NAACP Ozaukee Branch and Bridge the Divide invite you to a community conversation at the Rivoli theater in Cedarburg immediately following the movie The Hate U Give on Sunday, December 2, 2018 from 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM CST.
FREE - first 30 students to sign up will receive free admission and “snack pack”
All other attendees please RSVP here and pay at theater.
Plot: Starr Carter is a 16-year-old black girl who lives in the fictional, mostly poor black neighborhood of Garden Heights, but attends an affluent, predominantly white private school, Williamson Prep. After a gun goes off at a party Starr is attending one weekend, Starr is driven home by her childhood best friend, Khalil. On the way home, they are stopped by a white police officer. The officer has Khalil, who is black, exit the car; while outside the car, Khalil reaches inside his car via the open driver-side window to check in on Starr, and picks up a brush. The officer, thinking Khalil picked up a gun, fires three shots into Khalil, killing him.
Khalil's death becomes a major national news story. Starr's identity as the witness is initially kept secret from just about everyone outside Starr's family – leaving Starr's two best friends, Hailey Grant and Maya Yang, and Starr's white boyfriend, Chris, who all attend Williamson Prep together, all unaware of Starr's connection to the news story. Having to keep this secret weighs on Starr, as does her need to keep her Williamson and Garden Heights personas separate.
Starr agrees to be interviewed on television and to testify in front of a grand jury after being encouraged by a civil rights lawyer. While defending Khalil's character during her interview on television, in which her identity is hidden, she names the King Lords, the gang that controls her neighborhood. The gang retaliates by threatening Starr and her family, forcing them to move in with her Uncle Carlos, who is also a detective. Carlos was a father figure to Starr when her father, Maverick, spent three years in prison for gang activity. Following his release, Maverick leaves the gang and becomes owner of the Garden Heights grocery store where Starr and her half-brother Seven work. Maverick was only allowed to leave his gang, the King Lords, because he admitted to a crime even though he was innocent; this kept gang leader King from being locked up. King, widely feared in the neighborhood, now lives with Seven's mother and Seven's half-sister Kenya, who is friends with Starr.
After a grand jury fails to indict the white officer, Garden Heights erupts into both peaceful protests and riots. The failure of the criminal justice system to hold the officer accountable pushes Starr to take an increasingly public role, including speaking out during the protests, which are met by police in riot gear. Her increasing identification with the people of Garden Heights causes tension with Starr's school friends and especially with her boyfriend Chris. Starr and Maya eventually start standing up to Hailey's comments and Chris remains supportive of Starr.
Starr and Seven get trapped in Maverick's grocery store which is fire bombed by King and his gang. The two escape thanks to help of Maverick and some other Garden Heights business owners. When the police arrive on the scene, Starr's younger brother Sekani points a gun at King. Starr defuses the situation. Starr eventually promises to keep Khalil's memory alive and to continue her advocacy against injustice.