Summary
The Carters attend Khalil's funeral. Starr approaches Khalil's body in his coffin and weeps. In voiceover she narrates, "I'm not ready to see Khalil as a soulless mannequin. His lips are too pink, and he doesn't have his dimples." As she goes to touch Khalil's hand, Lisa pulls her away. Starr has a flashback to the night of his death and they go to take their seats. A gospel choir sings.
King, Seven's mother, and Kenya come into the church, standing in the back. Seven's mother calls to him in the middle of the service, and invites him to stand in the back with them. Lisa tells him to go stand with them, even though he doesn't want to. As Starr looks back, King scowls at her.
The preacher takes his place at the pulpit and invites a guest speaker, April Ofrah—an activist—up to speak. April takes her place at the microphone and introduces herself as a lawyer from an organization called Just Us for Justice. She discusses the fact that the police do not plan to press charges against the officer who killed Khalil, and quotes community organizer Shamell Bell, "It is impossible to be unarmed when our blackness is the weapon they fear." Everyone applauds and cheers, and April invites everyone to join her for a peaceful march in front of the police station after the service. "Division is how they win, unity is how they crumble," she says. As she walks to her seat, April nods at Starr, which confuses Lisa. "Gotta be Miss Rosalie," Maverick says to his wife.
Outside after the service, Starr sees a large protest taking place as they load Khalil's coffin into a hearse. April leads a chant as policemen gather and people protest. The protest gets more and more tense as April tries to calm people down. Maverick calls to Seven and the Carters leave.
At home, Chris watches television news coverage of the protest, which eventually turned violent. Starr watches at her home with her family, then scrolls through her own Tumblr, a series of posts about black people who have been shot, from Emmett Till to Eric Garner. She notices a comment from her school friend, Hailey, that reads, "Omg, really Starr??"
Chris calls Starr and asks if she's safe. She tells him she is, but has to hang up when there's a knock on the door. April Ofrah is there, wanting to talk. She wants to talk to Starr about testifying before the grand jury, and tells them that 99% of the time, the jury indicts, but usually not in the case of a cop. "When Khalil was shot, where were you exactly?" she asks Starr, and asks whether Starr has any proof of what she saw. Starr tells her that the officer told her to drop the phone.
April tells the family that the trial starts now, and that Starr should do a television interview. "I know what you're fighting for, but I fight for Starr, and I won't put her at risk," Lisa says, refusing to let Starr appear on television. April thanks her, disappointed, and starts to leave, but is interrupted by Starr, who tells her that her other best friend, Natasha, was murdered when Starr was 10. "We were playing basketball on the sidewalk, when this car rolled by and this tatted hand pulled out a gun. We must have been in the way. It was three shots, and she was on the ground," Starr says, as we see the flashback.
"I know who did it, it was a King Lord," Starr says. When Lisa is surprised that Starr has never told them about knowing who did it, Starr tells them that she didn't want to get targeted again and that the shooter got killed soon after. "I want to be a better friend for Khalil, but going on TV—I don't know about any of that," Starr says, and April gives Starr her information in case she changes her mind.
The next day at Williamson, Starr sees some people running through the hall and asks her friend Maya what is going on. Maya tells her that "school is out, protesting is in." Hailey calls to them and hands Starr a flyer that says "Justice for Khalil" with a picture of Khalil. When Starr hands it back, Hailey says, "I thought you'd love this given what you've been putting up on Tumblr lately."
They go outside and Starr sees her rich classmates holding up signs that say "Black Lives Matter" in a gathering that seems more like a party or a picnic than a protest. White students laugh and listen to rap music, and Starr gets upset. "Who else is gonna speak up for our people, girl?" Hailey says, which angers Starr even more. "Our people?" she asks indignantly, and walks away from school.
Chris goes up to Starr as she leaves, and asks if she knew Khalil. She won't tell him anything and pulls out her cellphone. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?" he asks, as Starr calls someone to pick her up. Carlos arrives in his car. When she gets in, he laughs at her about the fact that she said she had cramps. He takes her to the hospital where Lisa works as a nurse. Lisa scolds Starr for leaving school early, but Starr tells her that everyone was using Khalil's death as an excuse to skip school, before telling her that she wants to speak up on Khalil's behalf.
