Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
So, boom. The best show in the “Power” universe — the runaway hit series on Starz created by Courtney A. Kemp that we associate with 50 Cent — is far and away “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.” I say this as a person who faithfully watched “Power” and then “Power Book II: Ghost” and has tried with my whole heart to watch “Power Book IV: Force.” I’m a person who wanted Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) dead by the time “Power” wrapped but now enjoys the entirely nonsensical and unbelievable shenanigans of both Tariq’s drug-running crew (and thus I want him to live) and that of the Tejada family, headed up by Monet Tejada (Mary J. Blige).
But “Raising Kanan” hits different. Created by Sascha Penn, the show is the backstory of a supporting character from “Power,” Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis). During “Power,” Kanan gets out of prison and rejoins his former proteges, James “Ghost” St. Patrick and Tommy Egan, before meeting a fate he deserved. In “Raising Kanan,” we’re transported back to Queens in the early 1990s as Kanan and his family (and the web of folks around them) make their way up in the drug trade of South Jamaica, Queens. Kanan’s mother, Raquel Thomas (Patina Miller), is the head of the family and runs her organization with her brothers, Marvin (London Brown) and Lou-Lou (Malcolm Mays). The show is fascinating both for how authentically it represents the early…
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