Why honor a writer/chronicler like David Simon instead of, you know, someone like a politician or activist or organizer who works to directly affect change?

I've always believed there is a continuum to the work of social change. We all find the place where we belong. I learned that when I was as student member on the New York City Board of Education, and would have to cross the path of my protesting classmates on my way to meetings. The movement works when we all do what we do best. David Simon has made a significant contribution by artfully telling a story that the majority of Americans can't or don't want to see.

This is much more powerful than yet another policy paper or Op-Ed talking about cities left to rot, caught in the crossfire of self-serving rhetoric. DMI is a think that takes people from the frontlines and gives them a perch to translate their experiences into the conversation about public policy. Simon has taken his direct experiences and translated them into an artful exploration with obvious and serious political and policy implications.

The Wire has painted a pretty bleak picture of modern urban America, particularly in the past season. I mean, the series wrapped with essentially the bad guys winning -- running the police department, moving up the political ladder, and winning awards at the Baltimore Sun. Isn't that kind of a negative vision for a generally upbeat think tank like DMI to celebrate?

Have you heard the presidential candidates talk about cities? Have you heard the debate moderators ask any of them about cities in any one of the umpteen debates held to date? No. Despite the fact that 80% of America lives in metropolitan areas there is almost no conversation about urban America, which is especially important considering the last eight years of a White House distinctly unfriendly to cities.

The Wire doesn't have to be upbeat; it tells an important story about the way that America has neglected urban America, and how these failures are not a result of the inherent cultural inadequacies of the poor themselves -- as the Manhattan Institute would have it -- but of failed institutions, including politics and the press. We are certain that once America starts talking about cities -- even the cities like Baltimore that encapsulate the challenges posed by entrenched poverty and resigned government -- we can create more positive stories where there is currently a void of ideas and attention.

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Thanks, Andrea. (I probably should mention that I serve on DMI's Netroots Advisory Board. Consider it mentioned.) (Photo thx Nick Hall)