Starr goes to a television network where they meet April. April tells them that the network has agreed to blur Starr's face for the interview. A white woman interviews Starr about Khalil. She asks Starr about the fact that Khalil sold drugs, and Starr says that if the people knew why Khalil sold drugs, they wouldn't judge him. "Khalil's mother loved him, but she was an addict, so there was no one to bring in money to help his little brother and his grandma who has cancer."
Suddenly we see King watching the interview on television, looking upset by Starr's words. Starr decides to make the statement that Khalil was working for the most powerful drug dealer in Garden Heights, King Lord. "So there's one gang that controls your entire neighborhood?" the newscaster asks, and Starr tries to spin it back to the policeman who killed Khalil saying, "I didn't know that a dead person could be charged with his own murder!"
The reporter asks Starr what she would ask the officer if he was there now, and Starr says, "I'd ask if he wished that he shot me too."
At a soul food restaurant, the Carters finish up dinner. They say a prayer for Starr doing the right thing and bond as a family. Starr looks out the window and sees King and some of his men watching her from outside. When Maverick notices, he goes outside to talk to them.
Outside he confronts King about coming there and King threatens him. They start fighting each other, as a cop pulls into the parking lot. It's a black officer and a white officer and they arrest Maverick, pressing him up against the glass. As the Carters run outside with Maverick's ID, the white officer begins to get annoyed, as Starr pulls out her phone to film it. When the white officer goes to arrest Seven, the black officer notices Starr filming and recognizes her as the witness in the Khalil murder. A number of other people at the restaurant have started filming, and the cops back off. "Consider this a warning," the white officer says.
The Carters go home. In the driveway, Starr apologizes to her father about going on television and endangering them all. He makes the kids line up on the grass and makes them recite the Black Panther Ten-Point program. He uses this as a way of showing her that she is allowed to speak up if she wants.
Analysis
This section of the film marks the entrance of an outsider who wants to help Starr and the community find justice for the fallen Khalil. April Ofrah, an activist who is passionate about speaking up about police brutality, visits Khalil's funeral and delivers a powerful speech about the importance of fighting back. She is no-nonsense, smart, and politically active, and she speaks with a clarity about their obligation to resist the injustice against the black community. While she is a complicating force in the plot, she also offers a model for Starr—an image of a person who is empowered to do the right thing.
April visits Starr at home, wanting to prepare her for what she will be obligated to do in front of a grand jury, and in front of the public at large. The way she sees it, the only way they can win the case is by strengthening Starr's story with the press and the media, to get the general public to understand her side of the story. As she has no physical evidence (like a video) of what happened, Starr must go public with her testimony, according to April.
In this section of the film we learn more about Starr's loss of her friend Natasha when she was younger, another complicating factor in her decision about whether or not to speak up on Khalil's behalf. She remembers the drive-by shooting that killed her friend when they were 10, and the fact that she didn't speak up to name Natasha's killer, for fear of the repercussions. If it already seemed like Starr had a lot of burdens to carry, we see now that the weight Starr carries with her is heavy and difficult, and that she is finally ready to tell her story, even if it is painful.
Tensions get even higher for Starr at her private school when her classmates start protesting Khalil's death. She is confused by the casualness with which her classmates are approaching their own protests. What feels very palpable and real to her in her life in Garden Heights is much more abstract in the context of Williamson. Hailey calls "Justice for Khalil" a good cause, but also says that it is a "good excuse to cut school," which leaves Starr feeling even more isolated in her relationship to the tragedy.
The film masterfully shows the ways that, even when the media or other white-dominated fields cover and pay attention to police brutality, this does not necessarily mean that conditions get better. When Starr begins fighting back against police brutality, her life gets even more dangerous in her own community, with King Lord on her trail and her anonymity at stake. The Hate U Give dramatizes the bravery that Starr must exhibit in a way that makes us sympathize with her plight.
