This content chronicles the rise and impact of Black organized crime in Harlem, from the numbers racket to drug empires, highlighting their struggle for independence against white mobs and the complex, often destructive, legacy they left behind. It explores themes of resistance, exploitation, systemic oppression, and the blurred lines between heroism and villainy in the pursuit of power and survival.
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The room smelled like expensive cigars
and cheaper threats. Five men sat around
a table in a Manhattan steakhouse, the
kind of place where the matraee knew not
to remember faces, where conversations
happened that never officially occurred.
The year was 1935. The men were the most
powerful gangsters in America. Lucky
Luciano, Meer Lansky, Frank Costello,
Joe Adonis, and Dutch Schultz, who was
about to say something that would seal
his fate, though he didn't know it yet.
They were discussing territory. Who
controlled what, who paid tribute to
whom, the usual business of organized
crime, and then Schultz brought up
Harlem, the numbers racket, millions of
dollars flowing through black hands in a
neighborhood 100 blocks north. He was
laughing as he said it. Actually
laughing. Like the idea of black people
controlling anything worth taking was
the funniest joke he'd heard all week.
They're running penny anti-operations,
he said, waving his hand dismissively.
Street level hustlers who don't know the
first thing about real organization. I'm
taking it. All of it. And there's not a
damn thing they can do about it. The
other men nodded, some of them smiling,
because everyone knew the hierarchy
Italians at the top. Jews right below
them. Irish getting squeezed out but
still dangerous. And black criminals.
They weren't even in the conversation.
They were allowed to run numbers in
their own neighborhoods. Small-time
gambling operations that the real mob
didn't care about. Kids playing gangster
while the adults ran the real rackets.
That was the understanding. That was the
natural order. That was how it had
always been. Schultz stubbed out his
cigar. I'll have it locked down in 6
months, he said. They'll fold. They
always do. But what Dutch Schultz didn't
know, what none of them understood was
that at that exact moment, 100 blocks
north in Harlem, a woman named Stephanie
St. Clair was counting the day's
receipts from her numbers operation. And
the number she wrote in her ledger
wasn't hundreds of dollars. It was $15,000.
$15,000.
from one day from one of 40 different
numbers banks she controlled across
Harlem. She was sitting in an apartment
that would make those mobsters social
clubs look shabby. Fur coats in the
closet, diamond rings on her fingers, a
loaded pistol in her desk drawer, and a
reputation that made grown men nervous.
They called her Queenie. They called her
Madame St. Clair. And they called her
when they had problems that required
someone who didn't scare easy. She'd
built an empire, a real one, with
accounting ledgers and employee
hierarchies and weekly payouts that
dwarfed what most legitimate businesses
in Harlem were making. She employed
hundreds of people, fed thousands of
families, owned property, bought
politicians, and she'd done it all
without asking permission from a single
white gangster because she didn't think
she needed permission to be great.
That same night, a man named Casper
Holstein was having dinner with Langston
Hughes, actually having dinner at a nice
restaurant, discussing poetry and
politics and the future of black culture
in America.
Holstein had paid for the publication of
Hughes's first book of poetry. He'd
funded the Harlem Renaissance Cultural
Awards. He'd bought buildings so black
families could own property. He'd
donated to the NAACP.
And he'd done it all with money from the
numbers racket. Illegal gambling profits
funding legal black excellence. And
nobody in that steakhouse downtown had
any idea it was happening. They thought
Harlem was a slum full of street
criminals. They had no concept that an
entire parallel economy was functioning,
thriving, building wealth and culture
and power without their permission or oversight.
oversight.
And in a pool hall on 142nd Street, a
young man named Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson
was playing eightball and planning
violence. He was 30 years old. He'd
already done time in Singh. Already
built a reputation as someone you didn't
cross unless you were suicidal. He
worked for Stephanie St. Clair as
muscle, as an enforcer, as the man you
sent when talking was over and action
was required. And he was smart. Street
smart. chess smart. The kind of
intelligence that doesn't come from
books, but from surviving when survival
requires you to think three moves ahead
or die. He knew Dutch Schultz was
coming. Everyone knew. The whispers had
been circulating for months. The white
mob wanted Harlem. And Bumpy Johnson was
already planning what he'd do when they
arrived. Not if, when. Because men like
Schultz always came. Always thought they
could take what they wanted. always
underestimated the people they were
taking it from. That's the moment we're
stepping into. 1935,
the edge of a war that would reshape
organized crime in America. A war
between the most powerful white
gangsters in New York and black
criminals they didn't even consider
worth worrying about. A war that would
end with bodies in the streets, empires
rising and falling, and a complete
restructuring of who held power in the
American underworld. Because what the
mob didn't understand, what they
couldn't possibly grasp, was that Harlem
wasn't a territory to be conquered. It
was a nation with its own economy, its
own rules, its own kings and queens. And
you don't just walk into a nation and
declare yourself emperor without
consequences. They said black gangsters
were small time street level hustlers
who'd never understand real organized
crime. They said Harlem was easy
pickings, that the colored criminals
would fold the moment real gangsters
showed up. They said a black woman
running numbers was cute, that a black
banker was playing dress up. That black
enforcers were just muscle without
brains. They said all of this with
complete confidence because the system
had taught them that black people
couldn't build anything lasting,
couldn't organize anything complex,
couldn't fight back against real power.
The entire structure of American society
reinforced this belief. Every
institution confirmed it. So why would
organized crime be any different? But
they were about to learn something that
would cost some of them their lives.
That Harlem had already built an empire.
that a queen, a banker, and a street
legend were already sitting at their own
table, and they had no intention of
giving up their seats. This is the story
of how Harlem's gangsters forced the mob
to recognize black power. Not by asking,
not by begging, not by waiting for
permission, but by building something so
undeniable, so powerful, so profitable
that even the most racist mobsters had
to acknowledge it. This is the story of
the underground economy that funded the
Harlem Renaissance. The criminals who
protected black culture. The outlaws who
proved that excellence has no color even
in the underworld. This is the story of
Stephanie Stlair who went to war with
the mob and refused to surrender. Of
Casper Holstein, who turned illegal
profits into black institutional power.
of Bumpy Johnson, who became the first
black gangster to sit as an equal with
the Italian mafia. This is the story
they don't teach in history class. The
complex, violent, brilliant, ruthless
story of how Harlem built its own empire
and forced America to recognize it. By
the time this story is over, the mob's
hierarchy would be shattered. the rules
would be rewritten and the men who sat
in that steakhouse laughing at the idea
of black gangsters would be dead in
prison or bowing to the very people they
dismissed. But to understand how this
happened, how a community dismissed as
inferior built an empire that rivaled
anything the Italian or Jewish mobs
created, you need to go back back before
the war. Back before the empire, back to
the moment when Harlem became Harlem,
back to the great migration, back to
prohibition, back to the birth of the
Harlem Renaissance, back to when
everything changed and nothing would
ever be the same.
The South was a trap, not a metaphor. An
actual trap designed to keep black
Americans in a permanent state of
controlled poverty that looked different
from slavery, but functioned almost identically.
identically.
