National Geographic’s Screening of The Hate U Give

The National Geographic Museum recently hosted an advanced screening of the upcoming feature film, The Hate U Give. After the screening, 20th Century Fox also hosted a panel that featured the star of the film Amandla Stenberg, Director George Tillman, Jr. and recording artist Bobby Sessions. Students from Howard University and University of the District of Columbia were invited as guests of the movie screening and panel discussion. As a DC based actress, model and blogger/social media influencer,  I was also fortunate to receive an invite to the screening.

The Hate U Give is a movie based on the book by the same name. It’s a story about a black family living in a predominantly black underprivileged neighborhood called Garden Heights in Georgia. The movie captivates the audience as the family confronts legally enforced and socially reinforced norms of racism in America. The main character, Starr Carter is played by the incredibly talented actress Amandla Stenberg (of Hunger Games fame) as a sixteen-year-old high-school student. Her narrative in her own voice is viscerally compelling. The movie, based on a novel by Angie Thomas, with a screenplay by Audrey Wells (who lost her battle with cancer earlier this month), opens with Starr’s recollection of “the talk” that her father, Maverick (Russell Hornsby), gave her and her two siblings—about how to behave if stopped by a police officer, in order not to give the officer any excuse to shoot them.

The film has a plethora of social context regarding both Starr’s personal and family’s backstory and the political framework within the way her parents are raising the family. The title of the film, borrowed from the late Tupac Shakur’s explanation of his album “Thug Life”—The Hate U Give Little Infants F***s Everybody—highlights the cycle of damage caused by racism.

The Hate U Give is an amazing political movie that puts a spotlight on police brutality, the socio-economic divide and racism in America. George Tillman Jr. does an incredible job as the Director. He integrates the film’s characters’ personal struggles and dreams with a wide and clearly observed political and historical environment.

The Hate U Give is my favorite movie of 2018 because of how it accurately depicts racial injustice in today’s society. And as a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild, I will definitely be voting on this for Best Screenplay, Best Film, Best Director and Best Actors—if it gets nominated. And I hope it sweeps up at The Oscars. This screenplay might be based on a fictitious novel, but the issues in The Hate U Give are 100% REAL.

The Hate U Give is out in theaters nationwide today!

{Thank-you to Twentieth Century Fox for inviting me to the National Geographic Screening of The Hate U Give and to Director George Tillman for giving us this very important movie. All opinions are my own.}