"When you're ready to talk, you talk. Don't ever let nobody make you be quiet."
The power of voice becomes a central theme of Angie Thomas' breakthrough best-seller The Hate U Give, which she initially penned as a short story for her senior project at Belhaven University, in reaction to the death of Oscar Grant, before feeling compelled to expand the project into a novel following the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland - and many others - at the hands of the police.
The story, now adapted into film, centres on Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighbourhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends.
However, her uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a white police officer.
When his death becomes national headlines and protestors take to the streets, Starr must discover what she's ready to risk in order to stand up for what's right.
Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Lamar Johnson, Issa Rae, Algee Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Common, and Anthony Mackie also star, in a film directed by George Tillman Jr.
The Hate U Give is released in UK cinemas 2 November.
Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more.
