In Black America; "You Have To Stand For Something" with Star Jones

💕 From the Longhorn Radio Network, the University of Texas at Austin, this is in Black America. I have to be straight with you. I very rarely, if at all, have ever had the real experience of having somebody look at me and say, you're black, you can't do that. I just have not had that experience.

Obviously, I would completely tell you all that you ever tried to pull that on me. So, that I don't know. I don't know that kind of discrimination. Every professional thing that I've wanted to do, I've done. However, I am not naive enough to think that people don't look at me and see black first. Some are looking at me and see black first. They don't see smarts. They don't see female. They don't see television personality. They don't see authors. They don't see lawyer. They see black first. And I actually talked a little bit about that. In the book and on the view, I remember when that poor man was dragged to his death, down in Texas. And I went to work that day and I was very, very depressed. And it is rare. If ever, I am depressed. I don't get depressed. Star Jones, co-host of ABC Television's The View, Lawyer, Former Prosecutor, and author of the book, you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything published by Banffin Books. Jones is best known for a candor, confidence, and uncanny ability to clarify difficult legal issues. Her knowledge of the law and the talent for television has won her critical acclaim as a news correspondent.

In her book, she writes for the first time with touching sincerity about her own small town upbringing, the unit that almost took her life, and the foundation provided by her grandparents. In 1997, Jones was chosen by Barbara Walters to be one of the daily co-hosts of the new Emmy Award-winning television program, The View. I'm Johnny O'Hanston, Jr., and welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week's program, you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything with author Star Jones in Black America. I looked at that situation through the eyes of a naive young person. And years later, as a prosecutor, I tried to case against a 13-year-old defendant who had killed another young person. And I think in some ways he looked at his situation through the naive eyes of a young person also. And just as my respect for life got me through my situation, his disrespectful life put him in his situation. And I always equate the two of them because I truly do not think that a young person fully understands the ramification for taking a life. They know what they're doing, and they're responsible for it, but they don't understand the long-term ramification because I don't think that young people have a full appreciation for what life is.

Star Jones has developed an appreciation for life. That appreciation started when she was back in undergraduate school at American University in Washington, D.C., majoring in administrative justice. She was 20 years old, and after eating a meal, she noticed a strange feeling in her chest. First, she thought it was indigestion or heartburned. Come to find out, it was cancer. Since then, Jones rose to senior assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, commentator for court television, senior correspondent and chief legal analyst for Inside Edition, legal correspondent for NBC television today and nightly news. Recently, in black America spoke with Star Jones. Now, I was writing a lot of things in the conversation. I was raised in a family with grandparents and mom, and lots of aunties and everything, and then I finally moved to New Jersey with my mother and father, who lived in Trenton, New Jersey, to this day.

and my baby sister, who is no longer my baby sister, she's just four years younger than I am. They grew up in a very close bit loving self-esteem building family, which quite frankly in my opinion is exactly what we're missing today without the children. You were an assistant to district attorney in Brooklyn? Yes, I was. It was, you know, it's by far the proudest thing that I've ever accomplished outside of writing this book was to be an assistant district attorney in New York City. It was a dream, I'm true for me, a dream that started when I was about eight years old,

living down in North Carolina with my grandparents. And your undergraduate degree is in? I have an undergraduate degree from American University, Washington, D.C. in the administration of justice and a law degree from right there in Texas, University of Houston. And I graduated from law school in 1986. When straight to New York City, the big apple took the New York bar passed on the first try and practiced for six years as an assistant district attorney, ended up doing some pretty high-profile and some community-sensitive cases until television called. And then I started all the whole new career as a legal reporter and legal commentator for network news. And then after that, I did a couple of syndicated shows. And now I am one of the co-hosts of the APC Hit Morning Television Show The View. Tell us about working on that program. Well, the view is truly a dream come true

because I get to sit next to one of my idols. Barbara Walters is in my opinion the best television interviewer there ever has been. And I don't step out on the limb and saying that because most people agree with me. She came up with the idea of doing a multi-generational television show so that basically we will appeal to something in every woman who watches daytime television. We range in age from 23 to Barbara who is in her late 60s. I am the single professional on the show, Meredith Villera, the great journalist in the award-winning journalist is the working mom in her 40s, Joy Behar, who is a comedian and ex-school teacher is the woman in the second part of her life. She's just passed menopause 56. And my dear friend Debbie Matanopoulos is the baby of the group. We call her our generation exer.

