Quan Banks Character Analysis in Dear Martin

Quan Banks is Manny’s cousin, and a member of the local Black Jihad gang. From the same neighborhood as Justyce, Quan follows orders when the Black Jihad instructs him to murder Officer Castillo. After Manny’s death, Quan asks Mr. and Mrs. Rivers to tell Justyce that he wants to see him, so Justyce visits him in juvenile detention. During their conversation, Quan reveals that Officer Garret Tison (the man who killed Manny) was Officer Castillo’s partner. He also urges Justyce to join the Black Jihad, insisting that the gang will give him the support he needs. To that end, he gives Justyce the gang leader’s phone number and encourages him to call.

Quan Banks Quotes in Dear Martin

The Dear Martin quotes below are all either spoken by Quan Banks or refer to Quan Banks. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias Theme Icon

).

Aiight, listen up: where I come from, resistance is existence, homie. Every day I woke up in my hood coulda been my last. You wanna survive? Get wit some niggas who won’t turn on you, and y’all do whatever it takes to stay at the top, you feel me? My dudes . . . they’re like family to me. They’ve got my back as long as I have theirs.

Related Characters: Quan Banks (speaker), Justyce McAllister, Martel Montgomery

Page Number and Citation: 143

Explanation and Analysis: