The Freedom to be Authentic this Fourth of July

[A guest blog from Kate Boccia, founder of NIA (National Incarceration Association), edited by me.]

I was born in the Midwest from somewhat humble beginnings. At the tender age of 5 we moved to New England where I began school. Every morning we placed our right hand over our hearts and said the Pledge of Allegiance. It was so automatic that we became numb to what it really said.

“I pledge of allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible…