She is a professor and journalist in residence at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and teaches journalism, medicine, and Black Studies at The City College of New York.


Her reporting has addressed health disparities, HIV/AIDS, environmental justice, and the effects of racism on Black communities. Her 2017 New York Times Magazine article, “America’s Hidden HIV Epidemic,” won an NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Award. Her 2018 cover story, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis,” was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. She also contributed an essay on medical myths to The 1619 Project in 2019, later included in the 2021 book.


Villarosa published her first novel, Passing for Black, in 2008. She also edited Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being. Her 2022 book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, examined the relationship between racism, health, and the U.S. health-care system and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.


BQW Impact

Villarosa’s significance to BQW lies in the intersection of Black lesbian visibility, journalism, and public-interest storytelling. Her decades-long career has created space for Black experiences and LGBTQ+ issues within major American media institutions. NLGJA inducted her into its LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame in 2020, recognizing her contributions to journalism and her work covering Black women’s stories and HIV across the United States.


Her reporting has connected individual health experiences to broader systems of racism and inequality. Through journalism, books, and teaching, Villarosa has contributed to public understanding of racial health disparities while bringing Black and LGBTQ+ perspectives into mainstream media and journalism education.


Notable Works

  • Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being (1994)

    Edited a health guide addressing the physical and emotional well-being of Black women.

  • Passing for Black (2008)

    Published her first novel, exploring race, sexuality, identity, and family; it was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.

  • “America’s Hidden HIV Epidemic” (2017)

    Reported on the HIV epidemic among Black gay and bisexual men for The New York Times Magazine and received an NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Award.

  • “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis” (2018)

    Reported on racial disparities in maternal and infant health and was a finalist for a National Magazine Award.

  • The 1619 Project Contribution (2019)

    Contributed an essay examining medical myths to The New York Times’s 1619 Project, later included in the 2021 book.

  • Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation (2022)

    Examined the effects of racism on Black health and the U.S. health-care system and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

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