Use Your Voice

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"What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be? Brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you go on even though you're scared." (Thomas 252)

    Starr must either raise her voice to speak against injustice or stay silent and feel the oppression. In The Hate U Give the primary theme develops as Starr learns how to use her voice to advocate for justice and peace. Every voice is powerful, the challenge is just getting the courage to use it.

    " 'That's why people are speaking out, huh? Because it won't change if we don't say something.' 'Exactly. We can't be silent.' 'So I can't be silent.' " (Thomas 171) It is important to know that no matter your color, age, height, or figure you have a voice. If needs and/or basic civil rights are not being met, then everyone should have something to say about it. " '...Remember what I told you about your voice?' 'You told me it's my greatest weapon.' " (Thomas 410)

    Khalil's death was just one of many incidents of police brutality against African Americans. At the end of the book, Starr mentions several other black men and women who were unlawfully killed…"It's also about Oscar. Aiyana. Trayvon. Rekia. Michael. Eric. Tamir. John. Ezell. Sandra. Freddie. Alton. Philando. It's even about that little boy in 1955 who nobody recognized at first- Emmett." (Thomas 443) The list sadly continues to grow to this day. Although the book was written 2-3 years ago, it is extremely relevant to today’s society. 

    The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is written in a relaxed manner with extremely intense moments. I feel this book would thrive in the schools. Angie Thomas said, "I look at books as being a form of activism. Sometimes they'll show us a side of the world that we might not have known about."




  Chris, Starr’s boyfriend, says it here best… “I feel like I should apologize on behalf of white people everywhere.” (Thomas 375)

 

Comments

  1. toriehicksSeptember 14, 2020 at 5:33 PM

    Logan, I completely agree with you that one of the main arguments in The Hate U Give is how far using your voice gets you. I see this because throughout the novel, as Starr is growing as a person, her voice becomes louder and eventually gets heard. At first, Starr was scared of speaking out. She feared for what her friends at Williamson would say if they found out about her life back in Garden Heights. She slowly realizes that justice will not be served until she speaks out for Khalil, and she does this gradually. First she speaks to the police, then she speaks with Ms. Ofrah, an activist for the organization Just Us for Justice. She agrees to do an interview with Ms. Ofrah as long as her identity is kept hidden. As Starr continues to gain courage and ends up telling Chris what has been going on, I feel that she is less afraid of what others think of her, and more afraid of what will happen if she does not speak up. When Starr speaks at the protest with a megaphone and says, "But this isn't about how Khalil died. It's about the fact that he lived. His life mattered. Khalil lived," she doesn't care about what others think anymore; all she cares about is finding justice. (Thomas 412). In this moment, her voice is heard, and she achieves the top headlines of newspapers and news channels. Though some of the news articles were standing for One Fifteen, Starr still spoke out on what she believed in; and it drew attention. The main idea is that when Starr was silent, there was no justice being served because the witness wasn't speaking out, but when she spoke, she drew attention. Racial injustice and oppression will not end with being silent. It is when individuals come together and have the courage to speak out, that justice is closer to being served. When Starr figured this out, she did all that she could to find Justice for Khalil, and for the other individuals who have died due to police brutality and racism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Olivia BennettSeptember 14, 2020 at 8:42 PM

    Hey Logan,
    I love the graphics you included in your blog post, especially the first one. Our society needs to address a lot of topics that are going to make people UNCOMFORTABLE. I feel like a lot of times we purposefully avoid uncomfortable topics to avoid stepping on toes and hurting feelings, especially in the classroom. I totally agree with you that this book would thrive in schools. We, as future teachers, need to begin making the decision to teach uncomfortable topics in the classroom because guess what? This topics are everywhere outside of the classroom. Students are not dummies, they are aware of what is going on in the world around them. We need to give them a safe place to learn and discuss topics that are relevant and challenge them to think. We also, need to teach our students how to use their voices, much like the way that Starr learned throughout the novel to use hers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Logan SandorSeptember 16, 2020 at 8:39 AM

      Yes! The question is how much is too much? Which topics are absolutely not allowed?

      Delete
  3. A'Keriah PraylowSeptember 16, 2020 at 7:29 AM

    The first sentence was all it took for you to impact me with your blog post. This is a beautiful response. The entire formatting of your blog post is amazing. The pictures are just as powerful as the words.

    ReplyDelete

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