The following version of this story was used to create this study guide: Wilkinson, Crystal "Endangered Species: Case 47401." Story Magazine. 2021. Digital. < https://www.storymagazine.org/endangered-species-case-47401/ >.

Note: This guide cites paragraph numbers instead of page numbers, being that it is from an online magazine website. The protagonist begins by describing the “thrumming” (1) that exists in all black women. It is described as an urge that builds into action against injustice. The protagonist then talks about her life and family.

Her husband, Big V, got promoted and moved with his family to a new neighborhood in a different state. His promotion brought about an arrogant personality in him. Her children, Baby Girl and Little V, were crying and lamenting having moved away from home, and the protagonist struggled to cook food for her family.

After Big V went to work, a white woman came to the protagonist’s house and asked if she would sign a petition to kill stray cats in the neighborhood. The protagonist refused and started to recall her love for nature, and she began to recall her childhood. She then called her mother and spoke about the family and their lives.

Immediately after the protagonist got off the phone, the white woman with the petition returned. She stepped past the threshold of the house, and the protagonist got angry. The white woman asked the protagonist for evidence that she belonged in the house, and they started to fight. The white woman refused to leave, so the protagonist pushed her off the porch. The protagonist closed the door.

Later that afternoon, while the protagonist was reminiscing about her childhood, the police knocked on her door. They questioned her and questioned her “intentions” (72). They cited the white woman with the petition, who had complained about their altercation. Because of the ‘thrum,’ the protagonist vented about racial injustice rampant in the United States. As a response, the police told her to give her baby to them, but the protagonist refused.