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

by Sunny Hostin, Charisse Jones

Overview

The Emmy Award-winning legal journalist and co-host of The View Sunny Hostin 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.

“What are you?” has followed Sunny Hostin from the beginning of her story, as she grew up half Puerto Rican and half African-American raised by teenage parents in the South Bronx. Escaping poverty and the turbulence of her early life through hard work, a bit of luck and earning academic scholarships to college and law school, Sunny immersed herself in the workings of the criminal justice system. In Washington, D.C., Sunny became a federal prosecutor, soon parlaying her wealth of knowledge of the legal system into a successful career as a legal journalist. She was one of the first national reporters to cover Trayvon Martin’s death—which her producers erroneously labeled “just a local story.” 

Today, an inescapable voice from the top echelons of news and entertainment, Sunny uses her platform to advocate for social justice and give a voice to the marginalized. In her signature no-holds-barred, straight-up style, Sunny opens up and shares her intimate struggles with fertility and personal turmoil, and reflects on the high-stakes cases and stories she worked on as a prosecutor and during her time at CNN, Fox News, ABC and The View. Timely, poignant, and moving, I Am These Truths is the story of a woman living between two worlds, and learning to bridge them together to fight for what’s right. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062950826
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	721,158
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Attorney and four-time Emmy Award–winning, legal journalist Sunny Hostin is a co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The View. She is the author of Summer on the Bluffs and Summer on Sag Harbor as well as I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds. Hostin received her undergraduate degree in communications from Binghamton University and her law degree from Notre Dame Law School. A native of New York City, she 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 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

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

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