You do know there are black people who have money out in the world, Z, right?
-- Janae Benitez (Chapter 3)

Importance: Janae's comment to Zuri demonstrates her awareness of Zuri's isolation in Bushwick and her utter disconnection from American life other than that which she sees in her small neighborhood and her own personal experiences. As her older sister, Janae wants to help open Zuri's eyes to the fact that just because she lives in a poor place where lots of black families live, that does not necessarily mean that other black people in America are also poor or that they should be or act poor in order to be accepted by people with the same skin color. Janae is attempting to remind Zuri, who is fairly naive and ignorant, that blackness does not always mean just one thing.

My neighborhood is made of love, but it's money and buildings and food and jobs that...
-- Zuri Benitez (Chapter 4)