Yet here I Am by Jonathan Capehart

YET HERE I AM by Jonathan Capehart is subtitled “Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home” and provides ample insight into the background and influences on this award-winning journalist who appears regularly on PBS NewsHour with David Brooks (How to Know a Person). Capehart shares stories about his childhood including being raised by a single mother and her re-marriage when he was a sophomore in high school (hard on any kid), “a suburban middle-class Black kid who grew up playing with white kids now back in a majority Black city [Newark] with no clue about how to relate or fit in.” Writing about college at Carleton, Capehart says, “without a doubt, just about every wonderful thing that has happened in my life can be traced back to my decision to go to that small liberal arts college in Minnesota.” He continues with engaging stories about his work in the news media, including Washington Post and MSNBC, and offers unique perspective on being gay and Black, commenting, “Blackness is always at the mercy of someone else’s judgment. You can be too Black, not Black enough, or not Black at all, and I have run the range my entire life.” YET HERE I AM received a starred review from Kirkus and praise from, among others, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Katie Couric, Michele Norris, and Jon Meacham.