‘The Wire’ Lays It On the Line

Sprawled on a couch, bloodshot eyes fixed on the screen, five hours into the third season: this is not the scene commonly associated with social responsibility. Yet this past Thursday, stars of the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire,” together with eminent Harvard professors, proposed that the poignant images of socio-political ills television can invoke are often the most powerful tools that can sensitize viewers. An event organized by the Department of African and African American Studies, the Boston Foundation, and the Ella J. Baker House, “The Wire at Harvard: Lessons for Policy and Politics,” served as a call to action to the show’s many fans.

The panel—led by African and African-American Studies professors Lawrence D. Bobo and William J. Wilson, Sonja Sohn (Detective Kima Greggs), Andre Royo (the lovable, troubled addict, Bubbles), and Michael K. Williams (the infamous ethical gangster, Omar Little)—praised the series for its refusal to simplify its characters and for its holistic portrayal of the social, political and economic forces acting on individuals at all levels of American society. “The Wire has done more to enhance understanding of systemic urban inequality than any published study by social scientists,” said Wilson, who will be teaching a course next year using “The Wire” as a frame for discussing poverty. Bobo echoed this sentiment, describing “The Wire” as “the single most important dramatic series of all time.” “In years to come, “The Wire” will be the authentic artistic chronicle of these times and conditions,” he said.

The stars, however, made clear that they were not here to congratulate themselves or “The Wire” but to draw the attention of Harvard students to the brutal realities that inspired the show’s storylines, which are more punishing now—in the midst of the financial crisis—than ever.

Sohn spoke compellingly of the nonprofit organization she founded with other cast members of “The Wire”; “ReWired for Change” works “to empower young people living in the most underserved communities across the country through education, media advocacy, and street-based intervention,” according to its website. She described working with communities in South Carolina in the run-up to the 2008 election, using the power of celebrity to urge the disaffected to use their vote. “We’re trying to make personal transformation hip,” she said.

The actors also emphasized that their investment in this work is as much personal as it is professional, alluding to their own childhoods in underprivileged communities. “I have not allowed this business to remove me from the hood. People in my hood [Brooklyn] are dying in huge numbers,” said Williams. “This is the real Wire”.

Charming the audience with his wit and humility, Royo referred to his own background. “This is the first time I’ve been affected like this. I can’t believe I’m walking around Harvard, sitting next to people with Professor in front of their name.” Williams was similarly moved, saying, “I feel so blessed. I can’t tell you how humbling this is.” But these sentiments only served to highlight the disparity between the experience of Harvard students and those of inner-city young people who lack opportunities. “These young people do not see success on this level,” Sohn said, “so they do not know that it exists.”

As well as offering emotional accounts of working with vulnerable young people in cities across the US, the panel suggested ways in which policy-making could address the problems raised by “The Wire.” Bobo spoke of the “the disastrous consequences of the war on drugs” and the need to reassess incarceration policy at a time when one in nine black men are in prison, often for crimes that would not have resulted in a jail term for a white person. “We need to ask ourselves, did it reduce crime? And did it make us all safer?”

Wilson spoke optimistically of the work done in Harlem Children’s Zone—a network of schools, health clinics and violence prevention programs serving the most poverty-stricken children in Harlem—which monitors children from elementary school through finding employment as an adult. He noted that the Obama administration plans to roll out similar schemes across 20 cities next year.

Ultimately, though, the evening served less as a talking shop and more as a call to action. The three actors were adamant that hands-on experience is necessary for anyone who wishes to understand the problems faced by young, vulnerable people in cities today. For them, this is nothing less than an ethical imperative. “There’s really no excuse for us not to go into these neighbourhoods and try to help out,” Sohn said.

Harvard students—oft considered future leaders of the world—have a crucial role to play in the initiative. “One day some of you guys are going to be policy makers, business leaders, and heads of foundations,” Sohn said. “I challenge you to go into these communities and see what it is you’re trying to change. These circumstances won’t change if you do not answer the call.”