America has rarely seen more division, polarization and disunion than at this moment. And yet our best selves long for connection. Deep down, we know that separation is an illusion, that there is no us and them, just us. We want to remember that we belong to each other, no matter how we voted a year ago.
Sometimes, college professors make their students read my book about Homeboy Industries, “Tattoos on the Heart,” against their will. (I’m not complaining.) Gonzaga University, in Spokane, Wash., strong-armed its entire freshman class into it a few years ago, and then invited me to speak and asked that I bring along two of the gang members I work with.
Whenever such a chance presents itself, I pick homies who’ve never flown before. (Recently, on a trip to Washington, D.C., one of them asked, “Are we flying Virgin airlines because it is our first time?”). When I went to Spokane, I took Mario and Bobby.
[For more on this story by Gregory J. Boyle, go to http://www.latimes.com/opinion...-20171128-story.html]
Photo: Father Gregory Boyle hugs Nancy Delgadillo while David Minjarez looks on at Homeboy Industries headquarters in Los Angeles on September 14, 2010. (Los Angeles Times)
Comments (0)