'I Co-Host The View, People Wish Me Dead'

It took a long time for me to see myself reflected in what I watched and read. While now we have more access to content—especially for younger people and children—that is reflective of the diversity of the United States, when I was a child, it was very limited.

Growing up, I can only recall one book with a black protagonist, called The Snowy Day. In my teenage years, I began to discover authors like Tony Morrison and Terry McMillan, but as a child I felt representation did not exist in the books I so desperately sought.

As I got older and began my law career, I still didn't see much diversity. I worked as a federal prosecutor and think that many people of color in the legal world gravitate towards criminal defense work, because the system can tend to be so unjust when it comes to our communities.

I instead became a federal prosecutor, because I realized that it is the most powerful position in the courtroom. If you get to decide who to charge, you get to decide what cases are brought.

I believe that my background—growing up poor with teenage parents—gave me a better understanding of what an impoverished population sometimes does in order to live.

That's not to say those factors excuse criminal behavior, but I feel they can sometimes provide an explanation contextualizing the situation, which can be very helpful for a prosecutor.

For example, I was able to speak to my colleagues and explain to them the perspective of some of the criminal defendants—why they would do something like that; what the circumstances are that lead to poverty, drug use, drug sales, and gang activity.

I feel I was really able to make a difference, even for my colleagues, in deciding which cases merited prosecution and which cases merited other avenues, such as substance and alcohol abuse counseling or diversion programs.

When I started my career in television journalism, I noticed a similar lack of representation and diversity. For a long time, I believe I was the only Afro-Latina legal correspondent on network news in the United States.

In terms of on-air hosts, we now have much better representation than we used to have, but I still feel our media doesn't truly reflect the wonderful diversity of the country.

Ever since I began my time on The View in 2015, I have championed social justice issues. I actively seek out stories and pitch them to the team, but we all have to agree on what we're going to cover.

The night before our show, the producers provide us with something called a hot topics packet which contains around 60 hot topics that may be discussed. Because I've been on the show for seven years now, our producers know I like to explore social justice issues, while Whoopi Goldberg is really drawn to technology, Sara Haines is particularly interested in stories about motherhood, and Joy enjoys a topic she can joke about, so those topics are usually reflected in the show.

Recently, I was passionate about covering the Ralph Yarl shooting. I wanted to explore this phenomenon in the United States of people being fearful of their neighbors, and rather than talking to their neighbors, they are pulling out guns and shooting them.

I wanted to know what that meant and why it was happening, so I was pretty insistent on making sure we talked about that, which we now have done more than once.

Some of the backlash on social media while covering social justice issues, among others, can be outrageous. People curse at you, they wish you death, they wish death upon your family. It's become a hellscape.

I don't use social media very much anymore because I don't want my views to be colored by people's reactions. I think one of the strengths of our show is that we are all willing to be vulnerable and give voice to those without a platform.

I feel that I especially give voice to people of color, people that are impoverished, people that don't have access like this to explain what they're going through, and so I never want to minimize my opinion because I fear the reaction of a viewer.

I never read comments anymore, after advice Whoopi gave me years ago, but I know that many people have what I call "keyboard courage" on social media. Because they are protected by the Internet's anonymity, they say things they would never say to your face.

I have always been able to have a debate with my co-hosts and leave it at the table. I think some of our hosts in the past have found it challenging and would take things personally, but my legal training prepared me to be able to debate ideas without taking offense.

There are times in the courtroom when I argued robustly against a defense attorney—who in the moment feels like your opponent—and wanted to win. We would debate and argue, but when it's over, we'd leave it at the table and go out for drinks.

Some of my dearest friends are defense attorneys that I have litigated cases against because they're smart and they're funny and they have great values, but I would argue them down to the ground in a courtroom.

I believe that honest debate is never personal or emotional. Facts trump emotion every time, and if you rely on facts, which I generally do, then it's a pretty easy gig.

Having covered many social justice issues throughout my career, which can often be very dark and sad, when I decided to write fiction I wanted to create a world in which a reader could escape from the toils of everyday life.

The inspiration for my trilogy came while browsing an airport bookstore before a vacation. I was looking for a beach escape read that centered someone who looked like me. As I searched for a cover with a Black woman on it, I couldn't find a single one.

I found it bizarre that in the middle of summer, I could not find one book which centered around a Black or Hispanic woman. Of course, I have read books such as Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians and the works of Terry McMillan, all of which I love, but I wanted something different.

I thought to myself: "Everybody has a story in them." I had already written a memoir and was determined I could write a fiction book.

I decided to center it around historically Black, beachfront communities in areas where African Americans were able to buy property, of which there were only three in the United States—Martha's Vineyard, Sag Harbor, and Highland Beach.

It was a pretty easy concept to come up with, so I was surprised it hadn't already been done. Certainly, books have been written about Oak Bluffs, but none so centered on women.

Having been part of many book clubs with African American women, I just knew something like this was missing. So, I decided to write an outline, which I sent to my publishers.

I pitched the idea as just one book, but my editor at the time said: "These are three different communities, I would like to see three different stories."

I wanted the books to be historical fiction because these places are grounded in history. They are real communities, and I wanted to respect that and make sure that I got it right.

The first of the trilogy was released in 2020 and I was shocked at the reaction. It was overwhelmingly positive. It was obvious to me that the novel struck a chord with many people who finally saw themselves reflected in a book.

The protagonist in my first book, Ama, was a woman in her sixties finding love again—an idea that came directly from Joy Behar after she insisted to me that women in their sixties still have sex and asked to "throw in a character for women like me." Several women during my book tour remarked on how that character made them feel seen.

I learned that many people, after reading the book, visited Martha's Vineyard, which is exactly what I wanted from writing this book; to expose these wonderful beach escapes for people needing a little break.

I want this trilogy to be a history lesson. I want people to know that African Americans have summered in coastal communities since the late 1800s.

I want it to be aspirational. I want people to know the history, but also for people to know that they can be part of the history, too. I know that happened after the first book, and I am hoping it will happen after the second.

Sunny Hostin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, co-host of ABC's The View and New York Times best-selling author. Summer on Sag Harbor (HarperCollins) will be available on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 for $30.00.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Newsweek's My Turn associate editor, Monica Greep.

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