She's 23 years old. And so you really do have a cross-generational mix of women so you get the views of women regardless of what age we are. What was your reaction when Barbara made that call requesting your participation in her program? Well, you know, I gotta tell you, there is no joy like being, I was at lunch in a restaurant in Beverly Hills and my painter went off and I looked down at the painter and it said, please call Barbara Walters, I have to tell you, I kept that message on the page for a very long time because you really said yourself, OK, now pinch me because I know that there's something wrong with this picture. You have written your first book. Why don't you feel at this point in your life that you needed to write this book on your life? Well, it's not a true autobiography. I really did not want to do that. And I thought it was quite frankly a little vain on my part to be 36 years old and try to write an autobiography.

I haven't lived that much. However, I wanted to write a collection of autobiographical essays to show you my personal life and my professional life and the lessons that I have learned at every turn. I get asked quite a lot, start, where do you get this self-esteem from and this self-confidence? How are you able to just attack a topic and not worry about what people are going to say and how they will react? And I really and truly know that comes from a tremendous foundation of self-esteem building. That started when I was a little girl and continues even now. I continued this morning before I spoke with you all. I spoke with my mother. And I get from her even at 36 the same thing I got at 6. You're so smart. We're so proud of you. That's my baby girl. You can do anything you put your mind to. You better go, girl. These are the kinds of things that I was taught as a child. And my sister was taught as a child.

And my mother was taught as a child. And having that is a tremendous armor to send a child out into the world with. I feel like I have this protective shield around me. And I wanted to share that with my readers in a book. I wanted to empower my readers, people who like the view, people who have never heard of the view, just regular everyday people to say, you know what? It doesn't matter how you start out in life is how you end up. And if you ever want people to think well of you, if you ever want to have a good reputation, then you really have to know who you are, where you're going, and what you feel about issues that matter. Hence the title, you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. You have quotes from different people at the beginning of each chapter. I sure do. Why are these particular quotes significant to you as an individual and should be significant to the reader? Well, I have been collecting quotes since I was in high school. I'm a voracious reader.

I think that knowledge is power. And I talk a little bit about that in the book. As a matter of fact, I think I talk about it a lot. That education for me opened doors. And every time I would get a quote that I like, I put it in my quote box. So when it was time to write the book, I had lots and lots of quotes to choose from. But I wanted each quote to stand for the chapter that we're talking about. The chapter, quote, that opens the book is actually from me. And that is, I am the author of the only dictionary that defines me. And what I mean by that is, I am the one who will provide the world with the definition of star Jones. I will not allow anybody else to define me. And the reason that I suggest that people learn to define themselves is because other people's opinions of you then will not matter to you. They cannot hurt you. You won't worry about what Madison Avenue tells you is beautiful. You won't worry about if you don't

have a college degree, but you're working your behind-off. And you know that you're doing the very best you can. You won't worry about if you're a single mother, and you're raising your children as best as you can, and you're proud of what you're doing. Because you are defining who you are as an individual. And each chapter begins with a quote, not by me. They range from Booker T. Washington to Maya Angelou, to Abby Hoffman to Lucille Ballon Pablo Picasso. And they stand for the premise that each chapter opens up with. We want people to purchase the book, but there are some chapters that I particularly found fascinating. And I want you to give us an overview, but not the whole enchilada, so to speak. You got the chapter that deals with bringing something to the table other than an appetite. Bringing something to the table other than an appetite is the title of that chapter. And I have to tell you, for me, that is stars credo for life. That's what I thought.

You cannot enter this world and always come to the table expect to be fed. You must bring something to contribute yourself. You know what? You all have the experience of going to or giving a party and folk just show up and don't bring nothing. Well, that is the analogy that you want to think about in your head when you're talking about the world and life itself. When the world is a big party and we're all participating in it. Everybody's getting their groove on. What have you brought to contribute to this world? What is your dialogue going to be? What is your talent going to be? Are you just going to be a leech and suck up what the world has to offer? Or are you going to give something back? And it might be charity work. It might be some time with your children. It might be self-esteem building to a little kid down the block. You might be a lawyer. You might be a doctor. You might be delivering UPS mail. Whatever it is that you are doing, are you satisfied with it?

Are you doing it the best that you can? Are you adding to the dialogue in our world that makes it a better place? That's bringing something to the table others in an appetite. OK. Stabbing myself. Stabbing myself is actually a chapter that a number of my friends were really surprised that I put into the book. Because I had some tremendous successes as a professional, both in the courtroom, outside of the courtroom, in front of the camera, behind the camera. But stabbing myself is really when I screwed up and screwed up badly. I tried a case, and I was very, very new in my career. It was within the first three months of being in the office at the district attorney's office. And I allowed my ego to take over. I allowed my ego to want to win more than I wanted justice to be done. And I made some very stupid mistake. How old were you then?

