The Hate you Give by Angie Thomas [@acthomasbooks]

New York Best seller Author Angie Thomas has written a book that reflects the detrimental problems that black societies are facing everyday globally. Police brutality has become a stigma that people are use to hearing but it does not diminish the important fact that police brutality has been responsible for hundreds of deaths in the US and around the world. Although it is heavily documented in the US little is done to implement change within the police forces and with the new elected President I fathom that the issue will be continue to take a back seat in any congress conversation. The mere fact is that police brutality and mass incarceration of the black population is not just a problem for the US, it affects many in the UK also. “According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, there is now greater dis-proportionality in the number of black people in prisons in the UK than in the United States”. With over 85,000 people imprisoned in the UK and a population of 21,937 coming from minority ethnic groups with 49% of that group being black (Stats Taken from prisonreformtrust.org.uk) it is evident that their is misrepresentation with the crimes committed in the UK and the people who are being charged and sentenced.

Inspired by The Black Lives Matter movement , the theme of this novel The Hate You Give (THUG)  follows a sixteen year old teenager named Starr who lives within a poor inner-city neighborhood but attends a High school in a affluent suburban area. Starr witnesses her unarmed best friend get shot by a white police officer and does the only thing she sees fit and uses her voice to fight for justice. But her voice could cause conflict within her community, her family and it could also get her killed. The novel tackles themes of social in-justice and touches on topics that are substantial to understanding the current climate we live in. The movie rights of this book has been brought by Fox 2000 and  The novel is being described as “one of the most important books of 2017” and a “gut-wrenching novel that will be remembered as a classic of our time” . It’s great that Angie has written a novel that documents the terrible conflicts that black people face, for many black youth there are not many novels that represent who they are and where they are from and it has the potential to inspire many young people.

The Hate You Give is now available to purchase in the UK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hate-U-Give-Angie-Thomas/dp/1406372153
AngieThomas.com