A wrenching memoir by Atlantic journalist and former SportsCenter coanchor Jemele Hill about surviving a heritage of trauma and carving out a new path to create a powerful legacy
Jemele Hill's life began in upheaval. Born in the middle of a vicious 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. She found an escape in writing.
Hill's mother, less than impressed with the contents of her diary, threw her out. Through internships and jobs at various newspapers, she found mentors who cared, who challenged her, and who opened doors. Through hard work and a constant willingness to learn, Hill rose from newspaper reporter to columnist to new heights as an anchor for ESPN's revered SportsCenter. Her fame then skyrocketed over the controversy of her calling President Trump a white supremacist, the White House wanted her fired from ESPN, and she was deluged with death threats. But Hill soon earned respect for her unshakable confidence and reputation as someone who says outright what others are thinking but not daring enough to say.
Hill's ability to remain calm in a storm granted her victories over tougher adversaries than a tweeting president. And at the core of the ambition fueling her astronomical rise as one of the most recognizable journalists in America wasn't just her passion for writing. It was a need——a calling——to break her family's cycle of intergenerational trauma. Hill shares the whole story of work, family, women, and God in this unapologetic, character-rich, and eloquent debut.
