Top 280 Angie Thomas Quotes (2024 Update)
Page 3 of 6

101. “It’s dope to be black until it’s hard to be black.”

— Angie Thomas

102. “People say misery loves company, but I think it’s like that with anger too.”

— Angie Thomas

103. “That’s the hate they’re giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That’s Thug Life.”

— Angie Thomas

104. “I’d ask him if he wished he shot me too.”

— Angie Thomas

105. “I shouldn’t have come to this party.”

— Angie Thomas

106. “I squeeze through sweaty bodies and follow Kenya, her curls bouncing past her shoulders. A haze lingers over the room, smelling like weed, and music rattles the floor. Some rapper calls out for everybody to Nae-Nae, followed by a bunch of “Heys” as people launch into their own versions.”

— Angie Thomas

107. “But one of the nurses took my hand” – Momma grabs my hand again – “looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.’” She holds my hand the rest of the drive.”

— Angie Thomas

108. “But I’m tired of them just assuming.”

— Angie Thomas

109. “I walk into the most heartfelt hug I’ve ever gotten from somebody who’s not related to me. There’s not any sympathy in it either. Just love and strength.”

— Angie Thomas

110. “Sometimes I catch her staring at me, likes she’s looking for herself. Or she sees Dad and can’t look away.”

— Angie Thomas

111. “You can destroy wood and brick, but you can’t destroy a movement.”

— Angie Thomas

112. “We want freedom,′ I say. ‘We want the power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities.”

— Angie Thomas

113. “I can’t explain the look in her eyes, but it knows me better than I know myself. It wraps me up and warms me from the inside out. “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.”

— Angie Thomas

114. “This is about Us, with a capital U; everybody who looks like us, feels like us, and is experiencing this pain with us.”

— Angie Thomas

115. “Seven and I get Sekani after school, and he won’t shut up about the news cameras he saw from his classroom window, because he’s Sekani and he came into this world looking for a camera. I have too many selfies of him on my phone giving the “light skin face,” his eyes squinted and eyebrows raised.”

— Angie Thomas

116. “Crying doesn’t make you weak, Bri, and even if it did, there’s nothing wrong with that. Admitting that you’re weak is one of the strongest things you can do” -Trey.”

— Angie Thomas

117. “Girls wear their hair colored, curled, laid, and slayed. Got me feeling basic as hell with my ponytail. Guys in their freshest kicks and sagging pants grind so close to girls they just about need condoms. My nana likes to say that spring brings love. Spring in Garden Heights doesn’t always bring love, but it promises babies in the winter.”

— Angie Thomas

118. “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.”

— Angie Thomas

119. “Pastor Eldridge once preached that ‘Faith isn’t just believing but taking steps toward that belief.’ So when my alarm goes of Tuesday morning, by faith I don’t get up, believing that Momma won’t make me go to school.”

— Angie Thomas

120. “Our friendship is based on memories. What do we have now?”

— Angie Thomas

121. “The windows are boarded up with that same “black owned” tag on them, like it’s lamb’s blood protecting the store from the plague of death. The.”

— Angie Thomas

122. “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

123. “Your heart will never lead you wrong, but it can be hard to hear it. You have to give it space to speak. That’s a form of love too.”

— Angie Thomas

124. “My nana likes to say that spring brings love. Spring in Garden Heights doesn’t always bring love, but it promises babies in the winter.”

— Angie Thomas

125. “It’s that time between day and night when the sky looks like it’s on fire and mosquitoes are on the hunt.”

— Angie Thomas

126. “You’re a classic case of oppositional defiant disorder.”

— Angie Thomas

127. “They act like I’m the official representative of the black race and they owe me an explanation. I think I understand though. If I sit out a protest, I’m making a statement, but if they sit out a protest, they look racist.”

— Angie Thomas

128. “By not saying “I” before “love you,” he’s making it more casual. Seriously, “love you” and “I love you” are different. Same team, different players. “Love you” isn’t as forward or aggressive as “I love you.” “Love you” can slip up on you, sure, but it doesn’t make an in-your-face slam dunk. More like a nice jump shot.”

— Angie Thomas

129. “There will always be someone with something to say, but it doesn’t mean you gotta listen” -Jay.”

— Angie Thomas

130. “It’s kinda like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of the things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go.”

— Angie Thomas

131. “DeVante’s got a point. What makes his name or our names any less normal than yours? Who or what defines ‘normal’ to you? If my pops were here, he’d say you’ve fallen into the trap of the white standard.”

— Angie Thomas

132. “Ain’t no astronauts, doctors, or veterinarians around here. Everybody I know just tryna work.”

— Angie Thomas

133. “Sometimes she’s my personal Yoda. If Yoda was a woman and had a gold grill. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know who Yoda is.”

— Angie Thomas

134. “Doubt those bullets were meant for her, but bullets go where they wanna go.”

— Angie Thomas

135. “All these folks I’ve never met became gods over my life. Now I gotta take the power back.”

— Angie Thomas

136. “That’s Ma for you. Granny say she came in the world ready for whatever. When things fall apart, she quick to grab the pieces and make something new outta them.”

— Angie Thomas

137. “But Ms. Ofrah says this interview is the way I fight. When you fight, you put yourself out there, not caring who you hurt or if you’ll get hurt.”

— Angie Thomas

138. “The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me. Momma fussed and told Daddy I was too young for that. He argued that I wasn’t too young to get arrested or shot. “Starr-Starr, you do whatever they tell you to do,” he said. “Keep your hands visible. Don’t make any sudden moves. Only speak when they speak to you.”

— Angie Thomas

139. “On the radio, Marvin Gaye asks what’s going on.”

— Angie Thomas

140. “Momma made all of us, including Daddy, dress up like we’re going to Christ Temple – not quite Easter formal but not “diverse church” casual. She says we’re not gonna have the news people thinking we’re “hood rats.”

— Angie Thomas

141. “The neighborhood doesn’t feel nearly as safe. Not that the Garden was ever a utopia, hell no, but before I only worried about GDs and Crowns. Now I gotta worry about the cops too? Yeah, people get killed around here, and nah, it’s not always by the police, but Jay says this was like having a stranger come in your house, steal one of your kids, and blame you for it because your family was dysfunctional, while the whole world judges you for being upset.”

— Angie Thomas

142. “True, but unless you’re in his shoes, don’t judge him. It’s easier to fall into that life than it is to stay outta it, especially in a situation like his.”

— Angie Thomas

143. “But I realize that being real ain’t got anything to do with where you live.”

— Angie Thomas

144. “They claim that a person’s eyes say more than their mouth, and that it goes both way – if we look someone in their eyes and mean what we say, they should have little reason to doubt us.”

— Angie Thomas

145. “But I promise you this,” he says, “no matter what happens, it’s gonna be okay. Your almighty, all-knowing big brother will make sure of that.” “I didn’t know I had another big brother.”

— Angie Thomas

146. “You’re gonna face a whole lot of Longs and Tates in your life, baby. More than I’d like. But you never let their actions determine what you do. The moment you do, you’ve given them the power. You hear me?”

— Angie Thomas

147. “Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people’s lives too. Saving them from their “wild African ways.”

— Angie Thomas

148. “If you can’t translate Parentish, this is what they really said: Momma: I don’t condone what you did, and I’m not saying it’s okay, but I probably would’ve done it too. What about you, baby? Daddy: Hell yeah, I would’ve. I love them for that.”

— Angie Thomas

149. “They haven’t won. But you’re so lost that you’ve lost” -Jay.”

— Angie Thomas

150. “Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.”

— Angie Thomas