If you read this awhile ago, read it again. Especially if you want an illuminating view into what is happening right now. Like everyone, I have seen the debates of "reality" - skewed depending on what side of the table you live on, or life experience. When really it comes down to REALITY is the REALITY of those that live it. And in this book, this is Starr's reality - where she's seen two of her best friends get murdered before she even graduates high school. As a black teenager, her reality is hearing "the talk" at age 12 (especially to her brothers) about what to do if a police pulls you over (answer politely, hold up your hands up, avoid conflict), and hearing gunshots outside of her house, or seeing her friends join gangs or sell drugs for reasons that far surpass people's assumptions, and living daily with stereotypes she knows are wrong. Starr's reality is being black but going to a mostly-white "better school" where she's constantly conflicted on who to be - avoiding being a "sassy black girl" at school and avoiding "sounding white" in her neighborhood. Starr's reality is what happens when she witnesses her best friend get murdered - when speaking up also jeopardizes her own safety in her own community. Starr's reality is being scared to use her ultimate weapon - her voice - but knowing she has to. If the world is going to change for the better, she (and EVERYONE else) needs to speak UP. Seriously, if you haven't read this, and you don't "understand" why people are so upset or you are hesitant to learn - educate yourself on REALITY for people that have a different story than you. Listening first is how you can speak later, and it's how the world can change.
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