"Cops were our family. Cops were our friends. Daddy was the only black on in his precinct. it was different there, though. Black. White. It didn't matter" (p. 28).

"My name is Toswiah Green. My favorite color is blue. I am tall for my age. My best friend is Lulu. These are the facts. The facts speak for themselves" (p. 30).

"What's the right thing, Daddy?
Both choices seem wrong" (p. 36).

"I've got two daughters. Two. You think I brought them into this world to turn around and watch them get killed for no reason at all" (p. 48).

"I'm a man, I can testify" (p. 53).

Mama's religion says 'We are in the world but not of the world." Maybe that's true...This place isn't my world. My soul isn't here" (p. 81).

"I spun until I collapsed from spinning...No one came to lift me up by my arms. How could...