"The Wire" ends - and the beat goes on......

UPDATE -- Here’s The Wire reunion from last night’s  PaleyFest (10/17/2014):

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Well, tonight was the last episode of five great seasons of a TV drama, more "reality" than any reality-show sludge served up as such today. This polemic, written and created by David Simon and Ed Burns with the talented writers Richard Price, Dennis LeHane, George Pelecanos, Chris Collins and William F. Zorzi , seriously deserves Emmys all around this voting season. The entire cast was on-point and absolutely phenomenal. Hope to see them working in projects that showcase their talents really soon.

Just as Mayor Carcetti became the new Gov. Carcetti; Council Pres. Campbell became the new Mayor Campbell; Asst. State's Atty. Perlman became the new Judge Phelan, Dukie became the new Bubbles, Michael became the new Omar, etc., etc., so goes this race for the presidency.

After all, the devious, backroom, "you-scratch-my-back and I'll-scratch-yours" political machinations, newspaper sell-outs for fame and fortune and broken social issues are all merely our own, writ large in the show. The only difference is, "The Wire" ended and the actors get to move on unscathed. We don't have that luxury and talking about change that can't or won't happen, will leave far more bodies in its wake than they ever found in the vacants. The line, "shining up shit and calling it gold..." was priceless! Not only does it seem equivalent to this presidential race, but to our continuing to do the same things and expecting different results in these United States of America.

I really didn't expect the show to end much differently than it did. I was rooting for Bubbles from the first season to the last. I'm glad he figured out how to make it to the other side. I knew Marlo Stansfield would not want to "give up the crown" - such is the nature of those who seek power and wealth at the expense of others (too bad Chris didn't figure that one out!).

Michael was already a budding Omar when he dropped out of school. Smart and with more of a conscience than not, the Robin Hood aspect he took on from Omar's character was already evident in the way he took care of his little brother, got Chris to get rid of the mother's no-good boyfriend and took Dukie off the streets once he was promoted to running his own corner.

In a previous episode, Dukie's haunting question, "How do you get from here to the rest of the world?" seemed to me shades of things to come. And as it turns out, he couldn't figure out the journey from from point A to point B no matter the promise he showed in school. There was no one in his life to show him the way. Pryzbylewski tried, but he knew as soon as he saw him, it had not been enough. Glad Namond had Colvin.

That Kima showed up to tell Lester and McNulty herself that she'd dropped the dime on them to Daniels was exactly what I expected given the no-bullshit woman she was. Because of the relationship among her and the original "wire" detectives I also expected them to understand, and they did. A pleasant and unexpected turn was Police Commissioner, Cedric Daniels. Facing the loss of coveted political capital for a Black man in America - power, privilege and visibility - he chose to say, not just "No," but "He-e-e-yall no," to the continuing game. Personal integrity sure looked good on him!

There are many lessons young Black men (and women) can take from the show, but the most important was the one with which Daniels left us in that "where are they now" montage of a last scene. By figuring out how to get that paper, you can "buy your freedom" and have a better chance of not leaving yourself at the mercy of this society that rarely, if ever cares. That lesson deserved a tribute from the ghost of H.L. Mencken:

"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.

A Necessary Correction

In my last post, I attributed the excellent, "Namond's world, by the numbers" post on the "Got that New Package!" blog to Ray Shea. Though Ray Shea is no slouch, I got that one absolutely wrong. My sincerest apologies to Racy Mind, one of the SIX bloggers who make such unbelievably great contributions to that blog. They all do such a wonderful job of putting into words what this show means. Go to the blog, read the posts and I'll give you a nickel if you can tell me I'm lying! What?? Am I the only one that realizes the wealthiest one percent of this country has all the real cash? Racy Mind's post immediately jumped in my head as I was writing the last post and I had to put the link there, mainly because as a registered voter and a mother of two sons trying to make it on their own, the realist I am knows from whence she speaks. I could easily substitute either of their names for Namond's and the statistics would still hold true and I know I'm not wrong on that one. Her statistics, like the Edwards campaign, gave voice to the voiceless. I hope when they fell in the woods of the blogosphere, they made a thunderous sound.

The Son of the South Concedes

Sitting here waiting on John Edwards to make his concession speech in New Orleans, I cannot help but think back to that heated debate in Myrtle Beach, SC. Though the CNN "after party" that night correctly predicted he would come in last, I felt he'd been the only candidate who truly understood and confronted ALL the issues facing America today. As a Black woman in America, Mr. Edwards spoke to the same realities I see played over and over again in this country. Dress it up anyway you like, but we do live in two Americas and on January 21st, Edwards clearly and succinctly rose above the bickering and personal attacks going on in the sandbox to not only define the current state of our union, but to provide realistic, attainable goals for truly creating the one America to which the other two candidates merely give lip service. He's now giving his speech at the Musician's Village in New Orleans where it all began last year. It is a fitting location given his comments on moral responsibility, poverty, backbone, conviction, universal health care and the fact that New Orleans had been and continues to be abandoned and forgotten by our government. He echoed all the things he said in the SC debate and added that after contacting Senators Clinton and Obama, they had pledged to make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency - a gem of a gift upon which they both will no doubt capitalize (after making it sound as if it were their idea all along of course). Let's be clear people, the one America of which Senator Obama has been speaking is not the same one America for which John Edwards was campaigning. Sen. Obama's is one of let's "move on" from the politics of the racial divide with no apparent accountability for its part in where we are today. Mr. Edwards on the other hand, spoke of how the politics of the racial divide needed to be faced and dealt with in a manner that would work to truly begin leveling the playing field. Big difference. And as far as Sen. Clinton? Well, since she only recently jumped on the one America theme, I'm not even including her in the comparison at all. As a rabid fan of HBO's seminal series, The Wire, I happened upon Ray Shea's excellent blog, "Got that New Package!", which not only presents the best analysis of the show I've seen anywhere, but provides an absolutely brilliant illustration of how on-point Mr. Edwards had been in constantly hammering on the issue of the two Americas in which we live. And if you think Mr. Shea's thoughts are to be taken with a grain of salt - don't. Raised and currently living in New Orleans, he has a true bird's-eye view of those two Americas. His January 24th post, "Namond's world, by the numbers," is at once a perfect representation of the Edwards campaign and a glaring commentary on what is lacking in the campaigns of Senators Clinton and Obama. John Edwards certainly spoke for me today when he said he understood how hard it is to speak out for change when you feel your voice is not being heard. But when you consider that going along to get along is exactly what's gotten us where we are today, doing the hard thing is definitely preferable. Even though each of the remaining two both represent a part of who I am, I hate having to choose between the lesser of two evils in November - especially since to date, neither of them has really done the hard thing. But, I will wait and watch and choose because the thought of another Republican administration is definitely not an option. I wish the son of a mill worker and his family the very best. Maybe he'll be offered and accept the Attorney General spot in the new administration because Lord knows our criminal justice system is in definite need of something new!