How could you ever lose the mental image of a Nazi tumbling from his tank, burning to death next to you? Or an American soldier kissing a little French girl’s cheek as joyous young women dance, celebrating victory in Europe? 

THEY CALL HER THEIR SPECIAL ANGEL.

She helped them at a crucial time, and each felt unconditionally loved. They developed character and life skills: Geoffrey gained control of his anger. Tiki found her voice. Naimo learned to forgive. Chaltu started trusting.

Doris Poole was their foster mom. She is now their friend. She fostered 60 children over the course of 40-plus years and raised six biological children of her own, all as a single mom. She sheltered other kids unofficially for parents needing a break.

Ah, the freedom of childhood: 11-year-old boys playing in mud, wrestling, out-­bellowing each other, oblivious of skin color.

Still, despite its family themes, compelling cinematography, evocative score, and impressive acting, The Last Tree is not for kids. It’s worth seeing if you’re ready for an unvarnished, revealing journey into the world of a foster child struggling to find his identity, torn between cultures.

They shattered display windows and the glass front door and rushed in, swinging crowbars and golf clubs, grabbing merchandise, and throwing chairs. Many of the hundred-plus looters made a beeline behind the counter, yanking bottles and packages of prescription drugs off the shelves. They destroyed what they didn’t steal, and all evening groups of mostly young men tramped in and out, snatching and smashing. Then several of them looked up and spray-painted over the surveillance cameras, and Jim Stage’s screen went blank. 

After months of coronavirus lockdowns, baseball in July could be good medicine for Americans. But some players are opting not to participate in this year’s shortened season because of the ongoing risks of COVID-19.

It’s heartening to watch the progression: A white man working the fields alongside black slaves, then freeing a slave from his in-laws, saying, “God protect you, Wilbur.”  The same man commands some of the Civil War’s first black troops. Then as president, he advocates for Abraham Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans and helps ratify the 15th Amendment to grant men voting rights regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Later, he sends agents south to capture and prosecute Ku Klux Klan members.

In the four years since Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, first took a knee on the sidelines during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the league has bobbled its response like a receiver trying not to drop a pass. First, it did not condone players kneeling to protest police brutality. Then it mandated they stand during the national anthem or stay out of sight. Then NFL leaders took some more time to think about it.