ItÕs complicated. On one hand, I can love America because I grew up with nothing and have had the opportunity to go to the college and buy a home through government programs. In addition, all of my interactions with police have been positive. Now on the flip side, boys/men that look like me have not been afforded the same opportunities and/or have been killed for no other reason than looking like me. Black people are the abused and starved children of this nation. Any yet many of us still serve in the military and love this countryÉ. In the end, this is home more so than Africa is --in that we no longer speak any of the languages, celebrate the customs, or practice the same religion. That separation was done deliberately and maliciously, but itÕs our reality. So, yes we continue to fight institutionalized racism in my homeland of America, because ainÕt I an American, too. - Randy Brooks, English Department Chair