Lackawanna Blues (2005 TV Movie)

Hill Harper: Ruben, Jr. (Adult)

Quotes 

• Ruben, Jr. (Adult) : [narrating]  The people of 32 Wasson Avenue wanted me to have more, amount to more than they did. And so they gave me that bit of themselves that they felt was their best. And the blues I heard and the stories they told will live inside of me forever.

• Ruben, Jr. (Adult) : [narrating]  When Nanny first took me in, she made a vow to see me through school. Little did I know that going into one world would signal the end of another. My father went to have a simply bypass and never made it out of the recovery room. He had always been there for me. Alean was still battling her demons. When it finally looked like she might be winning, she was gunned down in a drive-by and killed. My sophomore year, Nanny was diagnosed with breast cancer. When death came by to visit Nanny, she told him "God ain't done with me yet, so move on down the line." The year I graduated, we found out that Uncle Bill had lung cancer. Within six months, he was gone. Businesses all up and down Wasson Avenue started closing down, 'cause for every door integration opened, it meant the closing of another in the community. Maxie's, the Flame, the Rim... the vibrant world of Lackawanna I'd always known started to fade away.