The speaker represents the Black community and leaves Earth to escape systemic violence. They search for a new deity because they distrust the religion handed down by their oppressors. In the cosmos, they actively create a new reality where their skin color is viewed naturally and free from prejudice.

Personified both as a collective oppressor and occasionally as an aged, tired woman dragging a torn gown through Oakland. This entity claims color blindness while perpetuating violence and mass incarceration. They act frivolously at funerals and continually demand more time for social progress.

A divine figure intertwined with the state and oppressive power structures. While the church songs dedicated to this deity are beautiful, the promised miracles are inconsistent. This figure fails to resurrect the victims of racial violence, prompting the speaker to search for a new spiritual path.

An avid churchgoer who yells her hallelujahs with intense volume and strength. Despite her profound faith, she carries an overpowering fear that the youth in her congregation will disappear or fall victim to the violent summer.

A representative figure of the Black men lost to violence. His funeral is interrupted by the loud, frivolous brunch conversations of the dominant culture. The speaker counts his absence every morning and feels the deep void left behind by his death.

A 19-year-old Black woman who was murdered after knocking on a door for help, having been mistaken for a burglar. She serves as a tragic example of inconsistent miracles, as she is not raised from the dead like Lazarus.

A 17-year-old boy murdered by a security officer for walking around a gated community with his hood up. His death is invoked as a primary example of racial violence and the failure of religious miracles.

Innocent youths who sing in the church choir. They face the constant threat of the "blood-fat" summer, a season personified as monstrously swallowing them and causing them to disappear.