"The Hate U Give" and the Call to Activism

Comparing Angie Thomas and Starr Carter’s Experiences

As you listen to the interview with Angie Thomas, write down ways in which Starr’s experiences in "The Hate U Give" are similar to Angie Thomas’ experiences as student.

The Character of Khalil

Listen to the interview as Angie Thomas talks about the ways in which the character Khalil is based on the stories of several young men of color including Oscar Grant and Michael Brown. Then record the information about Khalil’s character in the chart below, along with your comments.

Language Identification Organizer

Listen closely and check off each sentence or partial sentence as you hear it.

• The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me.
• Starr Carter is 16 when she confronts the exact situation her father warned her about.
• where she's only one of a handful of black kids.
• But there's also his past that sometimes is brought up.
• So she has to try to figure out who she is where she is.
• I had to fight even harder to show that I was intelligent and that I was capable of being there, just like my counterparts.
• He was an unarmed young black male who had a record.
• And honestly, there was inspiration from a lot of these cases that we see with unarmed black people losing their lives.
• So Khalil is a combination of a lot of what we see with young black men, particularly, when they lose their lives.
• There's a lot of people helping her on her journey. At the end, she kind of leans towards activism.
• she does find her voice through a certain form of activism
• I want to make you cry at times - so he was an influence in that way.
• And we see that in the form of anger and frustration.
• But that really got to the core of what I was trying to say and do in the book.

Fill-in-the-Blank Organizer

As you listen to the story, fill in the blank in each sentence below with the word or phrase that fits best.

• The case becomes national news, putting a in Starr's life into even greater relief.
• Well, the two Starrs, I think a lot of young African-Americans can relate to because there's this whole thing of - that we call .
• And at the time when his death was making headlines, more people were talking about what he had done in his past than the fact that he lost his life.
• At the end, she kind of leans towards .
• Even we see it in Starr and how she feels after seeing this unfortunate take place.