WEBVTT - The Hate U Give (Part 1) 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:08.080 Hey, there everyone, So just in case you are listening 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.959 to this from the future, here's a quick reminder that 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:16.800 the summer of was uh, let's say unusual. There are 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:18.639 a lot of other words I could use, but it 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.079 was also incredibly notable for the Black Lives Matter protests 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.320 and violent clashes with cops in cities across the country, 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:27.640 sparked by a number of black people being killed by 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.120 police officers. So it might be tempting to look at 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.400 Angie Thomas's two thousand seventeen novel They Hate You Give 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.760 as prescient, but really she's writing about something that has 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:42.199 been happening for decades, for centuries really in this country. 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:44.760 But we will get to that. This is Popcorn book 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.720 Club and this week we're talking about Thomas's novel and 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:51.720 it's film adaptation. And I promise you even dealing with 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.080 sensitive topics like these are commitment to correcting people remains spadfast. 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.360 She's been inaccurate. That just really get if I'm gonna 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.760 be hateful, do it right. So, without further ado, here's 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:12.160 Popcorn book Club. Hey, welcome back to Popcorn book Club. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.039 I'm Danish Schwartz and joined as always by Karamad Unqua, 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:20.040 Jennifer Wright, Melissa Hunter, Antiene Tran. Hey, everyone, h I 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.440 hate you give Obviously, it was a book that came 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.480 out in two thousand seventeen and had a film version 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.280 in two thousand eighteen, But we are revisiting it now 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.560 for reasons that should be obvious. And also obvious should 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.160 be that I, Danish Wartz, I'm a white person, and 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.080 so I'm going to throw guidance of this conversation and 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.960 leadership of this conversation over to my friend, I am 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:50.240 a black person. You guys can't see realize that I 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.279 have one actual question for you, Karama, before you before 0:01:53.280 --> 0:02:01.480 you take the Uh the issue so terrified? What's the question? No, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.680 it's just the there's a big issue of of code 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.600 switching in this book and star the version of that 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:10.680 she is at home and the version she is at school. 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.000 You went to, uh as you've told me, not that 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:21.120 I'm guessing a predominantly white prep school, boarding school, fancy 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:28.160 fancy Virginia. Uh. What was that experience like for you? Well, well, 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.760 just to clarify, I did go to for three years 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.720 of high school. I went to in all girls boarding 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:38.560 school in central sort of basically northern Virginia, but like 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.480 rural northern Virginia in Loudon County, which is, fun fact, 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.240 one of the richest counties in the nation. And it 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:48.320 was an equestrian school, so most of the girls rode 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:52.040 horses and I did not ride horses. I owned zero horses. 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.520 My my roommates sophomore year horse girls school. Yes, I 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.960 went to horse girls school. I the horse girls have 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.960 become radicalized. I will say that, like my roommate from 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.960 sophomore year who had a horse named Jack, and she 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.640 showed me like a picture album of her, pictures of 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.440 her and Jack. Uh. And she now lives on a farm. 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.880 She met her husband on farmers only she's uh. And 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.440 she was she having sex with the horse. No, she 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.799 had a photo album of her and her horse. No, 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.000 she was not having sex with a horse. There was 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.840 a rumor spread about another girl at school that she 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.480 had performed falacio on a horse, and the rumor. The 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.520 worst part about that rumor is that somebody said that 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:31.520 I started it, and I was like, no, I did not. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:33.880 I have nothing to do with this horse falacio rumor. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.800 But back to the point, it's just ever since Catherine 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.480 the Great people just keep going with the same staring 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:46.120 back away from horse Falatio, staring it back to the 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:50.400 conversation of race. I did not come from uh like 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.160 horse background, but I did. My mom also went to 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.560 that school. I was one of the first sort of 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.960 legacies that was black. And I think that it is 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:01.680 important to note the blackness is not a monolith, and 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.760 stars experience in this book is not every black person's 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.320 experience in this book, and there's overlap was mine. I 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:10.040 did feel like I had to be different at school 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.560 than I was at home. Um. But the thing is 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:15.280 I lived at school, so that also makes it a 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.359 whole different situation where I was there like nine months 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:23.040 out of the year. Uh. And for me, I felt 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:31.600 like I was definitely encouraged to remember that my situation 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.279 in life was not the same as their situations in life, 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:38.280 so if I got in trouble, the consequences would be different. 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.159 And that was something that I think was always over me. 