Southland

The murders of his cousin Curtis and three other boys back during the Watts Uprising haunt Lanier. When Jackie enters his life looking for Curtis, he and Jackie set out on a crusade to bring Curtis’s murderer to justice, thereby bringing justice to both their families in the process. Lanier is good-looking, muscular, and stern, though he eventually softens his demeanor the more time he spends with Jackie. He’s a staple in the Crenshaw community and actively educates Jackie on the old Angeles Mesa neighborhood so that she can see the community’s value. Lanier provides Jackie with a link to her grandfather’s past, and in doing so, he learns more about his own heritage.

When Lanier discovers that a Black officer killed his cousin, he must reconcile his own biased views against whites, who he thought were responsible for the four murders. When Lanier internalizes his misconceptions, he lashes out and physically strikes Thomas. Although the novel ends without the conclusion of Thomas’s conviction, Lanier’s dedication to his community redeems him. He welcomes Jackie into the community center, thereby allowing her to pursue further social connections to the “Southland.”

Frank was a warm-hearted man whom the reader finds has recently died when the novel opens. Frank’s will grants his old store to Curtis Martindale, but since the store is gone, the $38,000 he left in a shoebox belongs to Curtis. The narrative centers around the protagonist trying to honor Frank’s wishes by getting this money to Curtis, and then honoring both Frank and Curtis’s memory by trying to find Curtis’s racially motivated killer. Frank grappled with his own race relations, as he fell in love with a Black woman, Alma, when he was 22 and had a secret child—Curtis—with her. Frank spent his life helping the neighborhood, though Curtis and Alma were what he loved most about Angeles Mesa.

As a character, Frank demonstrates both a loving man devoted to family as well as a victim of racial injustices. As a child, Frank witnessed firsthand the brutality and injustice of America’s treatment of Japanese American citizens during WWII. Just as soldiers tortured and killed his father, an officer of the law harassed and killed his son. Although Frank lost many in his lifetime and sustained permanent injuries while serving the country that turned on his race, love enabled him to heal and flourish.

Curtis Martindale was the illegitimate child of Alma (Sams) Martindale and Frank Sakai. His mother gave birth to him after she left L.A. (and Frank) and moved to Oakland, where she met and married Bruce Martindale. Curtis grew up thinking that Bruce was his biological father and died before Frank revealed the truth of his origins. As a teen, Curtis faced several violent confrontations based on racial persecution. He fought with white peers, who instigated altercations, and endured numerous beatings from Officer Lawson. As a result, adults viewed him as a troublemaker. Despite this label, he strived to be a good kid and was very protective of his brother Cory and his younger cousin Jimmy (James), both of whom idolized him. Curtis devoted himself to Frank’s store and stayed to defend the business during the Watts Uprising. Curtis’s fear of law enforcement became fatally recognized when Officer Thomas locked him and three other Black boys in the store’s freezer. Although Curtis is deceased when the narrative opens, his death becomes a catalyst in Jackie and Lanier’s quest for redemption and justice.

Nick Lawson was a racist white police officer during the time of the Watts Uprising. He routinely picked on children of color, and he often harassed Frank in his shop. Lawson believed that Black people were “animals,” and the Watts Uprising—at least to him—proved his point. He issued several beatings to Curtis prior to the uprising and cornered the four boys in the store during the disruption. Although Thomas murdered the boys, the community always believed it was Lawson due to his anti-Black racism. Lawson represents those who abuse power due to racist beliefs. Akira Matsumoto, who escaped the shop immediately prior to the boys’ deaths, later shoots Lawson, albeit not fatally. Lawson’s injuries do, however, end his career.