The Radical Element

"Respect yourself," she says. "Respect, and perhaps, one day, even love yourself. It's the most radical decision you can make." Respect yourself. Love yourself. As radical a decision for an American girl to make today as it was in 1927, as radical for a student as for a spy, for a printer's apprentice as for a poker player. It's a radical decision when you're balancing on the tightrope of being a second-generation immigrant, of neurodivergence, of facing down American racism while loving America. It's the only decision when you've weighed society's expectations and found them wanting. With…