I grew up in a dominantly male household. There was my mother, my father, my older brother, and myself. My mother's only female companion was our cat, but she was too erratic to depend on. On top of that, our house was a go-to hangout for my brother's friends who were, unsurprisingly, other boys — young, annoying, hockey-playing boys. My mother was a real one for the amount of literal shit she put

I'm no film critic. Not a philosopher either. Just a 45-year-old man from Los Mina, a barrio in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where life didn’t ask for permission to teach you hard lessons—but where I also learned the value of a good conversation, a well-argued coffee, and yes, the kind of beating that teaches you what school never will. Today I belong to the middle class, sure. I worked hard