On November 1, 2012, I stood with hundreds of fellow lawyers that had just passed the Illinois bar exam, including a rigorous background check, and took the following oath: “I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of…

Just over 4 years ago, on November 9, 2016, I woke up, as many other fellow Americans, to the fact that Donald Trump had won the electoral college vote. Like my fellow Americans, I showered and got dressed, crying through the process and dabbing makeup on my now puffy eyes…

Dear Judge Barrett: I am a South Asian American woman and an attorney in Chicago in practice for 8 years. I write not because of my political or personal views; rather, I write from my concern for the sustainability of our democracy if you accept the Supreme Court vacancy. As…

I waited a year into working for my last employer before I told the law firm how to pronounce my name the right way. I waited until a firm office meeting, and when other matters came up, I meekly raised my hand. “Um, my name is pronounced Pree-Thee.” They all…

I am not wearing makeup today. I want to blend with the blur. I want to disappear from all gaze. No red lipsticks for today. No caramel base. No cat eyes. No contours. Cupid’s bow is naked, with simply a pink tongue as arrow Can you see my skin? …

Patty cake, Patty cake, Please Mr. Policeman, Please save us from the gunman as fast as you can. ******** Little hands, little hands, clap for patty cake, little hands typically engaged in wonder and play, flitting about to do lovely things, like, coloring their favorite characters with hues glorious and wild, illustrating their abuelos and nanas…

This land was made for you and me! The land of greatness and opportunity, The land of the brave and home of the free, The land where you can be anything you want to be, The land where everything is a possibility, The land of where the young men are…

Someone said this place might have good bones, that, we could gut it and add some finishes, yeah, we could make this house into a home. …

My mother always says “Don’t worry, beta,” “They are just scared,” “We have nothing to hide.” She said it the first time, while we were shopping for summer dresses, in our little town buried in deep southern Illinois. We chatted about my six grade class and my 2 older sisters folding Hindi into English as…