Hey everyone, this week I am focusing on a piece of work that focuses greatly on the topics of racial injustice, power, and identity. The book (which was later got a film adaptation) I will be discussing today is “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, and this fictional story of a biracial girl torn between her different identities is engaging and really opens the door for racial identity and how much it affects our lives. A brief synopsis (that does not spoil the book!) is that we are following the life of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who had witnessed the shooting of her childhood friend by a white police officer. Starr is swept up in national attention due to the racial aspects of the murder, and we get to see how Starr sees herself and gain insight in how the world sees people like her. Starr is a Black girl from a poor neighborhood that attends a predominantly white private school, and this instance of murder of yet another Black person at the hands of a white cop sparks tension with both aspects of her life, as those from both sides of her identity have strong feelings on how Starr should proceed. We also see the injustice that we see in everyday life, with the trial of the cop being publicized and a focus put on the backgrounds of the cop and the boy he murdered. The cop was portrayed in a much better light, which is unsurprising due to the power that a white cop holds in society compared to a young Black man. The power that this cop holds is further shown in the trial decision. One idea that the author wants the readers to take away from this novel are that identities play an enormous role in how we see ourselves and how we are treated by society, and it is important to question why that is. Why do we base power on things like socioeconomic status, and why do we continue to give in to the structural injustice that Black people face in America? Although this is a fictional story, it is crucial to acknowledge that is not fiction for many, and Black people in America face constant scrutiny and have had a lack of power since the founding of this country. Books like this, that are well-written while also bringing light to an important issue, are significant in the push for change.