Sharecropping kept families in perpetual
debt. Jim Crow laws kept them
politically powerless. Lynch mobs kept
them terrified. The entire system was
architected to ensure that the children
of former slaves remained as close to
enslaved as legally possible. Economic
mobility didn't exist. Political
representation was a joke. Physical
safety was conditional on staying
invisible, staying quiet, staying in
your place. And that place was the
bottom. Always the bottom. This was the
South. This was home. This was hell. But
then something remarkable happened.
Something that would reshape American
history. Black people started leaving.
Not a few families here and there, not a
trickle, a flood, an exodus, what
historians would later call the great
migration, the movement of 6 million
African-Ameans from the rural south to
the urban north between 1916 and 1976
million people saying no. No to
sharecropping. No to Jim Crow. No to
lynch mobs. No to a system designed to
break them. They packed their lives into
cardboard suitcases and wooden trunks.
They boarded segregated trains heading
north to Chicago, to Detroit, to
Philadelphia, to Cleveland, and to New
York City, to Harlem. They came for jobs
in factories that didn't care about skin
color as much as they cared about
production quotas. They came for schools
that might actually educate their
children. They came for the possibility,
however slim, of building something
better than what the South allowed. They
came because staying meant accepting a
future already written, a destiny
already determined, a life already lost.
Harlem became the capital of this new
black America. Not the largest black
community, Chicago held that title, but
the most symbolic, the most culturally
significant, the place where black
excellence would be most visible.
By 1920, Harlem had transformed from a
white middle-class neighborhood into the
largest black urban community in America.
America.
Apartment buildings that had housed
white families now housed black families
from Georgia, from Alabama, from
Mississippi, from the Carolinas.
The streets filled with southern accents
and northern dreams. Brownstones packed
with people who'd never lived in a
building with electricity before, with
running water, with heat, with hope. The
population density was crushing.
Multiple families sharing apartments
designed for one. But it was theirs.
Blackowned businesses started appearing.
Black churches, black newspapers, black
culture exploding in every direction.
And underneath all of it, hidden from
the official histories, but absolutely
essential to understanding what
happened, an underground economy was
forming. Because here's what nobody
talks about when they romanticize the
great migration. These families arrived
in New York with nothing. Less than
nothing debt from the south chasing
them. No jobs waiting, no safety net.
The legitimate economy was largely
closed to them. Bank loans denied. Union
jobs. Whites only professional careers.
Don't be ridiculous. Most black men who
could find work ended up as porters,
janitors, laborers. Black women as
domestic servants, cleaning white
people's homes for pennies. The American
dream was available, just not to them.
So they built their own economy, an
underground version, parallel to the
legitimate one, but operating by
different rules. And the foundation of
this underground economy was numbers.
the numbers racket. The policy game,
illegal gambling that would become the
economic engine of Harlem. Here's how it
worked. People bet small amounts,
sometimes just pennies, on a three-digit
number. If your number hit, you won. The
odds were terrible, roughly 600 to1
against you. But the payout was good,
often 500 or 600 to1. And critically,
you could play for pennies. A nickel bet
could win you $25. A quarter could win
you $125.
For people making $10 a week, that kind
of win was transformative. Could pay
rent, buy food, get your kids shoes,
survive another month. So people played,
everybody played. Numbers runners would
come through tenement buildings every
morning collecting bets, paying out
winners. The entire community
participated and someone had to run this
operation. Someone had to collect the
bets, calculate the payouts, hold the
money, manage the runners. Someone had
to build an organization.
In most American cities, white gangsters
controlled the numbers racket in black
neighborhoods. They hired black
frontmen, black runners, but the real
money flowed to white criminals who
owned the operation. But Harlem was
different. Because Harlem had Casper
Holstein. Holstein arrived in Harlem
from the Virgin Islands in 1913. He was
23 years old. He worked as a porter,
then a dorman, saving every dollar. He
was educated, sophisticated, spoke
multiple languages, and he was
ambitious, not just for himself, for
black people generally. He believed in
Marcus Garvey's vision of black economic
independence. He believed in Web Dubo's
concept of the talented 10th. He
believed that black people needed their
own institutions, their own businesses,
their own economic power base, and he
saw the numbers racket as seed capital
as the way to fund everything else. So
in 1920, he started his own numbers
bank. He called it Bolito, a Caribbean
name that connected to his Virgin
Islands roots. And he ran it honestly.
Well, as honestly as an illegal gambling
operation could be run. He paid winners
immediately. He kept meticulous records.
He didn't cheat. Word spread. Holstein's
game was square. You could trust him. By
1925, Casper Holstein was the biggest
numbers banker in Harlem. They called
him the Bledo king. He was making half a
million a year. In 1920s, money. That's
roughly $8 million a year in today's
currency from illegal gambling. And
here's what made Holstein different from
every other gangster in America. Black
or white, he gave it away. Not all of
it. He wasn't stupid. He lived well.
Nice apartment, nice clothes, nice life.
But he poured enormous amounts of money
into Harlem's legitimate institutions.
He bought buildings and rented them to
black families at fair rates. He funded
black newspapers. He created the
Holstein Awards for Black Writers and
Artists. He personally financed the
publication of Langston Hughes's first
poetry collection. He donated to the NAACP.
NAACP.
He paid for kids to go to college. He
attended intellectual salons with poets
and writers and activists. He was part
of the Harlem Renaissance, not as an
artist, but as a patron, as a
financeier, as the man whose illegal
money kept legal black culture alive.
And this created something unprecedented
in American history. A gangster who was
also a pillar of the community. A
criminal who was also a philanthropist.
An outlaw who was also respected by
intellectuals. The legitimate and
illegitimate worlds overlapping in ways
that would have been impossible in white
society but made perfect sense in
Harlem. Because in Harlem, survival
required creativity, required using
every resource available, required not
caring too much about where the money
came from as long as it helped the
community. Holstein proved that the
numbers racket could be more than
exploitation, could be economic
development, could be black capitalism
in its rawest, most functional form. And
he wasn't alone. By the mid 1920s,
Harlem had over 30 different numbers
bankers, some small time, some
substantial. And one of them was about
to become a legend. Her name was
Stephanie St. Clair, and she gave
absolutely zero damn about what anyone
thought she should or shouldn't do.
Stephanie St. Clair was born in
Martineique around 1897. The exact date
is unclear because recordkeeping in the
French Caribbean wasn't precise for
black families.
What is clear is that she came from
nothing. Poverty that made American
poverty look generous. She immigrated to
the United States in 1912. Arriving in
New York at age 15 with $10 and a
willingness to do whatever it took to
survive. She found work as a domestic
servant, cleaning white people's houses,
washing their clothes, raising their
children while her own dreams stayed
locked in a box she couldn't open. The
work was brutal. The pay was insulting.
The treatment was degrading. White women
spoke to her like she was property, like
she was stupid, like she should be
grateful for the opportunity to scrub
their floors. And Stephanie St. Clair
learned something essential during those
years. She learned to hate, not a hot
rage that burns itself out. A cold,
calculated hatred. The kind that waits.
The kind that plans. The kind that
remembers every slight, every insult,
every moment of being treated as less
than human, and the kind that swears revenge.
revenge.
