The lessons that former history teacher Patricia J. Marino learned from her Sicilian-American father, Detective Alexander Francis Marino, are universal and applicable to our current American landscape: "Laws don't always equal right," "Call out hypocrisy," and "Keep your commitments," among others. In this unique memoir-through-a-larger-American-historical-lens, with relatable appeal to anyone whose family came to America from elsewhere (i.e., almost all of us), the author takes a loving yet clear-eyed look at what we're doing wrong in light of the original promise of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, and how we can set things right so as to-in the words of Langston Hughes-"let America be America again." Includes an invitation to readers to participate in "revisioning a new America."

Lesson 1: A Portrait of Dirty Harry - LAWS DON'T ALWAYS EQUAL RIGHT

Lesson 2: Alex and Sinatra - CALL OUT HYPOCRISY

Lesson 3: Alex and Sinatra - MIXING WITH THE MOB IS A DEATH KNELL

Lesson 4: Alex - STRIVE TO LEARN TOUGHNESS THROUGH ADVERSITY

Lesson 5: Alex and LBJ - KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS

Lesson 6: Alex the Detective - BRING FAIRNESS TO THE PROBLEM - EQUALITY IS THE GOLD STANDARD

Lesson 7: Alex and World War II, at Home and Abroad - SEE THE HUMAN IN THE STEREOTYPE

Lesson 8: Alex's Family DNA - LOVE AS THE YEAST FOR GROWTH - CAN FOOD AND LOVE BRIDGE ASSIMILATION?

Lesson #9: Those Who Came Before - THE "OTHER" IS YOU

Lesson #10: Alex and the Church - SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER

Lesson #11: Our Collective Immigrant Experience - FACE YOUR FEARS AND YOUR TRUTH