The Hate U Give by Angie ThomasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Daddy once told me there's a rage passed down to every black man from his ancestors, born the moment they couldn't stop the slave masters from hurting their families. Daddy also said there's nothing more dangerous than when that rage is activated.”
All my life I've lived in a relatively safe neighbourhood, my parents have always made sure my brother and I didn't need anything, there's always been food in our table, and I've never been in a position where I feared the authorities, even if I don't always agree with them. This book proposes an entirely different story, one at least I have never experienced.
Starr is a black girl who attends a fancy school and yet lives in a poor (and dangerous) neightbourhood, her parents struggle so she and her brothers can attend there. One night Starr becomes the only witness when a white cop shoots her unarmed friend Khalil, and this sends her carefully balanced world spiralling. The Hate U Give is a beautiful, heartbreaking story about what life looks like when you are in the wronged part of society, the part which lives in fear of beign pulled by a cop and constantly has to deal with the stereotypes everyone else places above their heads.
“That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”
This book made me consider my life again and the struggle so many people have to deal with just because they were born in the non privileged side of society, how easy is to overlook the way they're pushed around as if their lives didn't matter. But most importantly, how desperately we need to change the society we live in, to never be quiet in the face of discrimination, because it is outrageous we let this kind of things happen these days. Whether is letting a cop walk away with murdering an unarmed young man or staying silent when a friend makes a cruel joke about someone because of the color of their skin.
---
Toda mi vida he vivido en un barrio relativamente seguro, mis padres se han preocupado de que a mi hermano y a mí no nos falte nada, siempre ha habido comida en nuestra mesa, y nunca he estado en una posición en la que sienta miedo de las autoridades, aunque no siempre esté de acuerdo con ellas. Éste libro propone una historia completamente diferente, una que al menos yo nunca he experimentado.
Starr es una chica de color que atiende a una escuela muy cara y vive en un barrio pobre (y peligroso), sus padres se esfuerzan para enviarla y a sus hermanos a dicha escuela. Una noche Starr se convierte en la única testigo cuando un policía blanco le dispara a su desarmado amigo Khalil, y esto envía su cuidadosamente balanceado mundo en un espiral. The Hate U Give es una bella y desgarradora historia sobre cómo se ve la vida cuando te encuentras en el lado perjudicado de la sociedad, el lado que vive con miedo de las autoridades y que constantemente debe lidiar con los estereotipos que el resto pone sore sus cabezas.
Éste libro me hizo reconsiderar mi estilo de vida y el esfuerzo que muchos deben hacer simplemente porque nacieron en la parte no privilegiada de la sociedad, lo fácil que es ignorar que son tratados como si sus vidas no importaran. Pero más importantemente, que tan desesperadamente necesitamos cambiar la sociedad en la que vivimos, nunca estar callados en la cara de la discriminación, porque es indignante que dejemos que éste tipo de cosas ocurran hoy en día. Tanto como dejar que un policía asesine a un jóven desarmado o quedarse cayado cuando un amigo hace una broma cruel sobre alguien sólo por el color de su piel.
INSTAGRAM | BLOG | PINTEREST | GOODREADS
View all my reviews
