UPRISING

The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO changed America forever.
The escalation of hostilities between the Police and Organized Protesters
occurred at an exponential rate. However, non-violent resistance activities
cannot succeed against an enemy that can use violence.
The time has come to change the dynamic, by any means necessary.

1814, 1861, 1968, and 2017: Once again Baltimore will light the
fire and lead the nation towards a new birth of freedom. In a
world where good guys do bad things and bad guys do good
things, defining righteousness and evil becomes a sliding scale.
In any civil conflict, lines drawn are never clear. Combatants
take sides, driven by duty or idealism, dividing families and friends.

 

Set-Up

There are three factions in the struggle for the hearts and minds (and streets) of Baltimore, and the millions watching at home. The first is that of the government. In Uprising, this is personified in John, an experienced police officer; and  Charlie, a rookie officer. We get insight into the interworkings of government from Todd and Jeannie who work in the Mayor’s office.

The second is the armed belligerents. We experience this side of the battle through Michael and his older brother David: apolitical millennials, awoken by Michael Brown’s murder, activated by social media, who joined the armed group led by unknown Kyle Broughton, an internet activist supported by a mysterious benefactor.

The final group is the local political activists. A constant presence in Baltimore, protest groups became prominent in the national news coverage that followed the Freddie Gray riots. Community leaders inspired and motivated a continued,  expanded, multi-racial, multi-socioeconomic presence among the group, which includes Kent, who has risen to fame; and Adam, a law school student. Latecomers, like Victoria, bring a measure of level-headed thinking and experience to the burgeoning movement.

Episodes

The first episode of the series put us right in the action. It is June 6th and things in Baltimore are coming to a head. Yet another young, black man has been killed in police custody. Once again, all eyes turn to Baltimore, expecting a repeat of April 2015. We are introduced to the major players and their day leading up to the big confrontation that evening.

In the next few episodes, we get to know the major players through their lives on the same day, culminating with the news that Jeremy Gibson’s death. While each episode may focus on a particular person, we’ll see the interconnectedness of urban life as others appear in solo storylines. Moreover, the city itself is shown as, not only a setting but a part of these people’s lives; a character in its own right.

By the end of season 1, the struggle has progressed from June 6 (most of episode 1) and July 4 (the cold open to episode 1). The first half of the season will be spent on character examinations, in the context of the days and weeks before the shooting of Jeremy Gibson, and the second will cover the time between that shooting and the events of June 6. The season will close on the same scene/day as it opened.

 

CHARACTERS

John is good police. He has worked for years to be competent to his superiors and inspirational to his men. When he first put on the badge, being police garnered a level of respect. In the years since that has changed. Now, instead of being praised, they are vilified. Still, every day, John puts on the badge and goes out into the streets of Baltimore to try and show the citizens he serves that the police aren’t the monsters that the media makes them out to be.

Kent is just a guy, or so he thinks. He grew up in West Baltimore, perhaps more correctly, he survived West Baltimore. He avoided the gangs and the drugs, made it through school, and became one of the “only” in too many Baltimore statistics. After high school, he could have cared less about politics. He was just trying to get by. Then, Freddie Gray was killed. He had heard that everyone has a moment where they awake. Freddie Gray was his. He started community organizing and protesting. Now, he fights to change the system that he sees as unjust.

Michael is an idealist. Like too many millennials, after high school and college, he entered a world that he felt unprepared for. For too long he floated between menial wage jobs, looking for something: what, he never knew. Then, Michael Brown was killed. His tweets and Facebook posts about parties and what he was eating transformed into messages and videos about police violence. He found his calling, he made a connection. Never one to do anything half-heartedly, he went in full bore. It would be change or nothing.

Theresa is a Baltimore girl, born and raised. Her mindset and her attitude reflect that. In her youth, she was a party girl. She graduated high school, barely; and went on to college. She never took them seriously enough and wasn’t about to let school get in the way of a good time. By her late twenties, she had outgrown the parties but seemed like she’d missed all the good guys.  All she wanted from life was to be a mother and wife; and when she met John, he made all of that come true. Now, she had everything she could have wanted.

Shonda never expected much out of life. Her father hadn’t been around her entire life. Her mother may have known who he was, but she never did. That was the one mistake she wouldn’t repeat: her children wouldn’t be without a father. Her father wasn’t the only one to disappear. Her brothers, even some of her nephews and cousins, had been lost to the street: either jail or the morgue. She feared that for Kent. She loved him, and she loved their son. She wanted him to be around; that was her biggest concern.

David had always played second fiddle to his younger brother. While his brother went off to school, he worked a succession of menial wage jobs. But eventually, like most kids from their town, his brother returned. Despite their differences growing up, they became very close as adults. It was Michael who turned him on to the videos; the videos that gave his life some direction. More than anything else, it was that he could finally have something in common with his brother.

