Uphill: A Memoir

by Jemele Hill

Overview

One of Oprah Daily's Best Fall Nonfiction Books of 2022

An empowering, unabashedly bold memoir by the Atlantic journalist and former ESPN SportsCenter coanchor about overcoming a legacy of pain and forging a new path, no matter how uphill life’s battles might be.

Jemele Hill’s world came crashing down when she called President Trump a “white supremacist”; the White House wanted her fired from ESPN, and she was deluged with death threats. But Hill had faced tougher adversaries growing up in Detroit than a tweeting president. Beneath the exterior of one of the most recognizable journalists in America was a need—a calling—to break her family’s cycle of intergenerational trauma.

Born in the middle of a lively routine Friday night Monopoly game to a teen mother and a heroin-addicted father, Hill constantly adjusted to the harsh realities of not only her own childhood but the inherited generational pain of her mother and grandmother. Her escape was writing.

Hill’s mother was less than impressed with the brassy and bold free expression of her diary, but Hill never stopped discovering and amplifying her voice. Through hard work and a constant willingness to learn, Hill rose from newspaper reporter to columnist to new heights as the coanchor for ESPN’s revered SportsCenter. Soon, she earned respect and support for her fearless opinions and unshakable confidence, as well as a reputation as a trusted journalist who speaks her mind with truth and conviction.

In Jemele Hill’s journey Uphill, she shares the whole story of her work, the women of her family, and her complicated relationship with God in an unapologetic, character-rich, and eloquent memoir.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250624369
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	211,256
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jemele Hill is the Emmy Award–winning former cohost of ESPN’s SportsCenter and 2018 NABJ Journalist of the Year. Hill is a contributing writer for The Atlantic, where she covers the intersection of sports, race, politics, and culture. She is also the producer of a Disney/ESPN documentary with Colin Kaepernick. She grew up in Detroit, graduated from Michigan State University, and now lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Somewhere Between Boardwalk and Park Place 1

Chapter 2 His Will 12

Chapter 3 Drunk, Drugged, or Indifferent 30

Chapter 4 One Thing Is for Sure, Two Things Are for Certain 44

Chapter 5 Are You There God? It's Me, Jemele 56

Chapter 6 Burdens, Not Obstacles 74

Chapter 7 A Sacrificial Lamb 86

Chapter 8 Free Press Don't Raise No Punks 93

Chapter 9 1 out of 405 116

Chapter 10 Baby Momma Drama 123

Chapter 11 The Voices in My Head 132

Chapter 12 The War of Attrition 150

Chapter 13 His & Hers 165

Chapter 14 Selling Tapes out the Trunk 171

Chapter 15 A Different World 179

Chapter 16 Stick to Sports 204

Chapter 17 Enemy of the State 219

Chapter 18 One Down 229

Acknowledgments 239

Editorial Reviews

07/18/2022

ESPN correspondent Hill traces her turbulent rise to success in her poignant debut. In 2017, scandal broke after Hill tweeted that President Trump was a “white supremacist.” Though she was bombarded with threats and nearly lost her job as a SportsCenter host (after a two-week suspension without pay), Hill stood her ground. “I was keenly aware that a deeper and larger struggle was taking place in this country,” she writes. “Black people were fighting every damn day for survival, freedom, and empowerment.” To understand her place in that struggle, Hill evocatively details her childhood in 1970s Detroit, where poverty, absence, addiction, and abuse abounded in her immediate family. Escape came in the form of a diary as she grew to love writing and found her voice. As Hill became an adult, she faced a new set of challenges—from juggling relationships and jobs to managing the scandal that, she writes, “blew my life up.” Still, Hill remained confident and steadfast in her beliefs, bolstered by a lifetime of overcoming obstacles, and her account brims with intelligence and resilience. The result is a powerful portrait of ambition, faith, and fearlessness. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

One of Oprah Daily's Best Fall Nonfiction Books of 2022

"Jemele Hill's commitment to truth telling is unparalleled. Whether she is exposing white supremacy or being radically transparent about her own history, Jemele's resolve remains steadfast. She makes you want to lean in and listen, but more importantly, she encourages us all to use our voices to tell necessary, hard truths."
—Gabrielle Union, New York Times bestselling author of We're Going to Need More Wine and You Got Anything Stronger?

