Anger Is a Gift

When Moss asks his mother how she knew where to find him, she says that Kaisha had read about the protest online and reveals that he is all over the internet. Martin reveals that there are already hundreds of people in the crowd. A Latinx woman introduces herself as Sophia Morales, a reporter for NBC, and asks if she can interview Moss. She is respectful and understanding, promising not to grill him but simply give him a platform to speak.

The interview goes well and Moss gets past his anxiety to report the events leading up to the protest, from the underfunding of the school, to the mistreatment of Shawna and Reg, to Javier’s murder. However, Sophia takes a question from a colleague on her earpiece and repeats it to Moss without thinking, asking him if it is true that his father was killed by the police.

Moss freezes and Wanda shuts down the interview as Sophia apologizes profusely for not realizing she was asking an inappropriate and triggering question. Moss is on the brink of a panic attack, desperately searching his “Rolodex” for a new memory of his father to calm him down. Seeing the pity on the faces of the crowd, he slumps to floor feeling ashamed.

Moss is convinced that he ruined the interview, but Wanda, Shamika, and Martin reassure him that he did great. As they talk, Moss accidentally brings up the secret about Wanda’s experiences with the police that she would not reveal at the meeting earlier that night. Reluctantly, Wanda begins to explain that she stopped protesting and organizing because she “got scared. Real scared” (377). She recalls filming the police murdering an unarmed Black woman and releasing the footage to the media, exposing the police’s lie that the victim was armed and aggressive.

The police traced the video back to Wanda, and three police officers came to her home without badges or ID. They threatened her, saying that she “had painted a target on my back, on my whole family” (379). Moss tries to reassure her that she should not feel bad for doing the right thing, but Wanda reveals that she saw one of the police again, standing over Moss’s father’s body after he was murdered. She knows that she cannot prove it but is certain that man murdered Moss’s father and did so in retaliation for her releasing the video. She is terrified that Moss is going to hate her, but he reassures her that he does not hold her responsible at all.

Javier’s friends arrive at the protest and thank Moss. Carlos hugs him and reveals that he has been working on a large graffiti mural commemorating Javier. A woman leaves the police building and introduces herself as Johanna, the communications manager, and Martin laughs at the fact Rachel, the communications manager who turned up at the meeting earlier that night, had already be fired and replaced. She tries to sweettalk Moss, telling him that he has impressed people, and promising that he can have a meeting with the police chief if he unchains himself and goes inside. Moss refuses to go with her and she immediately drops her friendly demeaner, questioning Wanda’s parenting and accusing Moss of being a child throwing a tantrum (384).

Moss is exhausted as the sun finally comes up. Over breakfast doughnuts, Martin tells him of his memories of Moss and his father, offering to share more stories any time. More reporters arrive but are far less friendly than Sophia, giving a biased account of Javier’s murder and refusing to even engage with Moss. Moss’s friends turn up, and he is delighted until he sees Esperanza and rage builds within him. He awkwardly tries to bridge the gap between them and Esperanza reciprocates, apologizing for the previous night and admitting that she shares her parents’ habit of taking over and not listening (391).

Someone in the crowd notices the police are coming. Three officers push their way roughly through the crowd so Johanna can get through. She begins making a statement to the assembled media, reporting that Moss declined an offer to meet the chief so they “have no choice but to declare this an unlawful assembly” (393), giving the protestors one hour to leave.

It is 7:34 a.m. and panic spreads through the crowd. Wanda and Moss’s friends all tell him that he can choose what they do because it is his protest. Swallowing his anxiety, Moss addresses the crowd, building their resolve and getting them fired up until they are all chanting for justice. At 7:45, Martin reveals that the police are bringing out the “Silent Guardian,” another crowd control weapon “that makes you feel like you’re on fire” (400). Despite their fear, they decide to stick it out and not be intimidated. 

At 8:20, Moss is talking to his friends when Sophia returns, looking sheepish. She apologizes and offers him some information to make up for her earlier slip. The camera operator shows them footage of police in militarized riot gear gathering just around the corner. Before they can do anything with this information, however, a police officer with a bullhorn announces that they must leave in the next five minutes or be arrested.

Although he is terrified, Moss refuses to run from the police. He decides to surprise the police again and unchains himself, inviting Sophia to film him as approaches three police officers standing outside the station. He confronts them about killing his father as well as Javier. When they do not respond, he accuses them of not even being able to remember killing his father, declaring that “Y’all have shot so many people that you can’t sort them out” (408).

Sophia begins questioning the officers, but one of them strikes her on the elbow with a baton, breaking bone. The police rush in; Moss takes a baton blow to the back and sees Wanda take one in the face, her nose breaking and gushing blood. They run along with the rest of the crowd, trying to find safety, but it is impossible to navigate the chaos or escape the police. Moss sees bodies beaten, bleeding, bent out of shape, and people screaming as the Silent Guardian is aimed at them. Then he feels the device on his own body and screams, desperate to escape. Soaked in blood, Wanda reassures him that, despite the police’s response, he “did something incredible today” (412), and they continue trying to flee the police.

