I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living between Worlds

by Sunny Hostin, Charisse Jones

Overview

The Emmy Award winner, co-host of The View, and ABC News senior legal correspondent chronicles her journey from growing up in a South Bronx housing project to becoming an assistant U.S. attorney and journalist in this powerful memoir that offers an intimate and unique look at identity, intolerance, and injustice.

As a child in the South Bronx who spent her earliest years in tenements and public housing, Sunny Hostin understands poverty intimately. As a mother of a black son, she deplores the scourge of police violence erasing the lives of too many black boys and men. As a biracial woman, she has a unique vantage point on identity, and the shades between black and white.

I Am These Truths blends her compelling chronicle of her personal journey with her reflections on the high-stakes cases and stories she has worked on as a journalist and prosecutor. As the child of teenaged parents, Sunny escaped the violence of her childhood through hard work, some luck, and a college scholarship that led her to law school, where she became an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington D.C. Transitioning to journalism, she was the first national reporter to cover Trayvon Martin’s death—which her producers erroneously believed was "just a local story." Today, at the top echelons of news and entertainment, Sunny fights for social justice and giving voice to the "other"—those forgotten and marginalized Americans.

Inspiring and informative, I Am These Truths offers encouragement to those on the verge of giving up their dreams and implores us to rethink our biases—to not underestimate someone because of their gender, dismiss another because of their ethnicity, or prejudge someone because of their economic circumstances. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094117058
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

SUNNY HOSTIN is the Senior Legal Correspondent & Analyst for ABC News and co-host of The View. Previously, Sunny was a legal analyst and host for CNN. She has been featured in People, Forbes Woman, Essence, the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Latina, and Ebony. A highly sought-after public speaker, Sunny has also spoken and moderated panels for the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, and the National Bar Association. As a former federal prosecutor, she was awarded with a Special Achievement Award by then Attorney General Janet Reno. A native of New York City, Hostin lives with her husband and two children in Westchester County, New York.

 

Charisse Jones is a national correspondent for USA Today. A former staff writer for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, she has been a commentator for National Public Radio and is a contributing writer for Essence magazine.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

1 The Boogie Down 1

2 School Days 19

3 Negrita with the Good Hair 41

4 I Am What I Am 59

5 In the System But not of It 77

6 The Room Where It Happens 101

7 Motherhood 119

8 The Dream Deferred 155

9 CNN 175

10 Trayvon 199

11 The View 231

Acknowledgments 269

Editorial Reviews

Thank you Sunny for a book that can teach even a know-it-all like me something new and invaluable.”

CNN News anchor Don Lemon

Sunny Hostin’s expressive narration of her absorbing and thought-provoking memoir offers entertainment and education whether you’re already a fan or have never heard of her…Hostin’s voice is warm and clear, her delivery is animated without excessive drama, and her account of a low-income New York City kid who succeeds with hard work and chutzpah engages as it inspires. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

AudioFile

Norman’s entertaining, psychedelically tinged portrait shows why Hendrix made such a deep impression on rock ’n’ roll.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

I always thought I was drawn to Sunny because of our similar backgrounds. But through her book I realize it’s because we’re both chameleons who are just trying to fit in. Thank you Sunny for writing a book that can teach even a know it all like me something new and invaluable.” — Don Lemon, CNN News Anchor

“Sunny Hostin is an inspiring person, and her story is rich with insights into the different worlds and identities she has navigated. There is much to learn from I Am These Truths—for anyone seeking to understand those worlds, and anyone looking to translate life’s challenges and complexities into a fierce commitment to justice.” — Ronan Farrow, author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

From the Publisher

Her story is rich with insights into the different worlds and identities she has navigated. There is much to learn from I Am These Truths—for anyone seeking to understand those worlds, and anyone looking to translate life’s challenges and complexities into a fierce commitment to justice.”

New York Times bestselling author Ronan Farrow

Sunny Hostin is an inspiring person, and her story is rich with insights into the different worlds and identities she has navigated. There is much to learn from I Am These Truths—for anyone seeking to understand those worlds, and anyone looking to translate life’s challenges and complexities into a fierce commitment to justice.

Ronan Farrow

I always thought I was drawn to Sunny because of our similar backgrounds. But through her book I realize it’s because we’re both chameleons who are just trying to fit in. Thank you Sunny for writing a book that can teach even a know it all like me something new and invaluable.

Don Lemon

2020-06-17
A mixed-race TV host shares her life experiences.

Born in 1968 to a Puerto Rican mother and African American father, Hostin was raised in “the mythical heart of the Boogie Down Bronx.” Though her early years were filled with loving family members, they were also marked by trauma brought on by poverty, alcoholism, and violence. While these experiences were difficult and chaotic, they forced her to hone the highly useful ability to slow down in stressful situations. She learned Spanish and was well educated by her parents, with outings to museums, botanical gardens, and other culturally rich places and events, but this only increased the perceived differences between Hostin and her schoolmates. Throughout her life, the author has faced prejudice, which becomes one of the primary themes of the narrative. After graduating from Notre Dame Law School and embarking on a career in law, she moved into journalism, working as a legal consultant on several TV programs—including the O’Reilly Factor, where she debated legal issues with the host and with Megyn Kelly. When Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012, Hostin, who worked at CNN at the time, pushed to make sure he was portrayed fairly. Eventually, through numerous moves among networks, Hostin moved into her role as a co-host on The View, a position she currently holds. In addition to chronicling her own inspiring story, the author also digs into the intertwined undercurrents of racism and sexism that continue to plague the country. Hostin’s willingness to return to these themes and investigate them honestly and openly distinguishes her memoir from the average rise-from-poverty tale. Through her eyes, readers will gain a better understanding of what it means to be a mixed-race woman in a society that too often defines people based on background or ethnicity rather than work ethic or merit.

An educational memoir that illuminates the racism still rampant in the U.S.

Kirkus Reviews