Rasheed Newson

Rasheed grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the eldest of three children. He showed an early interest in reading poetry and fiction. Nikki Giovanni and Kurt Vonnegut were among his favorite writers. It was years before Rasheed had the courage to consider himself a writer.

Rasheed is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he wrote movie reviews for the school newspaper, The Hoya. During his time in Washington, D.C., he also worked in the communications and media departments for several nonprofit organizations, including the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. For five years, he volunteered with friends as a tutor and playmate at Grandma’s House, a group home for foster care children who were HIV-positive or living with AIDS.

Rasheed’s writing career began when he partnered with T. J. Brady, and together they were hired as staff writers on the Fox drama Lie to Me. As a writing team, Rasheed and T. J. have worked on Narcos, The Chi, and Shooter, among other drama series. They are currently executive producers on Bel-Air.

Rasheed wrote the novel My Government Means to Kill Me, which was selected as a Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of the “100 Notable Books of 2022” by The New York Times.

Rasheed lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena, California.