And that short story later became The Hate U Give. So I wrote a short story to express my own emotions, and to hopefully help them understand.

Why are people so upset? He should have just done what they told him to.”Īnd I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that they would try to justify his death the way that they did. But at my school, some of my classmates were like, “Well, maybe he deserved it. In my neighbourhood, we understood the anger and fear and frustration that the people of Oakland had. He got away with it.Īnd that fact led to a lot of riots and protests in Oakland, but it also created conversations in my neighbourhood and at my school. The officer, for some odd reason, shot him in the back. The video showed him lying flat on his stomach, with an officer who had his knee in Oscar’s back. I didn’t know him personally, but I took his death personally. I never wanted anyone to write me off as the ghetto black girl, the angry black girl, or any of those things.īut there was a young man by the name of Oscar Grant who lost his life in Oakland, California. And I was careful about how I presented myself. I would often leave my house, playing Tupac, but by the time I got to school, I was listening to the Jonas brothers, because I thought that’s what I had to do to fit in. And I had to be two different people in two different worlds. I lived in a mostly black, poor neighbourhood, like Starr’s, and I went to a mostly white, upper-class private school, like Starr did. Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to write it in the first place?įirst of all, I wrote it as a short story when I was in college. For it to be such an American story, and to know that it connected with UK readers the way that it did – that was really one of those huge moments for me. I think when it really hit me, too, was when I came here to the UK, and I met people who had already read it, and they loved it. And then four months later, it was still there. I think when it really hit me was when the book was still on the list four weeks later. At what point did you know it had become this great, big thing? It was such a beautiful adaptation of the book. I thought I was going to be standing there, clapping or something.

Whatever my initial reaction is – just do it.

I told the social media people “Just come in, and record me. You know, there’s actually a video reaction of me.

Author of the hate u give