Cast of 'The Wire' Reunites to Give Voice to Baltimore Residents

The cast of "The Wire" reunited in Baltimore to read the real-life stories of Baltimore residents who lived through the riots.

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Image via Complex Original
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No piece of entertainment will likely ever be as linked to the city of Baltimore as HBO's crime masterpiece The Wire, a series heralded for many reasons, but foremost for its realness. 

The series ended its run long before Baltimore descended into fiery riots in the aftermath of Freddie Gray's death, but the cast reunited there this weekend to "depict the truth as seen by those who lived through the turmoil," as the Baltimore Sun puts it. 

As part of the city's premiere arts festival, Artscape, actors Dominic West, Michael Kenneth Williams, Wendell Pierce, Seth Gilliam, Chad L. Coleman, Larry Gilliard Jr., Andre Royo, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jaime Hector, Tristan "Mack" Wilds and Felicia "Snoop" Pearson appeared on stage to perform the stories of real Baltimore residents as monologues.

Here's Williams (best known for portraying Omar): 

The idea of the event, titled Wired Up, was to use their fame to bring attention to those tales from people who were on the ground during the riots. 

Sonja Sohn, who played Detective Kima Greggs, organized the performance and put it this way:

"We lived here while we were shooting and became a part of these communities. There's a real core group of us who feel parts of Baltimore are woven into who we are as result of the time we spent here," Sohn told the Sun. "One thing we as artists can give back is that we know the power of storytelling," she added. "We know how it heals and radiates outward and what it inspires in other people. And so, we're going to give a platform to these folks who felt they were not being heard."

Coincidentally, Young B Emcee—aka Brandon Young, who played Fletcher the reporter on the final season of The Wire—is a rapper. He put out this EP Born Blessed this week, and it has a track on it called "Baltimore" that finds Andre Royo ("Bubbles") just talking about what's been going on in Baltimore.

You can listen to that track below. 

 

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