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.320 And I kind of got this reputation very early on 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.640 that I was a narc because I was like, if 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:47.760 you guys do anything that is bad, I will tell 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:50.040 on you because I'm not trying to be an accomplice 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.120 to anything. I'm not trying to affiliate myself with anything 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.919 that is untoward, and so that did not earn me 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.800 many friends early on, but as people got to know me, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.760 I think they got to figure out out that, oh, 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.920 she's not an arch, she's just scared. So uh yeah, 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:06.960 I did go to a primarily white institution for high 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.279 school p w I for short, and I went to 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.800 one for college, and uh so that I have a 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.479 lot of experience with what Star went through in terms 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.400 of having a code switch and having these two worlds 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.480 and living and existing in a world where people are 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.680 very educated and have this idea of knowing a lot 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.000 about what's going on in the world, but still don't 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.400 really see you for who you are. And there's a 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.080 line I think it was in the movie, I don't 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.159 remember if it was also in the book, but Hailey 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:42.080 says to Star, Oh, you're different. And there's that sort 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.719 of feeling that like, oh, you're not like other black 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.600 people because you're a person that I understand that you're palatable, 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.680 and I feel like that's something that happens a lot 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.760 with black people who have a lot of white friends 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.280 and have a lot of non black friends in general, 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.960 and krama for listeners who maybe don't know. Can you 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:07.279 explain code switching? Oh? Absolutely, yeah. Code switching is something 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.240 that everyone does. Uh. Just to be clear, it's not 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.640 exclusive to black people, but a lot of times we 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:17.520 have conversations about it in relation to blackness. Code switching 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:22.560 is when the language and behaviors that you engage in 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.040 with one group of people you change them when you're 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.600 around another group of people. So we all code switch 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.680 in in smaller ways, like, oh, when I'm with my friends, 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:33.760 I don't talk the same way I talk at work 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.919 because that would be inappropriate unless you're us and you 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.039 can talk about horse Falacio both at work and with 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:47.840 your friends. US with black comedy writer, yes, that is true, 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.200 or a group chat does not have many conversations about 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:57.960 horse Falacio yet, so uh so, code switching for black 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:02.120 people in particular can be a switch from African American 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.839 Vernacular English also known as A A V E, sometimes 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:11.239 pejoratively termed ebonics into standard American English. So that's something 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.720 that some people in their neighborhoods, like Star says in 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.160 the book, and we'll get into plot in just a second, 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.720 but Star says, if a rapper would say it star 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.000 At Williamson Williamson, Oh, I know the name of the school. 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.720 Starr At Williamson would not say it. So there's this 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.560 sort of division of this is my academic language and 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.760 this is my I'm at home with my friends language, 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.640 even when she's in the social aspects of her school, 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.400 so not just in the classroom, but also when she's 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.720 talking to her peers. And there's also that scene in 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.800 the movie I think we also watched the movie where 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:48.480 she's like walking down the hall and all the white 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.040 kids are like those kids are lit, and she's saying 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:55.960 thank you. Yeah. That scene made me want to retch. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.960 I just it was I mean, it was a visceral 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.040 reaction because we've all had it. And like, there are 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:04.960 people in my life, like people that have known for 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.280 a very long time, who will talk differently to me, 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.560 a black person, than they do to other white people 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.880 in their lives. Like, um, there is a family friend 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.720 who whenever I come over to their house, he's like, Oh, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.360 what's up, dog, And I'm just like, I don't talk 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.640 like that. I legitimately don't, And I don't know why 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.000 you would talk to me like that, because you also 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.520 don't talk like that, and there's nothing wrong with talking 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.960 like that, but it's just not how either of us talk, 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.360 and it's the shift into that when my face walks 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.520 into the room. I've had to not catch myself. But 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.520 I have noticed sometimes on the internet, like with like 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.960 a Twitter slang that like cool teens are using, but 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.400 obviously and primarily comes from the black community, where sometimes 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.840 I'm like doing a meme and it's more in in 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.520 you know, like more casual language or slang that I 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.839 wouldn't really use, and I sort of have to catch 0:08:57.840 --> 0:08:59.680 myself and being like, Okay, what am I trying to 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.679 do here? That's like not an accurate representation of myself. