61st Street is a detailed look at the complicated and hard-fought war against crime, the police, the courts in Chicago and how society and the judicial
In new U.S. television drama 61st Street, Emmy and Tony award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance plays devoted lawyer Franklin Roberts who decides to go all in on a case that could shake the criminal.
The show's first two seasons were shot in Chicago where the creator and executive producers made sure the show authentically depicted the vibrancy of South Side and its struggles.
George Burns/AMCIn the new AMC drama series, 61st Street, Courtney B. Vance stars as Franklin Roberts, a lawyer working to prevent Tosin Cole's character, Moses Johnson, from becoming a victim of Chicago's infamously corrupt criminal justice system. In addition to telling the all-too-familiar story of "a Black man's life in jeopardy at the hands of police," Vance says he hopes the show continues the real-life conversation on police reform. Speaking with ABC Audio on the history of police in America, Vance says, "Their job was to keep African American males in line, so that is the idea of protecting and serving." The series' plot authorities seeking revenge against Moses for the killing of an officer falls right in line with what Vance says is the reason that police as an organization was initially created. "Their mission in the beginning was slave captures and making sure that the Black community was kept where they're supposed