Quotes from Angie Thomas

Michael Brown - when he lost his life, there was more focus on what he had done sometimes than what was done to him.

I often say that I want to write like Tupac rapped. I could listen to his album, and within a few minutes, I could go from thinking deeply to laughing to crying to partying.

I've always been a huge Tupac fan, and I often listen to him for inspiration or when I'm stuck.

A lot of people involved in the Black Lives Matter movement are actually sticking up for those other lives. They are turning out for their Muslim brothers and sisters who are now being targeted.

When you say, 'Southern,' or you speak about a southern accent, there's always that drawl, and usually from white people. That's what people associate with the South. But we're all different. The black southern accent is different.

Especially for young POC, when we enter majority-white spaces, we feel the need to assimilate, to blend in, to prove ourselves. I don't think we discuss it enough.

For me, hip-hop was a mirror when young-adult books were not. I could see myself in a Nas song more than I could see myself in a book.

I wrote 'The Hate U Give' as a short story while I was in college at a mostly white school in conservative Mississippi.

My maternal grandmother was a star on her high school basketball team in small-town Mississippi.

At the time when I was in college, Oscar Grant had just lost his life in Oakland, Calif. He was an unarmed young black male who had a record. 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 unjustly lost his life.

I wish when I was 15 that I realized my voice was important and that even my thoughts and my opinions had value. Had I known, I probably would've spoken up more. I probably would've found my activism sooner and become a writer sooner.

As a black woman, I feel like I have a unique experience that we don't often see in media portrayals of the South.

The transition from unknown to known-in-publishing has been empowering but also challenging. It's an honor to know that people actually want to know what I think about certain issues, but I also have to be careful about what I say or, rather, how I say it. The Internet is forever, y'all.

The way you speak should not determine your intelligence. I should be able to say 'lit,' and you still know I'm intelligent. I should be able to say 'turn up,' and that doesn't take away from my intelligence. I wanted to break down that stereotype a little bit.

When I was in college, I lived in a mostly black, poor neighborhood. That's where I grew up, but I attended a mostly white upper-class school in conservative Mississippi. I was often very aware of how I presented myself.

Of course, my mom is my biggest and loudest cheerleader, and my family and friends are happy for me, but I'm still just Angie, not Angie-the-author-with-this-hyped-up-book. I appreciate that.

I wanted to write a book like a rapper would write it - I didn't want to hold back. Rappers catch a lot of slack; I'm not going to be cursing up a storm, but when I look at Nas... his first album is one of my favorites. I want to tell stories like that.

I think the more we see more officers holding each other accountable, the more we will see people trust cops in this country.

Art is activism.

Writing is a form of activism.

Literature births activists.

Literature plays a huge role in examining difficult real-life issues.