By 1923, she was done with legitimate
work, done with bosses, done with being
anyone's servant. She'd saved a small
amount of money. And she'd been
watching, watching how the numbers
racket worked, watching how the runners
collected bets, watching how the bankers
operated, watching how money flowed
through Harlem and rivers that never
reached the people generating it. She
saw an opportunity, more than an
opportunity, a weapon, a way to take
control of her own life and maybe, just
maybe, help other people take control of theirs.
theirs.
She started small, one numbers bank, a
handful of runners, operating out of a
tenement apartment. She was a woman in a
maledominated criminal world. She was an
immigrant in a community suspicious of
outsiders. She was going up against
established bankers who didn't
appreciate new competition. None of it
mattered because Stephanie St. Clair had
something most gangsters, regardless of
color or gender, never developed.
discipline, absolute terrifying
discipline. She kept records like she
was running General Motors, ledgers for
every transaction, names of every
runner, amounts collected daily, payouts
tracked to the penny. She didn't drink,
didn't smoke, didn't party. While other
gangsters were spending money on Flash
and Status, she was reinvesting in her
operation, hiring more runners, opening
more banks, building an infrastructure
that could scale, and she was ruthless
about honesty. She paid winners
immediately, every time. No exceptions.
In an industry where cheating customers
was standard practice, St. Clare ran a
square game. You hit your number, you
got paid. No arguments, no delays, no
excuses. This wasn't charity. It was
strategy. Because when people trust you,
they come back. They tell their friends,
"Your operation grows." And in the
numbers racket, growth meant power. By 1926,
1926,
3 years after starting, Stephanie St.
Clair controlled multiple numbers banks
across Harlem. She employed over 40
runners. She was clearing thousands of
dollars a week and people noticed. The
men who dismissed her as a woman playing
gangster were watching their operations
shrink while hers expanded. The
established bankers who thought she'd
fold under pressure were realizing she
didn't know how to fold. But more
importantly, the community noticed
because St. Clare wasn't like other
bankers. She fought back against the
real enemy,
the NYPD. The corrupt cops who shook
down numbers operators for protection
money. Who arrested runners, seized
cash, and kept it for themselves. Who
beat black suspects and planted evidence
and lied in court. The cops who made
Harlem's life hell. Most numbers bankers
paid the cops. It was the cost of doing
business. You handed over a percentage
and they left you alone. St. Clair
refused. When corrupt cops came
demanding payoffs, she threatened to
expose them. And she meant it. She took
out advertisements in black newspapers
listing the names of dirty cops
publishing their badge numbers,
describing their shakedown operations,
making them famous in the worst possible
way. This was insane. This was suicidal.
This was a black woman, a criminal,
publicly attacking the New York City
Police Department. Every criminal in
Harlem told her to stop. Every adviser
she had begged her to pay the cops and
move on.
She didn't listen because Stephanie St.
Clair had decided something early in her
life. She'd rather die than bow to
anyone for any reason. The cops tried to
destroy her, arrested her repeatedly,
raided her operations, seized her money,
threw her in jail. She kept coming back,
kept reopening, kept publishing their
names, kept fighting, and something
remarkable happened. The community
rallied around her. Harlem residents
started seeing her not as a criminal,
but as a warrior, as someone fighting
the real oppressors. The cops might have
badges, but they were the ones stealing
from Harlem families. St. Clare might
run an illegal gambling operation, but
she paid her debts and employed her
neighbors and stood up to the people
everyone else feared. By the late 1920s,
Stephanie St. Clare was more than a
numbers banker. She was a folk hero.
People called her Queenie, Madame St.
Clare, the woman who wouldn't bow, the
woman who fought cops and won, the woman
who proved that black people didn't have
to accept being victims. And she was
about to need every ounce of that
fighting spirit. Because while she was
building her empire and battling corrupt
cops, a much more dangerous enemy was
watching a white gangster named Dutch
Schultz. A man so violent, so
unpredictable, so vicious that even
other mobsters thought he was psychotic.
And he decided he wanted Harlem. Wanted
the numbers racket. Wanted everything
St. Clare and Holstein and the other
black bankers had built. and he assumed,
like everyone else, that black criminals
would fold the moment real gangsters
showed up. He was about to learn
otherwise, and it would cost him
everything. By 1930, Stephanie St. Clair
wasn't just running a numbers operation.
She was running the most sophisticated
criminal enterprise in Harlem 42,
numbers banks across the neighborhood.
Each one functioning like a franchise
with its own staff, its own territory,
its own daily take. She employed over
100 people directly, hundreds more
indirectly, runners who collected bets,
writers who recorded numbers,
controllers who managed the banks,
enforcers who protected the operation,
an entire economy built on three-digit
numbers, and the desperate hope of poor
people trying to catch a break. The
money was staggering. On an average day,
St. Claire's operation collected between
$5,000 and $15,000 in bets, some days
more. The payout to winners was roughly
40% of the take operating costs, runner
salaries, bank expenses, another 30%.
Which left her with approximately 30%
profit. Do the math. Even on a
conservative day, she was clearing
$1,500 to $4,500
in pure profit daily. That's $45,000 to $135,000
$135,000
a month in 1930 money. When the average
American worker was making $1,500 a
year, Stephanie St. Clair was making
that in a single day, a black woman, an
immigrant, someone the system had
declared worthless. She was pulling in
more cash than most legitimate
businesses in New York City. And she
flaunted it, not stupidly,
strategically. She wore fur coats that
cost more than most people's annual salary.
salary.
Diamond rings, silk dresses. She lived
in a beautiful apartment filled with
expensive furniture. She drove nice
cars, ate at good restaurants, lived
openly, visibly, unapologetically
wealthy. This wasn't ego. Well, it
wasn't just ego. It was messaging. It
was showing every black person in Harlem
that wealth was possible. That a black
woman could be rich, could be powerful,
could tell white people no and survive,
could build an empire without asking permission.
permission.
The fur coats were propaganda. The
diamonds were revolution.
Every time Stephanie St. Clare walked
down Lennox Avenue looking like money.
She was proving something that American
society insisted was impossible. But
here's what made her different from
every other gangster getting rich off
Harlem. She gave back. Not like
Holstein, who was funding high culture
and intellectual movements, St. Clare
gave back to the streets, to the people
playing her numbers. She employed Harlem
residents exclusively. Wouldn't hire
anyone from outside the community. If
you worked for Madame St. Claire, you
lived in Harlem. You were black. You
were family. She paid her people well.
Better than other banks. Her runners
made more than runners working for other
operations. Her controllers got bonuses.
Loyalty was rewarded with money, not
just words. When Harlem families
couldn't pay rent, she helped quietly.
Didn't advertise it. But people knew. If
you were in trouble, if you'd been
playing her numbers and treating her
people right, Madame St. Clair might pay
your rent, might buy your kid shoes,
might keep you from being evicted. This
wasn't charity. It was community
building. It was creating a network of
people who were invested in her success
because her success meant their
survival. And she protected the
community from the real predators. The
corrupt cops were the obvious target.
She never stopped fighting them, never
stopped publishing their names, never
stopped making them pay a price for
shaking down Harlem. But there were
other predators, too. White gangsters
from downtown who'd come up town looking
for easy marks. Small-time hustlers
who'd rob people on payday. Stickup men
who thought Harlem was soft. St. Clare
had enforcers. Not many. She wasn't
running an army, but enough. And they
had a reputation. You rob someone in St.
