“I wondered if Dante and I would ever be allowed to write our names on the
map of the world. Other people are given writing instruments—and when
they go to school, they are taught to use them. But they don’t give boys like
me and Dante pencils or pens or spray paint. They want us to read, but they
do not want us to write. What will we write our names with? And where on
the map would we write them?”