I was 21, 22, excuse me, 22 years old. And you get to be an assistant district attorney. You actually know I was 23 and know exactly what it was. I was 23 years old. You get to be an assistant district attorney. You have a tremendous amount of power. When you walk into a room, the judge says, who is making this appearance? And you say, Star Jones, for the people, your honor. And that carries a tremendous amount of weight. And sometimes, young people can be arrogant. And I was extremely arrogant. And what I did was, instead of making sure justice was done, I went about trying to win the case. And I got my rear-end handed to me because I put myself in an inappropriate position. And I shared that with my readers, not just to say, see, I can make mistakes, but to say, you need to learn from mistakes. And I never made that kind of error again.

Not because I didn't want to be embarrassed again, but I remembered why I was doing what I was doing. The other chapter, be careful for what you pray for. Oh, that chapter is about relationship. All of us say that we want the perfect man. We want you to be then the Washington gorgeous Michael Douglas passionate, Sam Jackson compassionate, Bill Gates wealthy. You know who you want. But be careful what you ask for. Be careful what you ask God for because you might actually get it. And you might get something that you really don't want. I laughed in the chapter, I laughed throughout writing that particular chapter because I spent a lot of time talking about a relationship that I adored. One of my best friends still to this day is an ex-boyfriend. And I talk about how we got together. And then I laugh about the lessons that I learned as an adult woman in relationships, you know, not planning whether or not

your kids are going to go to public school or private school on the first date. If I could give any advice to women, it would be to remember. Every date is not a meet. So you don't have to plan your life with the man just because you go to dinner with him. The other chapter we shall overcome. We shall overcome is about the beginning of my life. Where I grew up in North Carolina, my relationship with my mother who was a single parent until she married my stepfather, who is my daddy. The relationship that I had with my biological father or I should say the relationship that I did not have. He's a very nice man, but he was not involved in my life to the extent where he played a role as a father. And the reason that I tell such a very personal story and I'm not the kind of person that really tell other people's business. But I thought that this was important.

I talked to my mother about it before I included it in the book. And we wanted, the two of us wanted it to serve as an example for responsibility when you have children. That you have to put your dreams to the side. You really do. And focus on your kids for a little bit. You have to make sure that they have what they need. And if you are too selfish, which I am right now in my life, to do that then don't have children. Because your children deserve to have your attention. You don't have to be there 24 hours a day. That's ridiculous. There are lots of women who work every single day, lots of men who work. But when I say they deserve your attention, they need to know how much they're loved. They need to know that they're supportive. They need to know that they can come home in any given time. And that requires time and attention and energy. And I wanted that chapter to show the world that it doesn't matter how you start out in life. What matters is how you end up.

How did you happen to become a commentator for NBC Television? Well, I was a assistant district attorney in Brooklyn at the time. And I had done some freelance commentary for Court TV network when it first started. And in doing that, NBC saw me on Court TV. And one of their young bookers, who was so wonderful, told the tape and took it over to NBC, the executive producer of the Today Show at the time. And said, you know, she's different. She's not your typical talking head. And I actually was the first of these legal pundits. These young legal pundits talking about the law on television, 1992 was when I started. And they basically said, you know, she's young. She's tried cases herself. This is who we want. And it was as simple as that. It was as if God decided he wanted to redirect my path. Speaking of God, how has that relationship played in your life? I'm glad you describe it as a relationship

because you know that that's a big deal for me in the book. The chapter where I deal with religion is called that sweet, sweet spirit. And it begins with my very favorite scripture. That's the quote that I use in that chapter. And it's Philippians 413. I can do all things who cry to strengthen me. My relationship with God is my most important relationship because I feel very strongly that I could not ever accomplish the things that I have accomplished and that I still have yet to accomplish without the constant presence of God in my life. And I am not this person who wears religion on my sleeve because I think that the relationship with God is far more important than the religious doctrine that you believe in. I'm a Christian woman. And I'm proud to say that. I say that on television. And a number of people look at me like I can't believe that you would lay it out just like that.

