He knowed I was a junkie whore and ain’t know who his daddy was, but he wanted me to be something else. He wanted me to be what I said I was.
-- Narrator (Ms. Hawkins) ("The Mother")

Importance: This quote from “The Mother” demonstrates the contradiction inherent in Hawk’s life that presumably makes him begin to believe that he is a messiah. He does not want to accept the circumstances of his life and tries to quote-unquote “save” his mother after he forms his religion, seemingly because, as she says here, he does not want to believe that she (and he, by proxy) lived the life that she did. Ms. Hawkins, for her part, is very realistic and grounded about who she is and who her son is.

Think about all the black women that the camera missed dying. All the black women that’s alive and still dead. All the black women like...
-- Narrator (Ridley) ("Cutting Horse")