"It is crazy that we need a movie that depicts what happens out here in the real world for it to get peoples' attention. Police brutality is very much a real thing, so why do we need a fictional representation of it for people to sit up and realize?" Read on

For me, “The Hate U Give” taught an important lesson: that it is okay to be an angry black girl. Because, collectively within the black community, we have every right to be. Read on

"Coming out isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s usually not – I grew up in a religious household." Read on

"I always thought it would be easy to come out to my mom because of how accepting she was to other family and friends coming out as LGBT. I think parents go by the motto, 'As long as it is not my child.'” Read on

"I can say now at age 23 that as cliché as it sounds, it really does get better. Life is too short to live as anyone but yourself." Read on

"But the beauty of truth is that, once released, it can never be sealed into one’s insides left to rot once more, or breed an outburst of anger. And once expelled and purged away, I discovered that there is room for so much more." Read on