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.720 So I think, like in watching this movie, it's so 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.560 easy and reading the book, obviously, like for Haley, who's 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.440 like the most villainous white character in the world, which 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.560 we'll get to, it's easy to dismiss and be like, oh, well, 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.040 I'm not like that, so I'm good. But I think 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.400 that it does sort of sneak up on people and 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.720 well meaning people in everything. There's a spectrum of all 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.800 of that stuff, and uh, it's easy to think because 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.400 I'm not one fifteen the cop, that I'm not engaging 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.520 in racist behavior, or because I'm not Haley, I'm not 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.040 engaging in racist behavior. But there are so many thousands 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.720 of things in between those two people and on the 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.439 other side of Haley that might seem more innocuous. But yeah, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.360 let's get into some plot. Um, Melissa, do you want 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:52.320 to start us off? Oh gosh, sure, Sorry to throw 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:56.520 the intense beginning at you. You look serene and I 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.320 thought i'd put that up. Thank you so much. I 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:04.760 need to get out of my neutral space. Uh. So 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:11.720 we have Star Carter. She is our lead, our heroine. Um. 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:16.760 She is I believe sixteen years old. Is that correct? Um? 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:22.240 And she is going to a party with Kenya, who 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.480 we later learn is not her not related. She's not 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.440 related to Kenya, but they share a brother. They both 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:33.520 share a half brother on different sides, dad and mom respectively. So, 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:40.280 and it's a primarily black party, and or um, mostly 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.960 mostly black people are there, teenagers. It's it's a you know, 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:48.400 a really big party. And she feels very uncomfortable in 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.920 this space. She's not. She's not because she goes to 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.640 this prep school she is. Most of her social circle 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.480 is now white, so she feels a little bit un 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:05.360 off her footing. She doesn't. She feels self conscious because 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.920 she talks about how at her school she's the cool 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.240 black girl, because you, by nature get when you're around 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:14.320 a bunch of white people, they think you're cool and 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:18.160 say your shoes are lit um. But here everyone is 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.760 cooler than her, or at least she thinks so and Um. 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:27.320 She runs into Kenya has Um Uh is in sort 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:29.320 of a fight. She wants to fight with this girl 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.080 who I think there's some boy drama between them, and 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:38.600 so she goes off and Khalil, her old friend, comes 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:40.880 up to her, and they haven't seen each other in 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.760 a while, and they're talking and it's clear there's some 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.960 intimacy between them. They really care for each other and 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.240 he it's also you can tell there's like a little 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.319 bit of flirtation too. There's just a lot of layers 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.280 to this relationship. And then all of a sudden, shots 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:02.640 are fired in the party and everyone is scrambling to leave, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.320 and Khalil grab star and says, come with me, and 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:12.120 so they go into his car and drive away and 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:16.839 they're driving. They're catching up some more Uh Khalil makes 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.400 either at the party or in the car. I forget 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.520 it seems to imply that he's has some money now, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.200 and she's a little bit worried that it might be 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:30.360 related to drugs and um. And then all of a 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:34.400 sudden they get pulled over. And when they get pulled over, 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.600 we hear star sort of of what she's learned when 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.760 she had the talk with her parents when she was 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:45.480 younger about how to be safe as or as safe 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.000 as you can be as a black person with a 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.040 police when you're pulled over, and you, uh, you know, 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.800 are very polite. You don't make any sudden moves, you 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.360 answer their questions, you don't reach for anything too quickly. 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.079 So she's kind of reciting all that as this cop 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:06.120 is coming up, and the cop is immediately antagonistic and 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:11.640 suspicious of these two black teenagers, and Khalil is not 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:18.760 um abiding by stars sort of rules that she has 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.400 in her head of how to be safe with police present. 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.520 Is being a little bit more, a little bit more 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.880 of an attitude um in a way that is justified 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:33.400 because the cop is being very antagonistic and she gets 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:38.360 really worried. Um. But it escalates very quickly. Uh. They 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:40.720 the cops says to get out of the car for 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.480 Khalil to get out of the car and put his 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.400 hands I believe, on the top of the car while 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.160 he goes and runs his license and Star is getting 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.560 very scared and Khalil asks if she's okay, And in 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.240 the middle of Khalil asking if she's okay, he gets 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:03.640 shot and killed. Um. She runs out of the car 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:09.040 and Khalil dies in her arms, and it's very very sad. 