DO THE RIGHT THING

squabbling, self-aggrandizement, and, above all, putdowns add to the hot air on this day in the life of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn as the 98 percent Black (down to 70 percent in the last census) community and small mix of, set firmly in a specific time (1989) and place (the block), there are shortages of both water and employment opportunities. Hence, rigidly separate generational and racial groups—made up of wonderfully comic characters played by a host of Black and Latino talent—just hang out on the streets dissing each other and trying to stay cool. But throw in police bias and all it takes is boombox music played maddeningly loud to trigger antagonisms that boil over into insults, violence, and rebellious rioting.