deceived myself more than anyone. I am an African-American woman who grew up in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, NY saying the pledge of Allegiance everyday before school started. So I also grew up believing in the ideas that are etched on the American seal: freedom, equality, and justice for all. I was led to believe these were the principals of a great democratic country. I learned in history class that the forefathers of this nation fought to preserve and maintain a "more perfect union." However, as I began to grow up and expand my vision of the world, I realized that freedom, equality, and universal justice were only abstract principles of the nation, and did not automatically translate into a meaningful way of life.

Blissfully unaware of any innate defaults in my person, I was introduced to a way of thinking that contradicted everything I believed. At age...
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