Angie Thomas Quotes & Sayings

Williamson Starr doesn't use slang - if a rapper would say it, she doesn't say it, even if her white friends do. Slang makes them cool. Slang makes her "hood". Williamson Starr holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she's the "angry black girl". Williamson Starr is approachable. No stank-eyes, none of that. Williamson Starr is no confrontational. Basically, Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto.
I can't stand myself for doing it, but I do it anyway. — Angie Thomas

Don't fall for that trap. That's what they want. If you don't wanna speak out, that's up to you, but don't let it be because you're scared of them. Who do I tell you that you have to fear?" "Nobody but God. — Angie Thomas

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? "Maya? — Angie Thomas

Are you serious right now?" Hailey asks. "What's wrong with saying his life matters too?" "His life always matters more!" My voice is gruff, and my throat is tight. "That's the problem!" "Starr! — Angie Thomas

What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be? — Angie Thomas

Black Jesus hangs from the cross in a painting on the hallway wall, and Malcolm X holds a shotgun in a photograph next to him. — Angie Thomas

Once you've seen how broken someone is it's like seeing them naked - you can't look at them the same anymore. — Angie Thomas

Intentions always look better on paper than in reality. — Angie Thomas

One of my biggest influences as a writer is J. K. Rowling. I grew up with Harry Potter. One thing I absolutely loved was how every single person in Harry's world was so three-dimensional - it was as if each one was the main character in his or her own story and was just making a guest appearance in Harry's story. I strive to do that as a writer. I want every side character to be the main character of his or her own story. — Angie Thomas

The truth casts a shadow over the kitchen - people like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. — Angie Thomas

Besties before testes. — Angie Thomas

My two worlds just collided. Surprisingly, everything's all right. — Angie Thomas

When you fight, you put yourself out there, not caring who you hurt or if you'll get hurt. — Angie Thomas

I never know which Starr I should be. I can use some slang, but not too much slang, some attitude, but not too much attitude, so I'm not a "sassy black girl." I have to watch what I say and how I say it, but I can't sound "white." Shit — Angie Thomas

to every kid in Georgetown and in all "the Gardens" of the world: your voices matter, your dreams matter, your lives matter. Be roses that grow in the concrete. — Angie Thomas

It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black. — Angie Thomas

You can destroy wood and brick, but you can't destroy a movement. — Angie Thomas

If bravery is a medical condition, everybody's misdiagnosed me. — Angie Thomas

I suddenly remember how different I am from most of the kids here. Nobody would have to drag me or my brothers to the Bahamas; we'd swim there if we could. For us, a family vacation is staying at a local hotel with a swimming pool for a weekend. — Angie Thomas

When you're a kid in a one-bedroom in the projects, rich is the best thing anybody can be. — Angie Thomas

empathy is more powerful than sympathy — Angie Thomas

people like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right. Maybe — Angie Thomas

Brave doesn't mean you're not scared, Starr," she says. "It means you go on even though you're scared. And you're doing that." She — Angie Thomas

Pac said Thug Life stood for 'The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody'. — Angie Thomas

He got a tan over break. I used to tell him he was so pale he looked like a marshmallow. He hated that I compared him to food. I told him that's what he got for calling me caramel. It shut him up. — Angie Thomas

DeVante. Khalil. Neither one of them thought they had much of a choice. If I were them, I'm not sure I'd make a much better one. Guess that makes me a thug too. — Angie Thomas

I've seen it happen over and over again: a black person gets killed just for being black, and all hell breaks loose. I've Tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there. I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down.
Now I am that person, and I'm too afraid to speak. — Angie Thomas

How he could sell the very stuff that took his momma from him? Did he realize that he was taking somebody else's momma from them? Did — Angie Thomas

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. — Angie Thomas

A hairbrush.
Khalil died over a fucking hairbrush. — Angie Thomas

Good-byes hurt the most when the other person's already gone. — Angie Thomas

That might be the problem. A lot of the good stuff is from the past. The Jonas Brothers, High School Musical, our shared grief. Our friendship is based on memories. What do we have now? — Angie Thomas

We want freedom,'" I say. "'We want the power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities.'" "Say — Angie Thomas

T-H-U-G L-I-F-E. Meaning what society give us as youth, it bites them in the ass when we wild out. Get it?" "Damn. — Angie Thomas

Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right. — Angie Thomas

I've taught myself to speak with two different voices and only say certain things around certain people. I've mastered it. — Angie Thomas

A hairbrush is not a gun. — Angie Thomas

I told you guys my grandparents visited, and it was their first time celebrating Thanksgiving. Hailey asked if we ate a cat. Because we're Chinese." Ho-ly — Angie Thomas

That's the hate they're giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That's Thug Life — Angie Thomas

Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people's lives too. Saving them from their "wild African ways." Same shit, different century. I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving. — Angie Thomas

I can't change where I come from or what I've been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me? — Angie Thomas

Holy shit. Who the fuck complains about going to Harry Potter World? Or Butter Beer? Or wands? — Angie Thomas

Funny. Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people's lives too. Saving them from their "wild African ways." Same shit, different century. I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving. One-Fifteen — Angie Thomas

You need Saturday to recover and Sunday to repent. — Angie Thomas

At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them. — Angie Thomas

Ever since, I don't have to decide which Starr I have to be with him. He likes both. Well, the parts I've shown him. Some things I can't reveal, like Natasha. Once you've seen how broken someone is it's like seeing them naked - you can't look at them the same anymore. I — Angie Thomas

People say misery loves company, but I think it's like that with anger too. — Angie Thomas

I hope none of them ask about my spring break. They went to Taipei, the Bahamas, Harry Potter World. I stayed in the hood and saw a cop kill my friend. — Angie Thomas

This is exactly what They expect you to do," Momma says.
They with a capital T.
There's Them and then there's Us.
Sometimes They look like Us and don't recognize They are Us. — Angie Thomas

Be roses that grow in the concrete — Angie Thomas

It's like a 'Fragile' sticker's on my forehead, and instead of taking a chance and saying something that might break me, they'd rather say nothing at all. But the silence is worst. — Angie Thomas

You still got that old laptop? The one you had before we bought you that expensive-ass fruit one?"
I laugh. "It's an Apple MacBook, Daddy."
"It damn sure wasn't the price of an apple. Anyway, you got the old one? — Angie Thomas

What is Tumblr anyway? Is it like Facebook?"
"No, and you're forbidden to get one. No parents allowed. You guys already took over Facebook. — Angie Thomas

Brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you go on even though you're scared. — Angie Thomas

Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.
He lived, but not nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I'll remember how he died.
Fairy tale? No. But I'm not giving up on a better ending. — Angie Thomas