Claire's territory. You answer to her
people. And her people didn't play. They
didn't kill unnecessarily. That was bad
for business. But they hurt people. Made
examples. Sent messages. Harlem
residents knew that Madam St. Clair's
numbers banks were safe. You could play
without fear. Could walk to the numbers
spot with cash in your pocket and not
worry about getting robbed.
Because St. Clair's people were
watching. This created loyalty that
money couldn't buy. The community
protected her because she protected
them. When the cops raided her
operations, neighbors would warn her,
would hide her records, would lie to
investigators, would refuse to testify.
Harlem became her fortress, not because
she built walls, but because she built trust.
trust.
By 1931, Stephanie St. Clare was the
second largest numbers banker in Harlem,
right behind Casper Holstein. And unlike
Holstein, who was declining after his
1926 kidnapping, St. Clair was
ascending, expanding, getting stronger.
She'd proven that a woman could run a
criminal empire, that a black person
could build institutional power without
white oversight, that the underworld
didn't have to be exploitative, could
be, in its own twisted way communityoriented.
communityoriented.
She'd become a symbol not of
criminality, but of black independence,
of refusing to accept the limitations
society imposed, of building power where
power wasn't supposed to exist. But
symbols attract attention, and power
attracts predators. The Italian and
Jewish mobs downtown had been watching
Harlem's numbers racket for years,
watching the money flow, calculating the
profits, seeing an opportunity. For a
long time, they'd left it alone. Harlem
was black territory. The numbers game
was small time in their eyes. They had
bigger concerns. Bootlegging during
prohibition, union rackets, legitimate
businesses they controlled. Why bother
with penny anti-gambling in a black neighborhood?
neighborhood?
But prohibition ended in 1933. The
enormous profits from bootlegging
disappeared overnight. The mob needed
new revenue streams. And suddenly
Harlem's numbers racket didn't look
small time anymore. It looked like
millions of dollars flowing through
black hands money that could be flowing
through white hands. Money that should
be flowing through white hands because
that was the natural order. White
gangsters on top. Everyone else paying
tribute. Dutch Schultz was the first to
move. Arthur Flegenheimr his real name.
But everyone called him Dutch Schultz or
just the Dutchman. He was 33 years old
in 1931 Jewish. Born in the Bronx, he'd
built an empire during Prohibition,
running beer and bootleg liquor across
New York. He was worth millions. He was
feared by everyone who knew him because
Dutch Schultz was genuinely crazy. Not
metaphorically. Clinically, the man had
no impulse control, no sense of
proportion, no understanding of when
violence was counterproductive. He'd
murder people for minor insults. He once
beat a man to death with a baseball bat
in a restaurant full of witnesses
because the man had looked at him wrong.
His own associates were terrified of
him. Lucky Luciano, who'd killed dozens
of people without blinking, thought
Schultz was dangerously unbalanced.
That's who was looking at Harlem. That's
who decided he wanted the numbers
racket. A psychopath with unlimited
resources and no conscience.
Schultz started hearing about Harlem's
numbers from his own associates, from
cops on his payroll, from other mobsters
who'd done the math. The numbers racket
in Harlem was generating an estimated
$100 million a year in total bets. Even
after payouts and expenses, the profits
were in the tens of millions. and it was
being run by black operators who in
Schultz's mind had no right to control
anything that valuable. He said it out
loud multiple times to multiple people.
Used racial slurs that were common for
the time but are unacceptable now. Made
it clear he viewed black people as
inferior, as temporary custodians of
money that rightfully belonged to white
criminals as obstacles to be removed. He
started planning his takeover in late 1931.
1931.
Sent people to Harlem to scout the
operations, to identify the major banks,
to map the territory, to find the
pressure points, and the reports came
back clear. The biggest operators were
Casper Holstein, who was fading, and
Stephanie Stlair, who was rising.
Schultz made his decision. He'd take
them all. Every numbers bank in Harlem.
He'd force the operators to sell to him
or he'd destroy them. And he assumed,
like everyone else, that they'd sell.
Because who fights Dutch Schultz? Who
goes to war with a connected white
gangster backed by the entire Italian
and Jewish mob infrastructure? What
choice did they have? In early 1932,
Schultz's men started showing up in
Harlem. Not subtly. They wanted to be
seen, wanted to send a message.
Well-dressed white men walking into
numbers banks asking to speak to the
owner. The message was simple and
consistent. Mr. Schulz is taking over
the numbers in Harlem. You can sell your
operation for a fair price or we'll take
it for nothing. Your choice. Most of the
smaller operators sold immediately took
whatever Schultz offered and got out.
They weren't fighters. They were
businessmen. And fighting Dutch Schultz
was suicide. Within months, Schultz had
absorbed over a dozen small numbers
banks, was installing his own people to
run them, was collecting the profits,
was proving his theory that Harlem would
fold without a fight. But two people
didn't sell. Casper Holstein and
Stephanie St. Clair. Holstein, despite
his declining health and increasing
paranoia after the 1926 kidnapping,
refused on principle he'd built the
Harlem numbers racket, had poured his
life into it, had used the profits to
uplift the community, and he wouldn't
hand it over to a white gangster who'd
never done anything for Harlem except
exploit it. His refusal was quiet,
dignified. He simply said no and
increased his security. St. Clare's
refusal was different. It was loud. It
was public. It was defiant in a way that
made even her allies nervous. When
Schultz's men came to her apartment to
make the offer, she pulled out a pistol
and pointed it at them, told them to get
out, told them to tell Schultz that
Stephanie St. Clair didn't work for
anyone, didn't bow to anyone, and if he
wanted her operation, he could try to
take it, but it would cost him. The men
left, shocked. They reported back to
Schultz and Schultz predictably lost his
mind. Started screaming, started
smashing furniture, started ranting
about disrespectful n-words who didn't
know their place. How dare a black woman
point a gun at his people? How dare she
say no? How dare she act like she had
any power in this situation? He gave the
order. Destroy her. Not just take her
operation. Destroy her personally. Make
an example. Show all of Harlem what
happens when you defy Dutch Schultz. And
that's when the war started. The war
that would reshape organized crime in
New York. The war that would prove black
gangsters weren't just playing at crime.
They were the real thing. As dangerous
as anyone, as committed as anyone, as
willing to die as anyone.
Stephanie St. Clair had spent a decade
building her empire. She'd fought cops.
She'd fought competitors. She'd fought
poverty and racism and every limitation
society placed on black women. And now
she was about to fight the most
dangerous white gangster in America.
Most people thought she'd last a month,
maybe two. They had no idea who they
were dealing with because Stephanie St.
Clair had been preparing for this fight
her entire life and she had absolutely
no intention of losing. Dutch Schultz
didn't do subtle takeovers. He didn't
negotiate. He didn't play political
games. He did violence. Overwhelming,
theatrical, terrifying violence designed
to break your will before it broke your
body. That was his signature. That was
his brand. And in March 1932, he
unleashed it on Stephanie St. Clair's
operation. It started with her runners,
the people who collected bets every
morning, walking through tenement
buildings with notebooks and cash. They
were unarmed. They were civilians.
Really, just Harlem residents making a
living. Schultz's men found them,
followed them, waited until they'd
collected the day's bets when they were
carrying the most cash, then robbed
them, beat them, sometimes killed them.
