“He didn’t do anything!” Katherine Smith shouted across a vacant lot, as police drove her 16-year-old brother into an alley.

The North Lawndale teen was let go about 15 minutes later and ambled back toward his friends and family. He tried to look calm, but his face, twisted in fear and frustration, betrayed him. Link

Ladies and Gentlemen: Claude McKay.
America

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls whit not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Claude McKay