"Jemele Hill is an undeniable force. Her fearlessness has helped her break countless glass ceilings in her career, making her a stalwart example of possibility. She has consistently used her platform to be a voice for the voiceless, for which I have so much admiration. It’s an honor to know her and call her friend."
—Sunny Hostin, Emmy Award-winning journalist, cohost of ABC’s “The View” and New York Times bestselling author of Summer on the Bluffs

“Jemele Hill's fearless reporting and advocacy for the truth are the central elements of a good journalist. But she takes it all one step further by championing new voices, and new perspectives, by making sure no one is forgotten. She takes risks, looks forward and backward, and never stops growing and pushing ahead.”
—Soledad O'Brien, CEO, award-winning journalist and producer, and philanthropist

"Those who cherish freedom of speech, even when it makes the powerful uncomfortable, will applaud Jemele's fearless words and actions."
—Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Long Time Coming

"With a skilled hand, Hill captures the nuances of workplace discrimination and its toll while also providing a guide for others — especially women of color — to persevere."
―The New York Times

"Hill is relentless but fair, and she is equally comfortable parsing out instances of institutional racism and admitting to her own mistakes. She balances humor, vulnerability, and passion, creating a text that is both exciting and emotionally satisfying."
—Kirkus (starred review)

"Brave, incisive, and uncompromising, Hill, a contributing writer for the Atlantic, will inspire women, especially women of color, to challenge sexism and racism in every realm"
—Booklist

“I’ve long admired Jemele's firm view of who she is and what she stands for, and I knew that when she was ready to tell her story in full, the world would need to hear it. Uphill is the inspirational, no-holds-barred account of her life and career we’ve been waiting for—a fierce meditation on resilience and speaking the truth, even when it can cost you. Riveting and bold, Uphill is pure Jemele, through and through.”
—Tamron Hall, Emmy Award-winning TV host and journalist, and author of As the Wicked Watch

“The world has come to know Jemele for her unflinching honesty and transparency, this memoir is no different. Her foray into the challenges and triumphs that shaped her into the public figure we know and love today will endear loyal fans and open doors to new ones—and it will surely inspire all of its readers.”
—Tarana Burke, New York Times bestselling author of You Are Your Best Thing and Unbound, and founder of the "me too." Movement

From the Publisher

05/01/2022

Born to a teenage mother and heroin-addicted father, Hill found escape from intergenerational trauma in writing, moving determinedly from diarist to newspaper reporter to Emmy Award-winning host of ESPN's SportsCenter to staff writer for the Atlantic. Here she reflects on work, the women in her family, and the ferocious reaction to her calling Donald Trump a white supremacist. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

Jemele Hill may be infamous for comments she made on Twitter about President Trump, but she is also a respected sports journalist with a career that spans several decades. In this memoir she narrates events from her personal and professional lives. Hill describes her sometimes challenging upbringing, as well as her rocky relationship with her mother, without descending into melodrama. Hill’s journalism career, beginning when she was in high school, is impressive; she narrates the facts of her path with understandable pride but without bragging. Even difficult career choices, such as her decision to leave ESPN, are presented in a thoughtful way, though it is clear that Hill still feels deeply about the choices she made. Every story told is more powerful for being narrated by Hill. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

★ 2022-07-13
An accomplished Black sports journalist tells her story.

Atlantic contributing writer Hill, who rose to fame partly due to her online conflicts with Donald Trump, recounts the ups and downs of her early life as well as her successful career at ESPN and beyond. The author grew up in Detroit with a mother who battled a drug addiction and a grandmother who was “a highly functioning alcoholic.” Despite their struggles, however, both worked hard to provide for her. Hill writes about how she was determined to escape the poverty that constricted her childhood, a desire that led to an intense work ethic and a life filled with achievements. As a freshman at Michigan State, she got a job as a sportswriter with the State News, an accomplishment that was partially possible because Hill had already written for a professional publication in high school. She continued her diligent work even in the face of widespread bigotry and “racist hate mail.” During an internship at the Lima News, she took pitches and wrote a series on domestic violence to accompany coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial. In 2006, she reluctantly took a job at ESPN (“I wanted to be a respected journalist, not some flashy television personality”). She stayed for 11 years, serving as co-host of the network’s flagship program, SportsCenter, and developing and co-hosting the groundbreaking show His & Hers, which Hill describes as “unapologetically Black.” Unfortunately, the author felt unsupported at ESPN, often due to her race. She left the network after Trump personally attacked her on Twitter. “Trump didn’t hurt me, but ESPN’s lack of response did,” she writes. “A government official had come after one of its employees and it did nothing.” Hill is relentless but fair, and she is equally comfortable parsing out instances of institutional racism and admitting to her own mistakes. She balances humor, vulnerability, and passion, creating a text that is both exciting and emotionally satisfying.

A frank, fearless, and entertaining memoir.

Kirkus Reviews