Well, listen, I talk about everything under the sun on the television. I certainly am going to talk about the thing that matters the most to make, which is my relationship with God. Good. Do you miss practicing law? I miss the contact with the victims. I miss being able to write wrongs. When I was in the latter part of my career as an assistant district attorney, I tried some very serious cases and most of them, if not all of them, were homicide cases and to hold a hand of a woman who had to say about her son or her daughter because they were murdered is an experience that is like no other. And I always felt like I was the gatekeeper that I could write the wrongs that were done to my victims. And that I miss. I also miss a little of the fight right now. We're in the middle of a huge legal and political scandal involving the president. And on days like today or yesterday, or when the tapes are out, or when the documents are released,

that's when I miss the fight of being a lawyer because I would love to be scrapping in the middle of that. I'm glad you open that doors. It's some fundamental questions I want to ask understanding the grand jury process, but also trying to understand the judicial aspects of that grand jury process. Once that information is sent to the legislature. Well, see, a lot of people don't realize that this is like no other grand jury process. Okay. The reason why is because we are making the rules up as we go. The traditionally, meaning what normally happens in every jurisdiction across the nation, a grand jury proceeding is indeed secret. And the only person who has access to that information is the prosecutor who presents it to the grand jury. And then an indictment comes to pass at the grand jury. So vote. And then after that, the trial comes in.

And the only time grand jury says money comes in is to impeach. If someone lies on the witness stand, you can say, but isn't it a fact that in the grand jury, you said X, Y, and Z. Traditionally, that's usually like with very few exceptions and there are, but for the secondous conversation, that's the way it usually goes. But we're dealing with a quasi-legal situation with the president. It's more legislative than it is legal. And it's more political than it is legislation. Okay. So with the president, the grand jury proceeding that you all are familiar with, the special prosecutor included grand jury testimony in his report to Congress. And the report to Congress was written in the way the special prosecutor wanted to. There are no rules on how he or she can put a report together. And once it goes to Congress, there are no rules on how they can release it. A lot of people have said, and I tend to agree with this,

that you need to figure out what the rules are going to be before you start releasing information to the public. I talk a little bit about this in the book here in Chapter called Lottie Dottie and Everybody, which translates into everybody is in your business when you're dealing with the media. I very much believe that we need to make sure that the process is in place. In the president's situation, you need to establish whether or not the behavior as accused, taking it in the light least favorable to the president, if that behavior is, in fact, an impeachable offense. Because if you believe that the behavior, even if it's true, is not an impeachable offense, we can go home. So you start off on that premise. And then after you decide that, then you have to decide the mechanism by which you will determine if that behavior is an impeachable offense, and should you send the information on to the full congress?

Well, you need more time than a couple weeks to review all the documents. And then instead of dumping them out on the public, they're born without any explanation, without any cross-examination, without any adversarial looking at the information. You know, the president's lawyer did not have a chance to cross-examine Monica Lewinsky. The president's lawyer has not had a chance to cross-examine Linda Tripp. We find out that Linda Tripp's tapes that were submitted to the special prosecutors more than likely were not the original tapes, but were the original tapes. This is the kind of evidence that should be tested before it is sent out to the public who does not have legal training, who does not have the ability to filter it through the law. I just don't think it's fair. And that's what my issue is, fundamental fairness. Before we run off time, Ms. Jones, a couple of your provocative and thought-provoking comments one on youth and violence.

On youth and violence, you know, I experienced a near-death experience when I was 20 years old. And I looked at that situation through the eyes of a naive young person. And years later, as a prosecutor, I tried a case against a 13-year-old defendant who had killed another young person. And I think in some ways he looked at his situation through the naive eyes of a young person also. And just as my respect for life got me through my situation, his disrespectful life put him in his situation. And I always equate the two of them because I truly do not think that a young person fully understands the ramification for taking a life. They know what they're doing. And they're responsible for it. But they don't understand the long-term ramification because I don't think that young people have a full appreciation

for what life is, how precious it is, that you can't get it back once it's gone. On O.J. Simpson, not the trial itself, but the level of friendship that's surrounded him as an individual. Well, that is a chapter that I'm really probably most proud of. In the book I call it, who you going to get to drive the Bronco? And it's a thought-provoking chapter because the number of radio stations across the country have actually done a whole talk morning talk on who would drive the Bronco for you. And it really is about friendship. I don't care if you think that O.J. Simpson is a vicious, disgusting murderer or a man who just got a raw deal. And everything in between is the opinion. That's not what that chapter is about. It's about Simpson's relationship with Out-Callings and Out-Callings being a real friend at the time of need. Star Jones, author of the book, you

have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything published by Bentham Books. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions asked in future in Black America programs, write us. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or of the University of Texas at Austin. Until we have the opportunity again for IBEA technical producer, David Alvarez, and production assistant, Caitlin Zarette. I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. Thank you for joining us today. And please join us again next week. Cassette copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in Black America Cassettes, Communication Building B, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712. That's in Black America Cassettes, Communication Building B, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712. From the University of Texas at Austin,

this is the Longhorn Radio Network. I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. Join me this week on in Black America. I like to read and to come away with a sense of empowerment that life is like a huge pie. And your pie should be made up of the things that matter to you. TV commentator, Star Jones, this week on in Black America.