Public Employee Press

Dominic Carter comes home to DC 37

As Dominic Carter recounts in his new book, “No Momma’s Boy: How I Let Go of My Past and Embraced the Future,” he lived a story that he covered many times as a reporter. His memoir tells how he struggled to keep his head above water while other family members were mired in drugs and abusive relationships that laid claims on his allegiance to his family.

The NY1 news anchor came to DC 37 May 30 to discuss the book, the insights he gained from writing the revealing memoir, and the demons he was able to lay to rest by doing so.

The well-attended event, sponsored by the DC 37 Women’s Committee, let Carter connect to some familiar turf, since his mother/aunt — as he calls her — Inez Carter is a retiree from Local 1549.

Surrounded by family, including his mother, wife, daughter, sister and niece, he described the painful journey that is the substance of his chronicle. He explained that he needed to explore his past with a pen in order to understand its hold over him.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts welcomed him warmly. “I’m really delighted to be here tonight,” she said. “His is a very moving story and Inez Carter is a very special person. I feel very close to Dominic. He’s gone through a lot of trials and tribulations,” said Roberts.

When Inez Carter took the stage, she spoke of her pride in her successful offspring. She recalled, “I always told him he was going to be someone special—and that he is!”

Thanks to the union
“It’s a tremendous honor for me to be here,” said Carter. “If not for this union, my mother/aunt would not have been able to put food on the table.”

He pointed out that the book is dedicated to the memory of his great-grandmother, “a woman who started out, like many of your families, in Augusta, Georgia, and set out for New York City.”

He spoke about some of the great highs and also the lows of his journey from youth to young manhood. “I got tired of feeling shame,” he said.
“Now, for the first time in my life, I feel that I’m free,” said Carter. I feel that I’ve ended the cycle of denial about what happened to me at an early age.”

“My book ultimately highlights the power of positive thinking — that, no matter what, you can do it — and the power of forgiveness, of redemption.

The book is available in the Education Fund library, Room 211, at DC 37.

—Jane LaTour