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.679 Uh and uh and that at the cop also points 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:19.000 the gun at her um and someone else wants I 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:20.720 think that's a good place to I think it's a 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.000 good place to about that scene. Yeah. Can I make 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.640 one comment of a thing that I really like that 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.880 Angie Thomas did with the setup of this book. Was 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.040 she she made it. She gave it the sense that 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.760 it could have been a very different book. Like the 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.200 sexual chemistry between Kalil is really cute, and you're like, oh, 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.040 this is her former friend, but she has this white boyfriend. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.800 Were in a different universe, this book would have been 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.080 about like a love triangle between a girl sort of 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.600 who feels herself caught between two worlds. Like I was 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:51.920 like wing for her and Khalil, I was like, oh 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:53.480 my god, are they going to kiss. They have this 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:58.480 chemistry and then this cop I mean like he kills 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:01.600 Khalil and cuts his life so or completely changes the 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.600 trajectory of the book. Yeah, And I think that's one 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.960 of the things that makes it especially tragic that it's 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.520 cut off that potential story, that it's cut off all 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.480 potential stories for I mean, it can't be a story 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.720 about him getting out of drug dealing or them both 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.000 getting to live in a better place. Um, although stories 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.600 are ended incredibly prematurely by an act of violence. I 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.720 think that we've talked a lot about some really heavy 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:31.800 stuff and we should just take a breather for a sec. 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.840 You're listening to Popcorn Book Club from my Heart Radio, 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:51.520 and we'll be back right after the break. So we're 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:59.520 back with Popcorn book Club for my Heart Radio. I mean, 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.640 I think the one thing that I would love to 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.560 talk about is that they listened to Tupac on the 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:11.840 way to to get back to UH Stars house and 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.480 they Khalil brings up the fact that thug life actually 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.840 means something much more than what I had never I 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.800 did not know this, um and that thug life stands 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.920 for they hate you give little infants, Fox everyone, which 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:31.360 is kind of a shorthand acronym for systemic racism, which 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.600 they talk about and then gets It's it's sort of 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.160 a theme that we keep coming back to that these 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.960 cycles of violence are because of you know, as we 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.680 as we were all starting to learn about like under resourced, 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:48.440 under underserved communities being forced into economic situations that they 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:52.800 can't break the cycle of because of state violence. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.920 And I thought it was interesting also that Melissa you 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.640 had talked about how there was an indication that Khalil 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.199 had money, and the indication, if I recall, was that 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.679 he had like this big earring with a diamond in it, 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.159 and he had these like new fresh sneakers, which she 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.160 did stuff and we get to see a little bit, 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.640 like Dana was saying, of the tension there because she's like, oh, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.200 let me clean your sneakers because she's a sneaker head, 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.200 which I love. I love that she's a little sneaker head. Um. 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:26.000 I love Star just as a character, and she loves 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:31.119 Harry Potter and Karon Potter. I know. You know, I 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:34.399 kept going back to the Harry Potter thing as well, 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.399 because he kept reminding me how young these people were that. Um, 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.080 I think something that we as a society do is 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:48.720 sometimes we have prematurely adultified black children. And a lot 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.119 of times, when um, a black person gets shot by 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.560 the police, newspapers talk about how like they were a thug, 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:59.040 and it seems like they posted danger. And I think 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.320 if you look back to what you were like at fifteen, 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.720 those are those are just making Those are little people 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.200 who like Harry Potter, well that and that's something I 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.639 will I'm sure keep going back to. But what I 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:15.560 loved about this book was it was, you know, a 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:20.879 book about about systemic violence or violence against black people 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.840 and this incredible tragedy and all of the tragedies um 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.959 against black people. And at the same time it was 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:35.719 a young adult teenage drama. Like there's a teenage drama. 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.280 There's romance, there's like going to prom and then the 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.400 beginning it starts with a flirtation, and it it does 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:47.879 feel like black teenagers can't just be teenagers. And that's 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.760 the thing, like you you see over and over again, 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.359 like with her tumbler, I think it's a really good 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:57.760 example of how, like Hayley thinks, it's so disgusting posting 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.639 these pictures of them att till and it's like that's what, 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.679 that's what they're faced with, their face with that duality constantly. 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.120 And I think that was really well told. And we'll 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:12.200 get into m until stuff later. It's fine, we And 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.439 I think that also the fact that it's there's this 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.800 huge argument it's about tumbler again speaks to the fact 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:23.960 that these are teenagers in um like sen whose main 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:28.600 issues surround on this like microblogging social media platform that 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.640 was very cool at the time. Would just like, can 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:34.199 I just add that I love that it's a young 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.840 adult book, but I think everyone should read this book, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:42.480 Like I think that is such it's like wonderful read. 