Those lines, drawn in the sand between north and south, stayed unchanged over the years. Every child in Ricksville knew where they were supposed to be when the sun set.
-- Narrator (Part 1: Chapter 1)

Importance: Ella describes the racial boundaries drawn across her town of Ricksville, Mississippi as a result of the aftermath of the Freedom Summer murders. Nearly 20 years after those murders and the ensuing violence, the town is still divided along these same racial lines.

She never called me by my name. / I was the sin that she couldn’t wash out.
-- Narrator (Part 1: Chapter 3)

Importance: Ella tells her reader that her mother never called her by her name. This suggests that Ella’s mother was attempting to convey to her daughter that she was not worthy of her own identity. Ella’s mother saw Ella only as a representation of her sin.

It was the only store that had not been burned to the ground during...
-- Narrator (Part 1: Chapter 5)