" Across the street, a heart-shaped sign in the school colors of red and black had the message: "One Heartbeat.

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Others tackled heart disease, stroke, and drug abuse and HIV - all of which disproportionately affect the black community.

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After a few necessary detours, I ended up coaching debate to at-risk black and Hispanic students at the Eagle Academy for Young Men, a pioneering all-boys secondary school in the heart of the South Bronx, a few blocks from Yankee Stadium.

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