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.560 It's so important and thoughtful, and like everyone should read 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.119 this book. It shouldn't beat as young adults. So anyone listening, like, 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.200 share it with everyone that you're that you're friends with, 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:55.040 not friends, enemies, anyone. Something I was wondering about a 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:57.480 little bit, since a lot of members of this group 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.120 are white, did anybody else have a conversation with their 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.480 parents growing up about what to do with please pull 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.240 you over? The most brief one and it was never 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.359 for your own safety. It was just like how always 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.440 have your registration on you. Yeah, you should keep that 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:15.919 in the glove compartment. Was the extent of the conversation 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.240 was have your registration. But well, when I was ten, 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:23.240 actually the cop pulled my mom over, and um, I 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.720 had not had a conversation with her at the time 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.439 about anything. And I remember recently I had been at 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.800 j C. Penny with my family friends and we had 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:35.840 all been like shopping at j C. Penny and then 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:40.040 my friend who was like my mom's friend's daughter, and 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.400 I were lagging behind and we get to the car 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:44.760 and we heard that, um, they got to see the 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:46.920 inside of a cop car, and I was super jealous 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:48.359 that I didn't get to see the inside of a 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.240 cop car. Um, because they like gave my friend's little 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.280 brother a tour. And I think that he also seems 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.399 less of a threat because he was younger. We were 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.000 all black. I think that's important to note he's younger 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:03.800 and he has down syndrome. He's not younger now. He's 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.359 like twenty two now, which is crazy to me. But 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.400 then I was super jealous that I hadn't gotten see 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:10.840 the inside of a cop car. So my mom gets 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:12.960 pulled over because she has like dead tags on her car, 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.960 which sometimes we all forget or we're just broke and 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.240 can't do it. Um. And it was like by a month, 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:23.000 it wasn't like years later anything. And the cop pulled 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:24.679 us over and I leaned over and I said, can 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:26.920 I see the inside of your car? And my mom 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:32.760 looked like she wanted to strangle me because she's like, please, 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:36.560 do not engage with police like that. Don't talk to them, 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:38.480 just let them. He did let me see the inside 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:40.840 of his car, which made me super happy at the time, 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:42.879 And now I hope to never see the inside of 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:47.320 a cop car ever again. But it's interesting because I 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:51.439 was just a kid in that sense and not with 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:56.359 the weight of this is the police under my decision making. 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:58.040 I was just like, Oh, my friend got to see 0:21:58.040 --> 0:21:59.400 the inside of a cop car. I want to see 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.919 all the button um. But I also had the privilege 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:05.800 of not growing up in the same type of neighborhood 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:10.600 as Star Granma. I want to go back briefly to 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.359 the point that Ten made about this being a way book, 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:16.600 but it um, you know, really should be read by everyone. 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.240 You and I we texted about this briefly when we 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:22.159 started reading it, where it's like, there are certain advantages 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:25.760 to it being a y A story in that it 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:28.800 young people hopefully also will read this, like I've heard 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:31.240 stories about high school student traits, in which I think 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:34.479 it's also important to note that it was awarded a 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.840 couple of different awards by the American Library Association. So 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:41.439 it got the Cretis got King Award, obviously named for 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:45.520 Martin Luther King Jr's wife, Um, and that's for black 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:48.080 young adult books. And it also won the William C. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:50.840 Morris Award, which was for first time young adult writers. 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.679 And it was on the National Book Award Young Adult 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.720 long List, so it's killing it in the y A game. 0:22:57.000 --> 0:23:00.280 And it was highly recognized, and it was on the 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:02.919 New York Times bestseller list for over eighty weeks when 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.000 it first came out, So this was clearly something that 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:09.280 sparked something in people. But it was also banned by 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:12.280 several people, and there were fringe groups saying that it 0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:16.120 was dangerous because it humanized the victims of police violence, 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:21.040 which just I don't know if that's why it was banned. 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:23.159 It does have a lot of swear words and a 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:25.200 penis joke at one point, which I thought was great 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:29.440 because that's life when you're sixteen. But I don't think 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:31.600 that the single penis joke in the book is the 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:33.520 reason that people were banning it. I think it's because 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:37.040