Not because they resisted. As a message,
three of St. Clare's runners were
murdered in the first two weeks. Just
shot in the street and left there. The
money taken, the notebooks destroyed,
the message clear. Then came the bombs.
Actual bombs. Schultz had people who
specialized in this. Dynamite and
numbers banks. Small explosives that
wouldn't kill everyone in a building,
but would destroy the location,
terrorize the neighborhood, make it
clear that playing St. Clair's numbers
meant risking your life. Four of her
banks were bombed in a month. buildings
damaged, people injured, one woman
killed when she happened to be walking
past when the bomb went off. The NYPD
barely investigated.
Some of the cops were on Schultz's
payroll. The rest didn't care about
black gambling operations, or black
lives for that matter. Harlem was on its
own. St. Clare's other banks started
closing. The people running them were
terrified. They wanted out. She couldn't
blame them. couldn't guarantee their
safety. Couldn't promise that Schultz
wouldn't kill them and their families.
So they folded, sold to Schultz, went to
work for him, betrayed her because
survival mattered more than loyalty.
Within 3 months, St. Clare had lost more
than half her operation. 25 banks
reduced to 10, her income cut by more
than 60%. Her empire crumbling. And
everyone, every single person in
Harlem's underworld told her the same
thing. Sell. Take whatever Schultz is
offering. Get out alive. You fought. You
lost. It's over. Live to fight another
day. Even Casper Holstein, who'd also
refused to sell, was wavering. Was
considering his options, was thinking
about his safety. St. Clare was
isolated, facing the most powerful white
gangster in New York, watching her
people die, watching her empire collapse.
collapse.
Any reasonable person would have
surrendered. But Stephanie St. Clair had
never been reasonable. She'd been called
crazy her entire life for fighting the
cops, for refusing to bow, for thinking
a black woman could build and keep an
empire in a world designed to prevent
exactly that. And if this was crazy, if
refusing to surrender to a racist
psychopath was insanity, then she'd be
crazy until the day she died. But she
wasn't stupid. She knew she couldn't
fight Schultz alone. Couldn't protect
her remaining banks with just her small
enforcement crew. Couldn't match his
resources, his manpower, his
connections. She needed help. She needed
someone who understood violence at
Schultz's level. Someone who wouldn't
fold under pressure.
someone as committed to fighting as she
was. She needed Bumpy Johnson. Ellsworth
Raymond Johnson, 27 years old, already a
legend in Harlem, though most of the
world had never heard his name. He'd
grown up in South Carolina, moved to
Harlem in 1919 as a teenager, got into
street crime immediately, robbing,
fighting, surviving. By 15, he was in
singing prison for armed robbery. did 10
years, hard years, learned how to fight
in prison, how to lead, how to command
respect through controlled violence. He
got out in 1930 and came back to Harlem
different harder, smarter, more
dangerous. He was small, 5'9", maybe 140
lb. Didn't look intimidating, but he
moved like violence, like every gesture
was a potential attack. He had a bump on
the back of his head from a childhood
injury, which is where the nickname came
from. Bumpy. But the nickname was
deceptive. Made him sound harmless. He
was anything but. Bumpy Johnson had a
reputation. By 1932,
he'd killed people. Nobody knew exactly
how many. Bumpy didn't brag, but the
word was out. You crossed him. You
disappeared. You disrespected him. You
got hurt. You tried to move in on his
territory. You ended up in the hospital
or the morg. And critically, Bumpy was
strategic. He didn't kill randomly.
Didn't use violence for ego. Used it as
a tool, calculated, precise, effective.
St. Clare had hired him as muscle in
1931 before the war with Schultz. He'd
been working for her for a year,
protecting her banks, handling problems,
proving himself. And she'd noticed
something about him. He was smart. Not
just street smart, genuinely
intelligent. He could read people, could
think three moves ahead, could plan
operations that actually worked. He was
wasted as just an enforcer. He could be
a general. She called him to her
apartment in April 1932, laid out the
situation. Schultz was coming for her,
had already destroyed half her
operation, would destroy the rest unless
she fought back. But fighting back meant
war. real war, not street fights, not
isolated incidents, organized violence
against the most dangerous white
gangster in New York. Schultz had dozens
of men, had political connections, had
the Italian mob backing him, had
unlimited resources. Fighting him was
probably suicidal, definitely dangerous,
almost certainly futile. She asked Bumpy
if he'd lead her soldiers, if he'd go to
war against Dutch Schultz, knowing what
it meant, knowing the odds, knowing he'd
probably die. Bumpy Johnson listened,
didn't interrupt, didn't ask questions,
just listened. When she finished, he was
quiet for a moment, then he said
something that would become legendary in
Harlem, would be repeated for decades,
would define his entire approach to life
and crime and power. I'd rather die
standing than live on my knees.
That was his answer. That was his
commitment. He'd fight. Not because he
thought they'd win, because he refused
to bow. St. Clare gave him control of
her remaining enforcement crew, about 15
men, all Harlem residents, all black,
all willing to die rather than surrender
their neighborhood to white gangsters.
Bumpy studied Schultz's operation, how
his men moved through Harlem, where they
went, when they were vulnerable, what
they cared about, and he planned.
Because Bumpy understood something that
most people didn't. Dutch Schultz had
advantages. Money, manpower,
connections. But Bumpy had one advantage
Schultz couldn't match Harlem itself.
The community, the streets, the people
who lived there. This was Bumpy's home.
He knew every alley, every building,
every person he could move through
Harlem invisible. Could get intelligence
from residents who hated the white
gangsters taking over their neighborhood
could strike and disappear before
Schultz's men even knew what happened.
Guerilla warfare. That was the strategy.
Not meeting Schultz headon, he'd win
that fight. But hitting and running,
destroying his operations, making Harlem
so expensive to control that it wasn't
worth it. The counterattack started in
May 1932.
Schultz had taken over several of St.
Clair's former banks, installed his own
people to run them. White managers,
white collectors, and Harlem residents
hated it. Hated playing numbers with
white men who treated them like garbage,
who shorted payouts, who disrespected
them, who called them slurs while taking
their money. Bumpy used that anger.
started with small hits. Schultz's
runners getting robbed, his collectors
getting beaten, his money getting
stolen. Nothing huge, just constant
pressure, a death by a thousand cuts.
Then he escalated. One of Schultz's
numbers banks was in a building on 145th
Street. The manager was a white guy
named Eddie, who'd been particularly
brutal to Harlem residents. Bumpy's crew
waited until closing until Eddie was
alone counting the day's take. They
walked in, shot him, took all the money,
burned the records, disappeared into
Harlem before Schultz's people even knew
it happened. Schultz went ballistic,
started hunting for the shooters,
offering rewards, threatening Harlem
residents, demanding information.
Nobody talked because Harlem residents
weren't protecting Bumpy out of fear.
They were protecting him because he was
protecting them. Because he was fighting
their enemy, because he represented
resistance. Schultz couldn't understand
it. Couldn't grasp why people would risk
his wrath to protect a criminal. Didn't
understand that to Harlem residents,
Bumpy wasn't the criminal Schultz was.
The war intensified. Schultz sent more
men to Harlem. Bumpy killed them.
