How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I'm not Little Girl. I'm Fern." (8.16)
You go, girl. Or should we say, Fern? Even though she's just a little kid, Fern calls it like she sees it. She knows there's a big deal over her name so she makes a point of telling Cecile how she'd like to be identified. Fern wants to be acknowledged, and when her mom calls her "little girl," she's refusing a part of Fern's identity.
Quote #5
It's hard to believe the last time they'd seen each other, Fern had been a loaf of bread in Cecile's arms. That was how Uncle Darnell told it to me. Some pieces of it I even remember. (8.19)
Now and again we get glimpses of how people grow up and change. Some of this is inevitable (like with Fern changing from a baby to a young girl), but other things aren't so set in stone. Like, say, Cecile not knowing much about her kids' lives, for example. Identity is in flux, it seems.
Quote #6
"Just find a black beret. Any black beret will do. Make sure you tell them I gave to the cause." (9.16)
Instead of calling the people at the Center by their names, or even directly acknowledging who they are (Black Panthers), Cecile blends them all together; they're all the same to her. One way to think of this is as collective identity instead of individual. It doesn't matter if it's Kelvin or some random guy that Delphine gives the cash to, so long as they are a part of the movement.