Burr Redding

Burr Redding (played by Anthony Chisholm) is a fictional character and prisoner on the HBO television series Oz.

Prisoner #01R289. Convicted January 11, 2001 - Murder in the first degree, seven counts of attempted murder. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Redding is an African-American man who has spent his entire life in the ghetto and learned every survival skill the hard way. He took care of his family since the age of ten shining shoes, shooting dice, doing a little bit of whatever was necessary to survive. He served in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1970 and expanded his killing skills while overseas. After his discharge in 1970, he became a heroin user and dealer who rose to control the drug trade on the ghetto streets as a ruthless authoritarian. It was here that he introduced to fellow inmate Augustus Hill into the world of drugs. Redding was best friends with Augustus' father and mother, the latter of whom Redding had an unrequited love for. When Augustus's father died during the war, his dying wish was for Burr to take care of Augustus. Redding's teaching of the drug business however led to Augustus' eventual incarceration. He served in multiple prisons over his lifetime and is accustomed to jail better than most any new inmate as he states to the staff upon his arrival.

The character quickly becomes the leader of the Homeboys, Oz's Black drug dealers, upon his arrival following the death of Adebisi. He is a ruthless, highly experienced leader with no qualms about violence and who never hesitates to perform murders himself.

When Redding arrives in Oz, the Homeboys have been in disarray since the death of Simon Adebisi, and unit manager Tim McManus believes that Redding will bring them back into the fold immediately. Introduced to Kareem Said and McManus, Redding congratulates Said not for his intents to change Black men but for murdering Adebisi. He lets McManus know that he knows the prison routine better than anyone given his criminal history. Upon arrival, he meets Augustus Hill who tells him that the Homeboys are being led by inmate Arnold "Poet" Jackson. Poet is not cut out to be a leader and is in no position to deny leadership from Redding. Redding is met by Chucky Pancamo and Enrique Morales and offered a third of the drug trade, but Redding is stubborn and refuses to work with the two of them. When some Chinese refugees are temporarily placed in Oz, Morales frames him for the murder of one of them. Because of his time served in Vietnam, McManus believes Redding is racist towards Asians in general and does not think twice about throwing Redding in the newly constructed cage (According to the journal of Augustus Hill however, Redding's anger never developed towards Asians while serving in Vietnam but instead towards the government and authority figures who deployed many poor African Americans to lose their lives overseas in battle). Warden Glynn releases Redding when he realizes that there is no evidence to convict Redding. This causes tension between the Homeboys and the Italian and Latino inmates.

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