Schultz bombed more of St. Clare's
banks. Bumpy destroyed Schultz's
operations downtown.
Schultz tried to have Bumpy arrested.
The cops couldn't find him. He moved
through Harlem like a ghost. Sleeping in
different apartments every night,
protected by a community that viewed him
as a hero. The white mob watched
increasingly alarmed. This wasn't
supposed to happen. Black criminals
weren't supposed to fight back. weren't
supposed to be this organized, this
effective, this dangerous. Lucky
Luciano, who was rising to power in the
Italian mob, was particularly
interested. He saw what nobody else saw.
That Bumpy Johnson was actually good at
this. That he wasn't just a street thug.
He was a strategist, a leader, someone
who could organize resistance, someone
who could win. By late 1932, the war had
reached a stalemate. Schultz controlled
about 60% of Harlem's numbers. St. Clare
still held on to maybe 20%. The rest was
divided among smaller operators or had
shut down entirely. But Schultz's
takeover was costing him more than he'd
expected. He was losing men, losing
money, spending more on security and
enforcement than he was making in
profits. And Harlem residents were
boycotting his numbers, playing less,
refusing to cooperate, making his
operation unprofitable.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
He was supposed to walk in, take over,
start collecting. Instead, he was in a
war that had no end in sight. Against a
black woman who wouldn't surrender and a
young enforcer who kept killing his
people, Schultz made a decision. If
violence wasn't working, he'd use the
law. He paid off the cops, paid off
judges, paid off prosecutors, and in
January 1933, Stephanie St. Clare was
arrested on multiple counts, running an
illegal gambling operation, conspiracy,
assault, charges that could send her to
prison for years. The trial was a joke.
The evidence was fabricated. The
witnesses were paid off. The verdict was
predetermined. Guilty on all counts. The
judge sentenced her to 2 to 8 years in
prison to be served immediately. Madame
St. Clare, the Queen of Harlem, was
going to jail. And Dutch Schultz thought
he'd finally won. He didn't know
Stephanie St. Clair very well because
even from prison, even locked in a cell,
even facing years behind bars, she was
still fighting. And she had one more
move to make, one that would change
everything. Bedford Hills Correctional
Facility for Women. February 1933.
Stephanie St. Clare sat in a prison cell
30 mi north of the Harlem Empire she'd
built. The cell was small, cold, gray
walls, a cot, a toilet, nothing else.
This was supposed to break her. Supposed
to teach her humility. Supposed to show
her what happens when you refuse to know
your place. A black woman, an immigrant,
a criminal. Now, where she belonged,
behind bars, powerless. But the people
who thought prison would break Stephanie
St. Claire didn't understand her at all
because she'd been in prison her entire
life. America was a prison for black
people. The South was a prison. Poverty
was a prison. Being a woman was a
prison. And she'd escaped all of them. A
literal prison with bars and guards.
That was just more of the same. And
she'd been planning for this. Before her
arrest, St. Clair had done something no
other gangster had thought to do. She'd
distributed her assets, given
instructions, transferred control.
She knew Schultz would come for her
eventually, knew the system would be
used against her, so she prepared. Her
remaining numbers banks were operating
under trusted lieutenants.
The money was hidden. Her records were
secured. And most importantly, Bumpy
Johnson was still free, still fighting,
still making Schultz's life hell. From
her cell, St. Clare could still give
orders, could still coordinate, could
still run her operation through
intermediaries and coded messages. The
prison guards thought she was isolated.
She was more connected than they could
imagine because Harlem hadn't forgotten
her. Visitors came weekly. People
bringing messages disguised as family
news. Lawyers bringing papers that
contained more than legal documents. A
whole network keeping her informed,
keeping her in the game. and she used
that time to do something strategic,
something that would change the
trajectory of the war. She started
talking to reporters, real reporters
from black newspapers, the Amsterdam
News, the New York Age, the Chicago
Defender, papers that actually covered
Harlem, that cared about black
communities that would print what white
papers ignored. She gave interviews from
prison, told her story, how she'd built
a business, how she'd employed hundreds
of people, how she'd fought corrupt cops
and protected her community, how Dutch
Schultz, a white gangster, was using
violence to steal what black people had
built, how the NYPD was helping him. How
the courts were rigged against her. How
the entire system was designed to keep
black people powerless.
She became a folk hero not despite being
in prison because of it. Every article
painted her as a symbol of resistance. A
woman who refused to surrender, who
fought the system, who chose prison over
bowing to white criminals. The stories
spread, not just in New York.
Nationally, black newspapers across
America picked them up. Stephanie St.
Clair became famous. Not in white
America. They still didn't know she
existed. But in black America, she was
legendary, and this had a practical
effect. Harlem residents completely
turned against Schultz. Whatever
grudging acceptance his takeover had
received evaporated.
People stopped playing his numbers,
started actively sabotaging his
operations, giving bumpy information,
protecting his soldiers, making life
impossible for Schultz's people. The
white gangster who'd thought he could
walk into Harlem and take over was
discovering that occupying a community
that hates you is expensive, bloody,
ultimately feudal. His profits from
Harlem were declining, his costs were
increasing, and his reputation was
suffering because word was getting out
in the underworld.
Dutch Schultz, the feared white
gangster, was struggling to control
Harlem, was losing to a woman in prison
and a young black enforcer, was looking
weak, and in the mob, looking weak was
death. Meanwhile, Bumpy Johnson was
evolving. The war with Schultz had
turned him from an enforcer into a
leader. He was making decisions,
strategic decisions about when to hit
Schultz's operations and when to hold
back, about how to allocate his limited
resources, about building alliances with
other Harlem criminals who also hated
Schultz. He was learning politics, the
kind of criminal politics that
determined who had power and who didn't.
And he was good at it, natural. By 1934,
2 years into the war, Bumpy Johnson was
becoming the face of Harlem's
resistance. St. Clare was in prison.
Holstein was fading. The other bankers
had folded. But Bumpy was still
standing, still fighting, still refusing
to quit.
Young black men in Harlem started
looking at him differently, not just as
a gangster, as a symbol, as proof that
you could fight the system and survive.
that you didn't have to accept what
white people said you could and couldn't
have. That power was possible if you
were willing to pay the price. But the
war was taking a toll. Bumpy had lost
people, friends, soldiers who died
fighting Schultz. The violence was
constant. The danger never ending.
And he was starting to understand
something crucial, something that would
shape his entire approach to organized
crime for the next three decades.
Violence alone doesn't win. You can kill
your enemies, can fight them to a
standstill, can make them bleed, but
unless you can build something
permanent, something institutional,
you're just trading bodies. The real
power isn't in the gun. It's in the
organization, in the relationships, in
the ability to create systems that
survive beyond individual people.
Schultz had power because he was
connected to the Italian mob, had their
backing, their resources, their
political connections. Bumpy was
isolated, fighting alone, and isolation,
no matter how brave, eventually loses to
organization. By 1935, the war had been
going on for 3 years. Schultz controlled
most of Harlem's numbers, but it wasn't
profitable. the constant violence, the
community resistance, the security
costs. He was spending more than he was
making, and he was getting desperate.