Moss and Wanda find Njemile, and Wanda realizes that the police are trying to “kettle” or trap the protestors. Njemile is terrified of being arrested, asking them, “Do you know what they do to girls like me?” (418) and begging them for help. Moss realizes that they can escape through the Alameda tunnel, along an elevated walkway beside the freeway. Njemile goes to escape that way while Moss and Wanda stay to direct others. They send Bits and Esperanza to the tunnel; Esperanza, her glasses broken, pauses briefly to apologize, as Moss thinks that “Maybe now she understands it” (420). Kaisha and Reg arrive too and report that a white girl was killed when the police fired a teargas cannister into her face at point-blank range.

Still afraid that he has let everyone down, Moss concludes that he has done all he can, and they decide to flee to the tunnel. However, before they reach it, a police van pulls over and riot cops advance, beating them with their batons. Moss trips over Reg who has been turned out of his wheelchair to sprawl upon the floor. When the police violently arrest them all, Moss is convinced that he has failed everyone.

Moss and the others are quiet in the back of the van. An officer in a helmet and face mask tells them not to make sudden movements, “Unless you don’t want to get out of this van walking” (425). Moss is momentarily tempted to attack the man but resists the urge. A Black woman, her face covered in blood, is thrown into the van and lies gasping on the floor. Wanda asks if she needs medical attention only to be told to be quiet by the officer.

When Esperanza is thrown in, she immediately lurches up to Moss to ask if he is okay but the officer robotically kicks her in the shoulder, slamming her against the van wall (426). Despite Wanda’s warning not to talk, Esperanza apologizes to Moss, admitting that “I never understood…until now” (427) and Moss realizes that this is what was required for her to actually believe him.

Moss and the others are taken into a large building surrounded by razor wire. Many of them are injured. He sees his mother looking “broken. Incomplete” (432) on the other side of the room but is separated from her and told to sit on a bench. He recognizes the man sitting opposite him: Diego, the paramedic who had helped him when he had the panic attack in the train station.

Diego explains that he had finished his shift at 7:30 that morning and come down to show his support. Despite showing them his ID, he had been injured by the police when he tried to help the woman who had been shot in the face with the tear gas canister. When he sees Wanda, Diego tells the police that she needs medical attention and begs to be allowed to tend to her injuries, but the police shove him roughly against the wall and tell him to be silent. Moss falls asleep, his head resting on Diego’s shoulder.

Wanda wakes Moss up, informing him that they are being released. The police are now being polite and gentle with Moss, calling him Mr. Jeffries and helping him stand. An officer apologizes for what happened to him, but Moss simply asks him, “Did you do anything to stop it?” (435) as Wanda leads him out. Before they can leave, however, Johanna, the communications manager, stops them and invites them to a press conference the next morning where they will receive an apology from the mayor and the chief of police. They dazedly nod their agreement.

On the drive back, Moss sees the mural Carlos painted of Javier and is overwhelmed by emotions. Even Martin, who Moss has never seen cry before, is brought to tears. When they arrive at Moss and Wanda’s home, they are mobbed by reporters, and Martin suggests that they hide in the market where Moss’s father was murdered. However, Moss simply sits on the steps, as he has done countless times before, cycling through his “Rolodex” of memories and ignoring the reporters, sitting in silence until they all leave.

Friends, family, and others gather at Moss’s house. When Esperanza comes in, Moss asks her if she is okay and holds her while she cries, apologizing again for not believing Moss and not realizing how bad things were. They discuss the girl who was killed at the protest and the press conference the next day. Esperanza is excited about the conference, but Moss responds skeptically, and she recognizes that this is another case where she should simply believe him. Before Esperanza leaves, Moss says that they will have a difficult conversation one day but assures her that he cares for her and wonders if this is their opportunity to heal and reconnect.

A great many of Moss’s friends and fellow protestors attend the press conference the next day. The mayor reads out a statement, apologizing profusely and promising to change the city’s approach to dealing with protests. He also offers Moss a seemingly sincere apology, holding eye contact and not simply reading from notes (451). The chief of police’s statement is less sincere, maintaining the fiction that they are committed to the safety of the city’s residents and being met with shouts and catcalls from the crowd. When he acknowledges the death of the protestor the previous day and promises to conduct an investigation, Wanda points out that it was not until a white person was killed by the police that they actually payed any attention.

The chief of police does not answer Wanda’s question or anyone else’s but continues with his statement, reporting that the metal detectors will be removed from the school and offering an insincere, scripted apology to all those affected. To Moss’s surprise and horror, the chief of police then invites Daley to make a statement as “a gesture of goodwill towards the community” (453). Moss is full of rage but Eugenia grabs his shirt and holds him back. Daley offers an apology and asks them to forgive him. Moss recognizes that Daley truly believes that he has now done enough to put it all behind him and let his life return to normal (455). When Daley offers him his hand, Moss spits in his face and he, Wanda, and Eugenia walk from the stage. Sophia approaches him with her microphone and asks him what the police department should do next. Moss simply says, “Stop killing us” (456) and walks away.