Gbenga Akinnagbe is arguably the most polar opposite of his Wire character Chris Partlow than his former castmates.
Aside from the obviousness he’s no cold-blooded killer, he actually cares about his community, namely his Nigerian people. Yesterday, January 24, Akinnagbe hosted a vigil and awareness rally for all the victims of the recent terrorist attacks.
Via DNAinfo:
The Nigerian-American star who played Chris Partlow in the HBO series will host a Saturday vigil at Bed-Stuy’s Restoration Plaza to honor the lives lost overseas at the hands of the extremists’ recent attacks.
A Jan. 3 massacre in northeast Nigeria was deemed the “possibly deadliest” attack in Boko Haram history, according to Amnesty International. More than 3,000 structures were damaged or destroyed by fire and hundreds of civilians were killed, including small children and women, the agency said in a release.
In 2014, Boko Haram killed more than 4,000 civilians, according to Amnesty International. Akinnagbe seeks to bring these figures to light with Saturday’s memorial.
“These are human beings. If it was anywhere else, it would an international tragedy,” Akinnagbe told DNAinfo New York.
“We didn’t think we could leave it up to others to honor the dead and acknowledge these black lives.”
“It definitely permeates the Nigerian community here,” he said. “People are upset but unfortunately they’re not surprised. This isn’t the first massacre or tragedy, but we are asking accountability from our government and the Nigerian government.”
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Check out pictures of the vigil in the slideshow below. Coincidentally, the folks across the pond in London also had a peaceful rally yesterday as well.
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Photo: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
