On the Come Up

“See, last year a kid was murdered by a cop just a few streets away from my grandparents’ house. He was unarmed, but the grand jury decided not to charge the officer. There were riots and protests for weeks.”

Although On the Come Up hosts a new cast of characters, Thomas points out that the infamous murder and the riots in The Hate U Give impacted Bri and her community. Because of this murder, Bri is terrified during her run-in with the school security guards. She points out that tensions are still running high as police have more presence in the neighborhood, and Garden Heights is on high alert. This volatile backdrop is part of the reason why Bri’s song takes off.

“That’s when I learned that when people die, they sometimes take the living with them.”

Thomas touches on the impact of grief, especially through Jay’s drug addiction. Jay started using drugs immediately after the death of Lawless, and a year after his death, she couldn’t take care of her children anymore. Trey points out that if Jay had gotten help right after their father died, she might not have turned to drugs to deal with her trauma, but instead, Jay mentally checked out, and her children felt like they lost two parents in the process.

“Five years back with her, and yet I still dream about her leaving us.”

Jay’s decision to leave her children with their grandparents has lasting effects. Bri is traumatized by the memory of her mother leaving her, and she has frequent nightmares about the moment. Even though she has been living with her mother for five years, Bri struggles to let go of the past and trust her mother to be there for her, and she seems to be bracing for her mother to relapse and leave them again.

“I’m the exact opposite of exceptional. My grades are so-so. I don’t win awards. Nothing I do is enough. I’m not enough. Except for when I’m too much for my teachers to handle and they send me to the principal’s office.”

Bri has a low sense of self-worth at the beginning of the novel. She claims that she isn’t a great student and her grades are mediocre, and she is in constant trouble for minor offenses at school. However, Bri downplays her abilities as a rapper. She has talent, and even her poetry teacher points out that she is an excellent writer. Bri struggles with her self-esteem, and rap is the gateway to discovering her worth.

“I can’t say a word. He’s not a cop. He doesn’t have a gun. But I don’t wanna end up like that boy.”

The murder of the unarmed Black boy in The Hate U Give has had ripple effects in the Garden Heights community. The damage left behind after the riots wasn’t limited to storefronts but lives in the minds of the teenagers especially. Like many kids in her community, Bri harbors a deep fear and distrust of authority figures, especially those who look like cops. Her terror in this moment may seem unjustified because the men are unarmed, but she still feels helpless and fearful because she has no idea what might happen next.

“You can’t control what other people do. You can only control the way that you react.”

This saying from the school poster enrages Bri because she doesn’t feel like she should have to control herself when she is placed in an unfair situation like she was with the security guards. However, Bri’s mother says something similar: Bri can’t always change her circumstances, but she is the only one who can control herself. By refusing to rise to provocation, Bri can maintain control over her life and destiny.

“Dr. Rhodes, my son told me that the guards picked on certain kids more than others when he was here. I don’t think my children are making this up.”

During their meeting with the principal of Midtown after the incident with the security guards, Bri argues that the guards have a bias against students of color. Jay supports Bri, stating that Trey—who never got in trouble at Midtown—also reported bias. The principal denies this claim, insisting that there is no bias and refusing to take accountability for the behavior of the school security guards.

“‘Aggressive’ is used to describe me a lot. It’s supposed to mean threatening, but I’ve never threatened anybody. I just say stuff that my teachers don’t like.”

Bri’s experience in the school system echoes the reality of many young Black children. Historically, Black students are punished at far higher rates than their white peers, even when the same offense is committed. Even the term “aggressive” is used to stigmatize Black children. Bri has never committed a violent offense, yet she is disciplined for minor offenses that her non-Black teachers find threatening.

“According to my granddaddy, Jacksons don’t cry—we suck it up and deal with it.”

Granddaddy Jackson, Bri’s paternal grandfather, is a caring man who, unfortunately, carries a dangerous belief. Bri has been told that she is not allowed to cry, but she must simply shove her feelings down. Unresolved and unprocessed feelings can manifest into anger, depression, loneliness, and a low sense of self-worth—all things that Bri experiences throughout the novel. When Bri finally opens up to Trey and allows herself to cry, she begins to heal from her past trauma.

“I swear, we can never just be ‘good.’ Something always happens. Either we barely got food or this thing got shut off. It’s. Always. Something.”

Bri described poverty as something inescapable, like quicksand. The harder her family fights to free themselves of it, the more they get sucked in. Bri doesn’t daydream of being fabulously wealthy so she can buy things for fun. She dreams of making enough money to be comfortable and to provide for herself and her family. Comfort is elusive in Bri’s life, and all she wants is stability and consistency.

“All these people I’ve never met have way more control over my life than I’ve ever had.”

Other people have always determined Bri’s life. She fights to feel any sense of power in her own life, and unfortunately, a 16-year-old girl with no money and a difficult home life may have a hard time finding a way to take back power. Bri’s story is a quest to gain control over some aspect of her destiny, and she learns that music can either build her up or break her down. Music is a weapon that must be used wisely.

“If some Crown hadn’t killed my dad, he’d be a big rap star, and money wouldn’t be an issue. If some drug dealer hadn’t sold my mom her first hit, she could’ve gotten her degree already and would have a good job. If that cop hadn’t murdered that boy, people wouldn’t have rioted, the daycare wouldn’t have burned down, and the church wouldn’t have let Jay go.”

