Most recent public comments by Julia Cooper https://nowcomment.com/users/49735 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314252 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314252 This is something that we talked about in class and in another reading - that drug dealers don't make as much money as television/stereotypes make it seem. In many situations they are only making enough money to live day-to-day. I think in many ways television and movies glorify the drug dealing lifestyle as rich and lavish, forcing viewers to believe that there are these monetary benefits from illegal trade. Drugs and money are always intertwined and much of this article reiterates this point, in showing how money was a integral part to their operation. It's possible that these men would have liked other ways to earn money, but because mainstream society and the legal economy has rejected them they are unable to find alternatives. Wed, 03 Apr 2019 22:53:47 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314229 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314229 This is very similar to the situation that Cutty Wise encountered after leaving jail. His "good intentions" led him to an operation with Slim Charles to kill another person. Cutty, similar to Primo, had "limited options in the legal economy" and found himself rejected again and again. For these reasons, Cutty had to create his own employment because he could not find his fit or place in the formal economy. By starting the boxing gym it showed the audience that without enough persistence and drive to be moral you can find outlets to make it happen. To argue against myself though, Cutty was lucky because he was allowed out of the game. For many other characters there was no way for them to leave - causing them to be in the illegal economy forever. Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:39:12 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314061 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314061 I completely agree with this comment and I am in a class right now that talks about intersectionality a lot. For example, Black Lives Matter, a movement created by three women is dominated by male police brutality stories. The most famous police violence and killing issues in the mainstream media have been centered around black males. There are just as many women that have faced violence and abuse from police officers but there is a flaw in our society where men are deemed more important and news worthy. I would argue that if the Wire were made today these issues would still heavily persist. The females of the Wire are not highlighted in the way the men are and this is something that is consistent among television today. Wed, 03 Apr 2019 17:28:49 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314057 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314057 Although you make a very strong point about how the characters in the Wire are not portrayed as addicts I would argue that the use and selling of drugs have led them down a path of addiction. They are dependent on using drugs, which by definition makes them addicts. What is not portrayed is the effects that drug addiction has had on them in contrast to Bubbles. Rather what we see is the addiction to money that the drugs bring them. They are unable to break this cycle of addiction because they have been forced out of regular society and need income, but their use of the drugs contributes to this isolation. They have been surrounded by users and addicts since childhood, forcing them to follow those footsteps and become addicts themselves. While we do not see them abusing drugs as much as one would think, I believe they are addicted to both using drugs and dealing drugs. Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:44:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314054 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314054 This comment and section in the reading reminded me and drugs and Gangster Film and the way in which, similar to the Wire, women often have a subordinate role in drug production and trade. It made me think of Goodfellas in a scene during the end of the movie when Henry is working with all of the cocaine and his wife and family are at home cooking at Italian sauce. This showed the particular role that many women took on within gangs. I think it was very interesting that this reading touched on how the women were involved because I imagine it caused an imbalance in the patriarchy of the male drug makers. Male gang members often struggled when women were too involved on took on leadership roles because they needed to maintain their masculinity to feel in charge. This doesn't mean that the women in Goodfellas did not do the drugs, they were just removed from the selling and production side of the operation, which connects with what the reading says about female addicts. Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:00:25 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307767 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307767 I commented on this earlier for paragraph 15, but I think drawing the connection between Cutty from the Wire and this paragraph is very important. The post-jail experience is shown in The Wire through this character and Simon shows how mainstream society rejects someone like Cutty. Cutty turns away from the option to get a GED because of the poor connotations he has with education and after that cannot find employment. Despite wanting to leave 'the game' he does one more job with Slim Charles because he cannot find any other way to make money. This shows that he is treated as a second-class citizen because he is denied of so many rights. He can't find where he fits in and therefore tries to make his own job. Like Alexander explains, without the ability to enter the mainstream economy it is only inevitable they will be not as successful as the white man. Wed, 27 Mar 2019 21:51:23 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307760 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307760 The first sentence in this paragraph is extremely important because it points out how the reason the end of slavery did not end racial difference. This continues on to how the Civil Rights Movement did not end it either. As a country we've made so many historical advancements, but unfortunately they are not able to put race issues to rest. Our country is experiencing the new Jim Crow because white supremacy remains. In particular white supremacy is linked with mass-incarceration, which is perpetuating the existing racial issues. This shows that the death of slavery was not able to solve problems and that because of that they are still present today. Mon, 25 Mar 2019 20:34:16 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307754 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307754 I agree with you because I found this piece to be striking because of how many real problems it brings to light that I had not considered before. For example, by comparing today's issues to the "new Jim Crow" it forces the readers to consider so many of the laws and social barriers that black men and women face today. By comparing the inability to vote with a grandfather limited by the KKK and a freed man from jail limited by his forced identity of a felon. This example and many others within the piece directly show how today's laws, in some ways, are just as limiting as they were before. Mon, 25 Mar 2019 20:19:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307752 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307752 This comment reminds of me of Cutty from the Wire and his life after prison. He struggles with getting work for so long that he resorts to creating his own business within the boxing gym. Cutty tries to escape the Corner but gets roped into a mission with Slim Charles when he has no other way to get money. Cutty, like you said in your comment, was set up for failure when he was spat out of jail and expected to deal with life on his own. Luckily Cutty is an exception in some ways that he was able to leave 'the game' and find success. Mon, 25 Mar 2019 20:15:36 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307749 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307749 I agree with what you've said, but what I found the most intriguing part of this opening paragraph is that it gives us the ability to watch the timeline of the black man in history and today. It shows the development of the struggle and the way in which despite these changes they are all facing the same problem - the inability to vote. This sets up his book to address the idea that black men that have been incarcerated are experiencing the "new Jim Crow". Mon, 25 Mar 2019 21:01:40 -0400