The gravel gives to her gait, spiking huffs of gray into the twilight. Bronzed legs buckle under the weight of the duffel bag on her shoulder. Every step marries the tough black canvas to the bruise under her skirt. Bloodied teeth clench behind broken lips in response. The air is…

“Lemuel, te voy a decir una cosa.” My father pauses, guiding his gold Cadillac DeVille up the ramp towards the George Washington Bridge. I shift my legs in the backseat, absorbing the warmth trapped in the car’s beige leather, waiting for him to continue. Through the window I see the…

“Your first two words,” I announced, “are I want.” I started the timer and watched as the room full of seventh graders scribbled into their notebooks. It was five minutes for them to free write, but also time for me to get my bearings. …

In the fall of 2017, as the football season was beginning and the controversy over taking a knee during the national anthem bubbled back up from the ether, I had a thought: If you don’t want politics in sports, then eliminating the flag and national anthem — which are inherently…