After Tupac and D Foster

Part 2 opens several months later, in the fall. One positive thing that has happened over the last few months is that Tupac has been released from prison and is making videos again. In general, though, the tone is cold and bleak. Neeka and the narrator are walking home from church with their families and discuss the over-policing of Black boys and men in their community.

Jayjones says “brothers be hunted” as if they’re animals (69). He says that Black boys and men need to watch how fast or slow they walk, what kind of car they drive, and every other detail about their behavior or they’ll be targeted by the police.

The narrator thinks to herself that girls are hunted, too, but in a different way. Now that she and her friends are a little older, she feels the weight of the male gaze and the entitlement to women’s bodies that some men and boys have. Overall, it is not safe for Black adolescents, male or female, during this time.

Neeka’s younger brother Emmett overhears them talking and Jayjones tells him that if he ever buys himself a nice car, he better drive it slowly so no one thinks he stole it.