Desperate men make mistakes. And in
October 1935, Dutch Schultz made his
final mistake. He wanted to murder
Thomas Dwey, the special prosecutor who
was investigating mob activities. Dwey
was dangerous, was actually prosecuting
gangsters successfully, was threatening
the entire New York mob infrastructure.
Schultz argued that killing Dwey would
solve the problem, would send a message,
would protect everyone. He brought it to
the commission, the ruling body of the
Italian Jewish mob, Lucky Luchiano, Meer
Lansky, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, the
men who actually ran organized crime in
New York. And they told him, "No,
absolutely not. Killing a prosecutor
would bring federal heat they couldn't
survive, would turn them into public
enemies, would destroy everything they'd
built." Schultz didn't care. Couldn't
see beyond his immediate problem. Said
he'd do it anyway, with or without
permission. That sealed his fate because
the one rule you couldn't break in the
mob was defying the commission. You
could kill, you could steal, you could
do almost anything, but you couldn't act independently.
independently.
Couldn't threaten the organization for
personal reasons. Lucky Luciano made the
call. Dutch Schultz had to die. On
October 23rd, 1935, Schultz was in the
Palace Chop House in Newark having a
meeting. Two men walked in, Emanuel
Mendy Weiss, and Charlie the Bug,
Workman Luchiano's shooters. They opened
fire, killed Schultz and his three
bodyguards. The hit was clean,
professional, over in seconds. Dutch
Schultz, the white gangster who'
terrorized Harlem, who'd murdered black
people without conscience, who'd thought
he could take whatever he wanted, was
dead, shot in a bathroom, dying slowly,
painfully. And from Bedford Hills
Prison, Stephanie St. Clair sent a
telegram to Schultz's wife. Just one
sentence, a quote from the Bible. As ye
sow, so shall ye reap. The queen, even
from prison, even defeated, even locked
away, had outlasted her enemy, had
survived. And her message was clear. You
can imprison me. You can take my empire.
You can beat me, but you can't break me.
And I'll be here when you're gone.
That telegram became legendary. Became
proof that Stephanie St. Clare was
different. Was someone who won even when
she lost. Who fought until the end. Who
refused to accept defeat even in the
face of overwhelming odds. It should
have been her moment of triumph. Schultz
dead. Her enemy destroyed. Justice in
its own twisted way served. But there
was a problem. A complication that would
change everything.
Because Lucky Luciano, the man who'd
ordered Schultz killed, wasn't done with
Harlem. He'd eliminated a problem. Dutch
Schultz's chaos, his unpredictability,
his threat to the organization. But
Luchiano still wanted Harlem's numbers,
still saw the profits, still intended to
control it. He was just smarter about it
than Schultz had been, more strategic,
more patient, more willing to work with
black gangsters instead of just trying
to destroy them. and he knew exactly who
to talk to. The man who'd been fighting
Schultz for 3 years. The enforcer who'd
proven himself smart, tough, strategic.
The leader who'd earned Harlem's
loyalty. Bumpy Johnson.
In late 1935, after Schultz was dead and before St. Clare got out of prison.
before St. Clare got out of prison. Lucky Luchiano sent word he wanted a
Lucky Luchiano sent word he wanted a meeting with Bumpy to discuss the future
meeting with Bumpy to discuss the future of Harlem's numbers to discuss
of Harlem's numbers to discuss partnership, not conquest. Partnership.
partnership, not conquest. Partnership. It was the moment everything changed.
It was the moment everything changed. The moment the rules were rewritten. The
The moment the rules were rewritten. The moment a black gangster was offered a
moment a black gangster was offered a seat at the table. Not as an employee,
seat at the table. Not as an employee, as a partner. Bumpy had a choice. He
as a partner. Bumpy had a choice. He could refuse, could keep fighting, could
could refuse, could keep fighting, could try to maintain black independence in
try to maintain black independence in Harlem's underworld, could honor St.
Harlem's underworld, could honor St. Clare's vision of black economic
Clare's vision of black economic control, or he could accept, could work
control, or he could accept, could work with the mob, could become part of the
with the mob, could become part of the system instead of fighting against it,
system instead of fighting against it, could gain power, protection, resources,
could gain power, protection, resources, could ensure his own survival and
could ensure his own survival and prosperity at the cost of the very
prosperity at the cost of the very independence he'd been fighting for. It
independence he'd been fighting for. It was an impossible choice, a compromise
was an impossible choice, a compromise that would haunt him for decades. But it
that would haunt him for decades. But it was also the reality of power in
was also the reality of power in America. You either worked within the
America. You either worked within the system or you were destroyed by it.
system or you were destroyed by it. There was no third option, no pure
There was no third option, no pure resistance, no complete independence,
resistance, no complete independence, just degrees of compromise, degrees of
just degrees of compromise, degrees of surrender, degrees of survival.
surrender, degrees of survival. Bumpy Johnson was about to make the
Bumpy Johnson was about to make the decision that would define his life and
decision that would define his life and reshape organized crime in America. But
reshape organized crime in America. But before we get to that, before we
before we get to that, before we understand what happened next, you need
understand what happened next, you need to understand the man offering the deal.
to understand the man offering the deal. Lucky Luciano, the Italian mobster who'd
Lucky Luciano, the Italian mobster who'd do what Dutch Schultz couldn't, who'd
do what Dutch Schultz couldn't, who'd actually integrate the mob, who'd
actually integrate the mob, who'd actually share power with black
actually share power with black gangsters, not out of kindness, out of
gangsters, not out of kindness, out of cold, calculated self-interest, because
cold, calculated self-interest, because Luchiano understood something
Luchiano understood something fundamental, something that would make
fundamental, something that would make him one of the most powerful gangsters
him one of the most powerful gangsters in American history. That power shared
in American history. That power shared strategically is more valuable than
strategically is more valuable than power hoarded selfishly. that bringing
power hoarded selfishly. that bringing people into the organization is smarter
people into the organization is smarter than trying to destroy them. That the
than trying to destroy them. That the future of organized crime wasn't racial
future of organized crime wasn't racial purity. It was efficiency, profit,
purity. It was efficiency, profit, organization, and that meant working
organization, and that meant working with anyone who could deliver,
with anyone who could deliver, regardless of color. Lucky Luciano was
regardless of color. Lucky Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily in
born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily in 1897.
