The powerful movie The Hate You Give teaches lessons and touches upon important issues that can be seen in our everyday lives. This is a story about the fight for justice as an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by police. Him and his friend Star were sitting in the car and got pulled over, as he reached for his hairbrush during the traffic stop the officer fired, shot and killed him. The story then goes on as Star fights for justice for her best friend and the hundred other African American men and women who are killed by police each year. She sets up protests and marches bringing attention to the systemic injustice embedded in the justice system and the unfair treatment of African American’s by police in America.
This movie addresses the idea of identity because of the color of his skin. That was the driving factor for the police officer to shoot his weapon and a main argument of Star’s. If her friend was white, would the officer have felt inclined to shoot his gun? Next, power comes into play because of the power the justice system has during situations like this. The justice system is portrayed as all white, powerful men which is why the fight for justice in this situation and others similar is so difficult. These men have not felt the same injustices African American men have which is why when put in these positions of power, justice is hard to find. Finally, when looking at the injustice and the systemic injustice, it is simple and it is the justice system and how difficult it is for African American men and women to get justice.
This connects directly to the book The March by John Lewis. This novel took place in 1965 and this movie was released in 2018. In the novel, he was protesting for equality, voting rights and justice for African American men and women. These athings were fought for for years and are still being fought for as we see the fight for justice and equality being shown in a movie released almost 50 years later. This movie can also connect to Can The Subaltern Speak? as in previous altercations and interactions with police people did not speak up. Because the justice system is so powerful there were nerves when it came to speaking up, placing the people being affected in the category of the subaltern. In this movie, it shows the opposite but only with Star at the beginning. She wanted to protest and break through the idea of being the subaltern but due to fear of the police her parents and peers did not want her to. She was silenced for months conformed to being the subaltern until she knew what she wanted to do was right and was able to speak up and use her voice.
