She is recognized as an authority on topics such as resegregation in American schools and housing discrimination, and has spoken about these issues on national public radio broadcasts. She wrote for many publications including The Atlantic,Mother Jones,ProPublica, The New York Times and New York magazine. Her reporting has won numerous awards. Her stories have been quoted in numerous other publications as being particularly important regarding race relations. She reported how the school district, where teenager Michael Brown had been shot, was one of the "most segregated, impoverished districts in the entire state" of Missouri. Reviewer Laura Moser of Slate magazine praised her report on school resegregation which showed how educational inequality may have been a factor in the unfortunate death of Brown.