A Love Letter To Omar Little And The Man Who Made Him
essence.comMichael K. Williams entered the entertainment industry—but it was his portrayal of a freelance stickup man in Baltimore that made him a star of historic and narrative-shifting proportions.
As many have long professed, there is more than one way to be gay. Still, when it comes to how gay Black men are portrayed on screen, our depictions have too often been drowned in conventional stereotyping.
Many actors have lent their talents to the act of changing this—but few characters have risen to the stature and success of Omar Little, the gay Black man who wielded a pistol against his enemies in The Wire.
Omar first appeared in the third episode of season one of the HBO drama, which debuted on June 2, 2002. Customarily wearing a duster camouflaging a shotgun, a large caliber handgun and a bulletproof vest, he ominously whistled “The Farmer in the Dell” when approaching his targets.
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