Vina is Gabriel’s mother and Patrisse’s grandmother. The first time she and Patrisse met at Gabriel’s graduation ceremony from a sobriety program, she hugged Patrisse and welcomed her into the family. Vina is from a small town in Louisiana—the daughter of a white father and a Creole mother—and had two daughters who were the product of being raped by a white man when she was young. Patrisse feels that trauma like this gets passed down generation to generation. Still, Vina is extremely warm and, despite having very little money, threw big holiday parties and planned weekly family barbeques in the park. While Gabriel was in prison, Patrisse lost touch with Vina and missed her.
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Vina Character Timeline in When They Call You a Terrorist
The timeline below shows where the character Vina appears in When They Call You a Terrorist. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Bloodlines
...and hugging her. Five of Gabriel’s nine siblings are there, and so is his mother, Vina, who is short like Patrisse. Vina is from Louisiana and had a white mother and...
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...in Patrisse’s life, picking her up every Friday to see their sports-loving extended family at Vina’s house. Patrisse sometimes worries what Alton and her siblings think of her being with her...
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Chapter 7: All the Bones We Could Find
...Gabriel missed out on, including a raucous and loving Christmas with their extended family at Vina’s.
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