Reporter’s childhood of abuse

NY1 political reporter Dominic Carter recently published the book “No Mommas Boy: How I Let Go of My Past and Embraced My Future” about the horrors and abuse he endured as a child, hoping that his words will be able to help other people.
Carter, who recently took part in a book signing at Queens Hospital Center, grew up in the projects of the Bronx. He said he was on public assistance with no father around. However, one of the darkest parts of his childhood came at age seven, when he was sexually abused by his mother, who also physically abused him.
“I had a very difficult upbringing,” Carter said. He continued, “I don’t blame her anymore.”
After spending 30 years being angry over what happened, Carter has dealt with it. When he was 40 years old, he also found out for the first time that his mother was afflicted by a serious mental illness, having been diagnosed as a chronic, paranoid schizophrenic, and that she was first given electrical shock therapy and put in a straight jacket when she was 16 years old. She spent time in several different mental facilities, including Mount Sinai, which sent Carter a 620-page file on his mother.
Carter decided to share his story following the passing of his mother and began working on the book about five years ago. In part, he said that he wanted to highlight the fact that society places a stigma on child abuse and mental illness in hopes that the stigma will eventually be removed.
The book is also about overcoming adversities. Carter said that he wants others, especially young people, to see that there are no excuses in life.
Carter is a graduate of SUNY Cortland, which is where he said he “developed a passion for being the voice for the voiceless.” September will mark the 15th year that Carter has been the political reporter at NY1.
One incident that has motivated Carter throughout his life was when a high school guidance counselor told him that he shouldn’t waste time going to college because he would either end up dead or in jail.
“No Mommas Boy,” which was self-published, came out in May. Carter said that so far the response has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
Carter, who now lives in Rockland County, will be in Queens again on Saturday, August 18 at the Langston Hughes Community Library and Culture Center at noon.