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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.
"An accomplished Black sports journalist tells her story...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 (starred review)
"[P]oignant...[Hill's] account brims with intelligence and resilience. The result is a powerful portrait of ambition, faith, and fearlessness." - Publishers Weekly
"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'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, Emmy Award-winning journalist and CNN anchor
"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
This information about Uphill was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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.
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