From the Bronx in New York City to Yale Law School and now the nation’s capital, Sonia Sotomayor has made a name for herself despite the obstacles she’s encountered throughout her life.
“My life hasn’t been always easy, and yet I succeeded,” Sotomayor said in a conversation with St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh.
Growing up in poverty, learning English as a second language and being diagnosed with diabetes as a child, as well as grieving the death of her father when she was 9, are just a few of those obstacles.
“These have been some difficult times, and [although] difficult times existed … I’m now a justice of the Supreme Court,” she added.
Appointed in 2009 by then-President Barack Obama, Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It was more a moment for my community because they could see that if I made it, they can too,” she said.
On Tuesday, listeners heard highlights from Marsh’s interview with Sotomayor during a sold-out Sept. 6 event at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus. The justice was in town to discuss her recent children’s books that are published in both English and Spanish: “Turning Pages: My Life Story,” a picture book, and “The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor,” which is an adaptation of her No. 1 New York Times-bestselling memoir.
“Kids are our future, and they are our greatest hope for a better future,” Sotomayor said. “That’s why I do what I do. That’s why these children’s books came out, because I want them to do a better job than we have.”
Listen to the full conversation:
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