Sinclair's War on Black Politicians and Grassroots Organizations

Sinclair's War on Black Politicians and Grassroots Organizers

This is part II of *The Wire and Beyond: Countering Anti-Black Narratives *

The media – specifically Sinclair Broadcasting – uses charges of “corruption” to attack Black-led grassroots organizations and Black political leaders in order to delegitimize Black authority. How does The Wire’s view that “they are all corrupt” help or hurt our ability to intelligently navigate questions around political corruption in a majority Black city?” How are current conversations about the “turf war” between the office of the Inspector General and the Mayor impacted by these racialized narratives of political corruption? Join BRJA and special guest panelists for this conversation about how the concept of corruption is weaponized against Black power and the flourishing of Black communities.

SERIES DESCRIPTION:

“Baltimore is a repository for many people, of many of their worst assumptions and fears about Black people…The Wire doesn’t become a hit series by accident. Because people don’t know enough about Baltimore to see it as anything other than a projection of their own imagination.”

– Lawrence Grandpre, (Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle)

The Wire, David Simon's award winning drama on HBO, is often celebrated as the realest series of the prestige television era. The Wire assumed the authority to speak on what Baltimore, a majority-Black city, is all about and created a Baltimore “reality” for a globe’s worth of TV viewers. In this series, we will use the insights of S. Rasheem’s new documentary Beyond the Wire to examine how The Wire functioned to attack Black political power and delegitimize Black self-determination. We will explore how narratives about corruption, addiction, and crime created their own “reality,” one countered by Black ways of knowing Baltimore and imagining Baltimore’s liberatory future.

Please note: use of library space does not constitute endorsement of this organization, this program or its content by the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Contact BRJA via bmoreantiracist.org