Adam and Charlie were college roommates. It was lucky that they had been assigned as roommates; neither was the kind of person that the other would have been friends with. But, given the circumstances weren’t under their control, these two very different people became fast friends. In later years, and after college, they chose to remain friends and roommates. Despite their differences, including taking very different tracks within the criminal justice system, they remained close.

Todd was an idealist. He got into politics for what seemed like all the right reasons, but for a career, might have been all the wrong reasons. He still maintained that idealism. His boss, Jeannie, was more practical. She got into the business of politics solely for the remuneration. Now, they were both slaving away in a political backwater; the Baltimore mayoral office. But, they can still make a difference; if they can save the city from itself.

Victoria was an old head; a flower child of the sixties. She had come of age in the age of free love. In her young, and more adventurous, years; she had been part of the voice of her generation. That was, of course, before the house and husband and baby made three. She settled down, raised her family, and enjoyed the life she built with her husband. Later in life, once her kids were grown and her husband died, she became a philanthropist and once again got involved in the movement. First, she marched against the Iraq war, later she camped out with Occupy before a new movement popped up for her to join.

 

SYNOPSIS OF EPISODES

 The first episode of the series dives right into the action. It is June 6th and things in Baltimore are coming to a head. Yet another young, black man has been killed in police custody. Once again, a nation’s eyes turn to Baltimore, expecting a repeat of April 2015. We are introduced to the major players and their day leading up to the big confrontation that evening.

In the next six episodes, we get to know the major players through their lives on the same day, culminating with the news that Jeremy Gibson’s death. While each episode may focus on a particular person, we’ll see the interconnectedness of urban life as others appear in solo storylines. Moreover, the city itself is shown as, not only a setting but a part of these people’s lives; a character in its own right.

Through the next six episodes, until the end of season 1, the struggle has progressed from the shooting of Jeremy Gibson through June 6 (most of episode 1) to July 4 (the opening scene to episode 1) and the second on covering the time between that shooting, the events of June 6. The lines between the three factions become blurred as those dedicated to non-violence vacillate between the armed insurrectionists to the government which is seeking to reconcile the misdeeds of the past. Although the story is told from the perspective of the people living it, violence (on all parts) becomes a major factor in the lives of all characters. Lives are lost, and others are taken. The season will close on the same scene/day as it opened as the violence becomes open warfare.

 

FORMAT:

Uprising is a one-hour action/drama. The pilot is written in the format of a full-hour program, without commercial breaks, suitable for premium cable or new media outlets; however, it can be shortened to the more traditional 44-minute style with commercial breaks.

Uprising is a serialized show. Although the first half of the season is spent rehashing the same 24-48 hour period from the perspective of different characters, those episodes are used to build a multi-faceted, all-encompassing view of the city and its inhabitants. The goal is to illustrate the effect that race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position have on current events. 

The second half of the season establishes the self-destructive nature of movements for change the divisiveness of the topic of “change” and how that can be accomplished. The different factions struggle for positioning in the hearts and minds of the people of their city: the government seeks to address the issues of police violence that have become prominent across the country; the nonviolent protesters remain dedicated to their position while acknowledging the overall reaction to the appearance of the armed defenders; the People’s Army, motivated by glorious purpose and tethered to the ideal of change by any means necessary, carry out a series of awe-inspiring military-type actions against the police exacerbating the tensions in the city.

ETHOS

Five days after the infamous riots in Baltimore, I found myself in the heart of the controversy. As a practicing attorney, I answered the call made by the ACLU to offer assistance to the protest groups as a legal observer and ad hoc representation for bail reviews. At 3 o’clock that morning, I found myself outside of Central Booking, waiting for my clients to be released. I was amongst a motley crew made up of gang members, media, organized protest representatives, and the police.

I had an opportunity, as a seemingly disinterested party, to walk amongst the crowd and talk to them. Although I was familiar with the positions of the organized protesters, it was interesting to hear the fervor with which the “out-of-town agitators” spoke of the city. I was also familiar with the positions of the police officers, but it was interesting to hear their simultaneous personalization of and detachment to the events happening around them. Finally, the gangs, despite previously being in a territory before the riots, made peace with each other to stand against the police and for the protesters, and the families of their cities. That morning, I had breakfast with a blogger from New York and the members of the Crips, Bloods, and BGF who I’d help get bail that morning.

The overwhelming sense amongst all these parties was that they were doing the right thing. Each person believed, unshakingly, that they were doing the right thing. Moreover, each of them spoke of their families and how what they were doing was for the people they loved. This was all true, despite being on opposite sides of the growing political divide in the city and the country as a whole.

It was only then that I realized how complex and difficult these issues are. There are no truly bad people in this equation. It was all a matter of perspective.

After Uprising, I hope that everyone shares that understanding.

 

MAPS

 

 

 

 

PICTURES