The Other Wes Moore Characters

Sergeant Prothero is a Baltimore police officer and father of five who is working his second job as a mall security guard during Wes and Tony’s jewelry store robbery. Tony shoots Prothero three times in the mall parking lot, and Prothero dies while the brothers drive away.

Shani is Moore’s little sister, the youngest child of Joy and Westley, and is only a baby when her father dies. Moore describes her as a “prodigy,” and she graduates from Princeton and Stanford Law School.

Winell is James’s wife and Moore’s grandmother. Originally from Cuba, she moves to Jamaica before moving again to the United States with James. Strict yet supportive, Moore describes her as a “lioness” and the “matriarch” of the family.

Bill is Joy’s first husband and the father of Nikki. They meet through the black student association at American University and quickly fall in love. However, Bill’s addiction and abuse force Joy to leave him.

Mamie is Wes’s paternal grandmother. Although Wes barely knows his father, Bernard, Mamie loves her grandson and likes to spoil him.

Kenneth is Wes’s maternal grandfather. While he is usually a “gregarious and fun-loving person,” he has a problem with alcoholism. When Alma dies, he drunkenly tells his children: “Sorry, guys, mom’s dead.”

In 1957, Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence from the British and served as the country’s leader until 1966. Moore’s grandfather James meets Nkrumah by chance after moving to the United States, and the two develop a close friendship.

Howard is Moore’s uncle. A positive influence in Moore’s life, Howard’s attempt to integrate Moore’s Riverdale friends with the neighborhood kids ultimately fails. Years later, he reminds a cocky 16-year-old Moore that—while he hopes Moore makes it to the NBA—it is important to have a backup plan.

Wes meets Alicia on a school bus and is instantly attracted to her. Two months after they meet, Alicia discovers she is pregnant. She and Wes end up having two children together, although Wes continues to see other girls.

Cheryl is another of Wes’s girlfriends. Slightly older than he is, she is a heroin addict who unsuccessfully tries to hide her drug use from him. She and Wes have two children together. Cheryl dies at 24 after falling down the stairs.

Captain Hill is a young African-American man who achieves an exceptional level of distinction at Valley Forge. He becomes a mentor to Moore, and years later is one of the groomsmen at Moore’s wedding.

Nicey is Wes’s aunt. After he gets out of prison, Wes lives with her, hiding the fact that he is dealing drugs again. Aunt Nicey attends Wes’s trial for the murder of Sergeant Prothero and comforts Mary when Wes is sentenced to life in prison.

Dalio is the platoon sergeant of the other platoon in Moore’s company. He and Moore are attacked by a group of drunk teenagers that includes Colonel Bose’s son while they walk to town to get strombolis.

Colonel Bose’s son, who is never named, attacks Moore and Dalio while they are in the town near Valley Forge. While at first his targeting of the two cadets seems random, he later begins shouting racist abuse at Moore.

Levy is a friend of Wes’s whom Wes goes to for advice when he decides he wants to get out of the drug game. The two men enroll in the Jobs Corps program together.

Mama is Moore’s host mother during his study abroad program in South Africa. Her husband was a freedom fighter during the struggle against apartheid.

Zinzi is Mama’s son. He and Moore become close friends when Moore is in South Africa. While Moore is preparing to go back to the United States, Zinzi is preparing undergo the Xhosa ritual of initiation into manhood.

Dawn is Moore’s wife, to whom he proposes while working as an assistant to Condoleezza Rice in Washington DC. Although we learn little about her, Moore describes her as “the most remarkable woman I know and the best friend I have.”