Anwan Glover

Born Ralph Anwan Glover, he was raised in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. From an early age, his life was divided along turbulent lines: Glover was passionate about music, dance and sports, but also ran afoul of the city's notorious criminal element, suffering at one point a gunshot wound while attending Lincoln Junior High School that ended a chance to play football. At the age of 12, he began performing with a percussion group on the streets of Georgetown that eventually became the Backyard Band, one of the most prominent Washington area bands to play "go-go," a blend of funk, R&B and early hip-hop that found popularity in the early 1980s. Glover's elevated profile on the D.C. urban scene gave him the leverage to speak directly to young people about issues of crime and HIV/AIDS, but the past troubles remained an ever-presence specter in his life; his receipt of an NAACP Youth Leadership award in 2004 was overshadowed by his arrest on gun possession charges that same year.Glover also began his acting career in 2004, playing Slim Charles, a loyal and principled lieutenant for both the Barksdale and Stanfield crime families on "The Wire." Glover played the role from its third season through its conclusion in 2008, when Slim Charles ascended to the throne of a new crime organization that rises from the ashes of its predecessors. Following the celebrated conclusion of "The Wire," Glover returned to Washington, D.C. with an even greater following. He remained a positive force for change in the city, teaming with then-mayor Anton Fenty to speak out against gun violence in the wake of his brother Tayon's shooting death in 2007. Glover also hosted his own weekly radio show on the city's WKYS-FM and continued to act, most notably as a convicted killer on "Treme" (HBO 2010-2013) and a small role in the critically acclaimed drama "12 Years a Slave" (2013).