Fan Casting Malik “Saint” Rivers (26) in Empire Divide: Streets of Red & Blue

Malik “Saint” Rivers (26) Affiliation: 41st Reds (South Chicago) Role: Leader / reluctant peacekeeper Nickname Origin: His mama gave him “Saint” when he was 12 — said he was the only one who’d walk his little brother to school through gang territory every day without flinching. The streets turned that name into irony. BACKGROUND Saint grew up in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. His father was a trucker, rarely home; his mom worked two jobs, keeping the lights on but barely holding the family together. His older cousin, Big Tone, was one of the original 41st Reds — an old-school brawler with honor, code, and structure. Saint idolized him but also saw how that life broke people. By 16, Saint was running small-time corners, but he had a sharp mind for organization. When the older heads got locked or faded, he stepped up — not because he wanted to, but because if he didn’t, the block would eat itself alive. He had one rule: “We don’t shoot first.” It didn’t make him soft; it made him strategic. His biggest rival was Derrick “Deuce” Hayes from the Eastside Blues — both young, both leaders of opposite colors, both trying to prove they could bring back respect to their sides. Their wars went viral — fights on camera, dis tracks, block burnings. Fame made them soldiers for an audience. Saint was haunted by it. He didn’t want fame — he wanted power that meant something. But he was trapped in the cycle of retaliation that made his city bleed.