I'm sorry I wasn't around more, when you were growing up. You needed that influence, but I was trying to be a good wife. I was too caught up with the times. You know things were so different back then, but the child, the child just needs love.
-- Martha (chapter 1)

Importance: Martha is explaining to Ava why she was not present in her life more when she was growing up, ultimately blaming "the times" and her husband's unwillingness to accept the black members of his family. Ava is not quite willing to forgive her for this, but she appreciates the sentiment. Martha's use of the word "influence" here may be a coded racist remark, as she later tells King that the children at his new school will be "good influences" (18) on him, presumably because they are white.

Now that I'm old, my people's hands are my hands. I say that to say things...
-- Josephine (chapter 2)