that she does not need material possessions to ensure that she will remember her grandmother and other family members.
The tone of this story pits a new generation of African-Americans against an older generation. Dee represents the new generation, whereas Maggie and her mother clearly represent the old. The accusation that Maggie and her mother do not understand their heritage and have not made anything of themselves is, from Dee's perspective, legitimate. She has moved away from her rural roots and has taken on a new African-American as symbolized in her new name "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo."
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