Racism is something that affects not only black people, but all races, too. People around the world are fighting for their own race. They are fighting, so they can live a normal life. In “The Hate U Give”, Angie Thomas writes about how Starr fights against racism using the motivation that she got from her family, friends, and her own life.

          Someone who motivated Starr was her own family. When Starr went to do a questioning, her family was always right beside her. They helped Starr go through tough times and support her throughout the book. Her mom even once said ‘“Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared, Starr. It means you go on even though you’re scared. And you’re doing that.”’ (page 331) to Starr when she believed she was not brave enough. Her dad had also talked to Starr about speaking up. He even asked her ‘“So why you goin’ be quiet?”’ (page 321). Therefore, you can see that her family has kept her motivated just like those examples above.

          Another person that motivated Starr was her friends. In the story, Starr goes to a prep school called Williamson and is dating a guy named Chris. She is also friends with two girls named Maya and Hailey. These friends of her has helped her in many ways throughout the book. Chris even tells Starr “‘You can’t blame yourself.”’ (page 302) to tell Starr that none of her friends’ death was her fault. There were also other characters such as Starr’s attorney. Starr was told “‘Use your weapon”’ (page 411), which was referring to her voice. Thus, with the help of her friends, Starr did what she was told and used her weapon.

          Her own life style was also something that motivated her. Starr grew up in a place where people thought differently about them. While living in that place and going to a white prep school. Starr created two versions of herself. Soon enough, “‘My two worlds just collided.”’ (page 359). Starr starts to learn that her two versions of herself is something that helped her speak up for her friend, Khalil. Someone once asked Starr, “‘You wish that more cops wouldn’t make assumptions about black people?”’ (page 290). Starr kept that question in mind and fought for Khalil, one of her best friends. As a result, Starr became stronger and was more motivated while living this kind of life in Garden Heights.

          Starr went through difficult times where she couldn’t handle it herself, but her family, friends, and her own life kept her motivated, She did what she did and fought against the police for her friend, Khalil. In the end, after using that motivation, Starr came home regretting nothing. Her family, friends, and life was not only a motivation to her, but also something she loved. With this in mind, you can say that her family, friends, and life did motivate her to speak up in the book.