Angie Thomas

Stephen Sackur speaks to Angie Thomas, a writer whose first novel electrified America with its unflinching portrayal of a teenage black girl confronting police violence, inner city gang culture and a society rooted in discrimination. When it comes to issues of race and racism, the gap between America's promise of equality and the reality of entrenched inequality seems depressingly wide. Generations of black Americans have made efforts to change that; how far have they got? Can hope win out over fear and hate?