Bri lists the things in her life that she feels no control over. The loss of her father was the doing of a murderer. Her mother’s addiction to drugs began when someone sold them to her, and even the murder of the Black boy last year impacted her family’s financial situation. Bri’s heart becomes a breeding ground for anger, and she doesn’t know how to process this anger. She knows that other people have determined her life for her, and she feels weak.

“That’s what we call our goal, the come up. It’s when we finally make it with this rap stuff. I’m talking get-out-the-Garden-and-have-enough-money-to-never-worry-again make it.”

The titular catchphrase used by Pooh, “On the Come Up,” refers to rising above one’s circumstances or having a sudden influx of success. For Bri and Pooh, the “come up” represents their end goal: to launch Bri’s career and pull both out of poverty so they can live comfortably. Bri’s song declares that no one can stop her on her come up, and she won’t allow anyone to get in her way or continue to take power from her.

“She said I’d have to do double the work to get half the respect. On top of that, I gotta be just as cutthroat, and I better not show weakness.”

Aunt Pooh may not be the most reliable person (she is prone to disappear without warning and make impulsive decisions), but she tries to give Bri sound advice. She explains to Bri that she is more likely to be dismissed or taken advantage of as a Black woman in hip-hop, and she can’t show any weakness if she wants to be taken seriously. Black women are historically pushed to the side, and Bri has to be exceptional if she wants to make it.

“Grief hasn’t left my grandparents. It hides in the shadows and waits for moments to hit.”

The grief of losing Bri’s father has rattled the Jackson family. Her mother turned to drugs, and Trey and Bri lost their home in the aftermath. Her grandparents are still moved to tears and sorrow 12 years later, and Bri’s Grandma has formed a possessive attachment to her grandchildren. Lawless’s death left a hole in the family, and the Jacksons struggle to fill the hole and grow back together in the aftermath of their loss.

“I know how hard she fought to get us in the first place and how much it would hurt her if we left.”

Despite Jay leaving Bri and her brother when they were children, Bri feels a strong allegiance to her mother. Bri loves Jay, and although she was hurt that her mother chose drugs over her children, Bri acknowledges that Jay got her life together and has been clean for eight years. Bri struggles to trust her mother, but she also admires her for her determination and passion to get her children back and make up for lost time with them.

“You know what they say, folks ain’t ever truly clean once they been on that mess.”

Jay has worked hard and stayed off of drugs for eight years, but Bri’s grandmother continues to judge her and assume the worst about her. Bri’s grandmother believes that Jay is still using drugs, and she even plants seeds of doubts about Jay’s sobriety in Bri’s head. Bri’s grandmother might resent Jay for putting her grandchildren through the trauma of abandonment years ago. She may also be jealous of Jay and want her grandchildren back so she can have a piece of her deceased son back as well.

“I’ll suddenly be the piss-poor girl in the Not-Timbs who not only got pinned to the ground but also has to get food from a giveaway.”

Poverty isn’t just uncomfortable for Bri. It is humiliating. Bri already feels like the world looks down on her for getting in trouble at school, being tackled to the ground, and having tattered shoes. Now, as she stands in the line to get free food, she is overwhelmed with shame at the sight of TV cameras. She can’t stand the thought of being seen taking free food, and this doesn’t help her low sense of self-worth.

“I can’t speak up for myself and even lose my cool without somebody writing me off.”

Bri has consistently gotten in trouble at school for speaking up and having her own opinions. Like any teenager, Bri is on a journey to self-discovery. She is asserting her independence, and although this is a normal phase of life, Bri is singled out and called “aggressive” or “disrespectful” for having normal teenage thoughts and emotions. Not being allowed to vent her frustrations is causing even more frustration, and Bri’s only outlet is rap.

“Folks love to blame hip-hop. Guess that’s easier than looking at the real problems, you know?”

Supreme speaks to media’s demonization of rap music. Rap music is an avenue with which singers may address the problems faced by members of the Black community. Instead of addressing these problems and acknowledging the need for change, outsiders instead choose to blame the music itself for causing the very problems it is criticizing.

“You gotta learn to ignore people, Bri. Not everything deserves our energy.”

Trey, Bri’s slow-to-anger older brother, isn’t without his own frustrations. Still, he explains that Bri is giving power to people by becoming angry. Trey chooses to be productive instead of angry, and he works through his anger by taking steps to improve his own life. Bri, however, feels powerless, and anger is the only emotion that gives her any sense of power over her circumstances. 

“This is my mom telling me Daddy left us to go to heaven. This is her backing out of the driveway, even as I scream for her not to leave me. Nobody ever realized they took part of me with them.”

When Aunt Pooh is arrested, Bri is devastated. With Pooh in jail, Bri feels like one more adult in her life has left her. Her father was ripped away from her when she was just a toddler, and her mother left her for years to chase a drug-induced high. Now, Pooh has left her after choosing a life of drug dealing. Bri has internalized the loss of the people she loves, and she carries the trauma of being left behind again and again.

“Excuse me if I don’t wanna wear the name of the person who’s not here to carry all of this with me.”

Bri loves her father, even though she only knew him for a few years and barely remembers him. But when it comes to her father’s rap career, Bri has no interest in coasting off his fame. She is determined to make a name for herself, and she doesn’t want to follow in her father’s footsteps. She wants to find her own path to fame. She also resents her father a little for leaving her to fend for herself with her mother and brother. Bri believes that if her father were still here, he would be able to offer some words of wisdom or guidance that she is lacking.