1897. Came to America as a child, grew up on
Came to America as a child, grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in
the Lower East Side of Manhattan in poverty that would have broken most
poverty that would have broken most people. But Luchiano wasn't most people.
people. But Luchiano wasn't most people. He understood something early that most
He understood something early that most gangsters never figured out. That the
gangsters never figured out. That the old ways were dying. That the future of
old ways were dying. That the future of crime wasn't ethnic gangs fighting each
crime wasn't ethnic gangs fighting each other for scraps. It was organization,
other for scraps. It was organization, cooperation, business principles applied
cooperation, business principles applied to illegal enterprises. He'd watched the
to illegal enterprises. He'd watched the old mustache pets, the traditional
old mustache pets, the traditional Italian mobsters cling to their codes
Italian mobsters cling to their codes and their ethnic loyalties and their
and their ethnic loyalties and their stupid rules about who you could work
stupid rules about who you could work with. only Italians, only Sicilians,
with. only Italians, only Sicilians, only people from your village, only
only people from your village, only family. It was tribal, primitive, and
family. It was tribal, primitive, and inefficient.
inefficient. Luchiano saw the bigger picture. During
Luchiano saw the bigger picture. During Prohibition, he'd worked with everyone,
Prohibition, he'd worked with everyone, Italians, yes, but also Jews. Meer
Italians, yes, but also Jews. Meer Lansky became his closest partner, his
Lansky became his closest partner, his brother in everything but blood. They
brother in everything but blood. They worked with Irish gangsters, with Polish
worked with Irish gangsters, with Polish bootleggers, with anyone who could
bootleggers, with anyone who could deliver. Because Luchiano didn't care
deliver. Because Luchiano didn't care about ethnic purity. He cared about
about ethnic purity. He cared about profit. And profit required
profit. And profit required organization, not tribalism.
organization, not tribalism. In 1931, Luchiano did something
In 1931, Luchiano did something unprecedented in mob history. He
unprecedented in mob history. He orchestrated the murder of the two most
orchestrated the murder of the two most powerful old guard Italian mobsters in
powerful old guard Italian mobsters in New York Joe Maseria and Salvator
New York Joe Maseria and Salvator Marenzano. Both were traditional. Both
Marenzano. Both were traditional. Both refused to work with non-Italians. Both
refused to work with non-Italians. Both were fighting a stupid war over who
were fighting a stupid war over who controlled the Italian mob. Luchiano
controlled the Italian mob. Luchiano killed them. Both ended the war and
killed them. Both ended the war and restructured organized crime in New York
restructured organized crime in New York from the ground up. He created the
from the ground up. He created the commission, a ruling body made up of the
commission, a ruling body made up of the bosses from the five families, the
bosses from the five families, the Genevese family, which Lutano
Genevese family, which Lutano controlled, the Gambino family, the
controlled, the Gambino family, the Lucay family, the Columbbo family, the
Lucay family, the Columbbo family, the Banano family, plus representatives from
Banano family, plus representatives from the Jewish mob and other ethnic groups.
the Jewish mob and other ethnic groups. It was revolutionary, a corporate board
It was revolutionary, a corporate board for organized crime, where decisions
for organized crime, where decisions were made collectively, where disputes
were made collectively, where disputes were arbitrated, where rules were
were arbitrated, where rules were established that everyone followed.
established that everyone followed. where cooperation replaced competition.
where cooperation replaced competition. Luchiano made himself the chairman, the
Luchiano made himself the chairman, the first among equals, the boss of bosses.
first among equals, the boss of bosses. Though he never used that title too
Though he never used that title too arrogant, too likely to make enemies. He
arrogant, too likely to make enemies. He just ran things quietly, efficiently,
just ran things quietly, efficiently, and he made everyone rich. The
and he made everyone rich. The commission controlled everything in New
commission controlled everything in New York unions. Docks, gambling, lone
York unions. Docks, gambling, lone sharking, prostitution. By 1935, they
sharking, prostitution. By 1935, they were generating hundreds of millions of
were generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually. All because Luchiano
dollars annually. All because Luchiano had replaced chaos with order violence
had replaced chaos with order violence with negotiation. Ethnic warfare with
with negotiation. Ethnic warfare with multithnic cooperation. But Harlem had
multithnic cooperation. But Harlem had always been the exception. The
always been the exception. The commission had left it alone during
commission had left it alone during prohibition because they were making too
prohibition because they were making too much money from bootlegging to care
much money from bootlegging to care about numbers. Then Schultz had tried to
about numbers. Then Schultz had tried to take it over and created a disaster.
take it over and created a disaster. lost money, lost men, lost face, and
lost money, lost men, lost face, and ultimately lost his life. Luchiano had
ultimately lost his life. Luchiano had watched the entire thing. Had seen
watched the entire thing. Had seen Schultz underestimate Harlem's
Schultz underestimate Harlem's gangsters. Had seen a black woman and a
gangsters. Had seen a black woman and a young enforcer fight the most dangerous
young enforcer fight the most dangerous white gangster in New York to a
white gangster in New York to a standstill.
standstill. Had seen something that impressed him,
Had seen something that impressed him, not the violence. Violence was common,
not the violence. Violence was common, but the organization, the strategy, the
but the organization, the strategy, the community support, the discipline, Bumpy
community support, the discipline, Bumpy Johnson had held Harlem together against
Johnson had held Harlem together against overwhelming odds, had kept fighting
overwhelming odds, had kept fighting when any rational person would have
when any rational person would have surrendered. Had proven he understood
surrendered. Had proven he understood how power actually works. And Luchiano
how power actually works. And Luchiano recognized talent when he saw it. After
recognized talent when he saw it. After Schultz's death, Luchiano controlled
Schultz's death, Luchiano controlled Harlem's numbers by default. He'd
Harlem's numbers by default. He'd inherited Schultz's operations, but they
inherited Schultz's operations, but they were bleeding money. Harlem residents
were bleeding money. Harlem residents still boycotted, still sabotaged, still
still boycotted, still sabotaged, still refused to cooperate because to them it
refused to cooperate because to them it was still white gangsters stealing from
was still white gangsters stealing from the black community, still occupation,
the black community, still occupation, still exploitation. Luchiano could have
still exploitation. Luchiano could have sent more men, could have used more
sent more men, could have used more violence, could have tried to crush
violence, could have tried to crush resistance the way Schultz had. But
resistance the way Schultz had. But Luchiano was smarter than that. He
Luchiano was smarter than that. He understood that occupying hostile
understood that occupying hostile territory is expensive, that forcing
territory is expensive, that forcing compliance costs more than gaining
compliance costs more than gaining cooperation, that the most profitable
cooperation, that the most profitable criminal operations are the ones where
criminal operations are the ones where the community tolerates you, or better
the community tolerates you, or better yet, supports you. And Harlem would
yet, supports you. And Harlem would never support white gangsters running
never support white gangsters running the numbers, but they might support a
the numbers, but they might support a black gangster, especially one they
black gangster, especially one they already respected, one who'd fought for
already respected, one who'd fought for them, one who was Harlem, Bumpy Johnson.
them, one who was Harlem, Bumpy Johnson. The meeting was arranged through
The meeting was arranged through intermediaries. Luchiano didn't just
intermediaries. Luchiano didn't just call Bumpy to a sit down. Too risky, too
call Bumpy to a sit down. Too risky, too much history. Schultz had been trying to
much history. Schultz had been trying to kill Bumpy for 3 years. The war was too
kill Bumpy for 3 years. The war was too recent. The blood too fresh. So Luchiano
recent. The blood too fresh. So Luchiano sent word through people Bumpy trusted,
sent word through people Bumpy trusted, Harlem people who'd worked with the mob,
Harlem people who'd worked with the mob, people who could vouch that this wasn't
people who could vouch that this wasn't a trap, that Luchiano genuinely wanted
a trap, that Luchiano genuinely wanted to talk, wanted to make a deal. The
to talk, wanted to make a deal. The message was simple. Meet me. No
message was simple. Meet me. No violence, no threats, just conversation
violence, no threats, just conversation about the future, about Harlem, about
about the future, about Harlem, about partnership. Bumpy was skeptical. Why
partnership. Bumpy was skeptical. Why wouldn't he be? Luciano was the most
wouldn't he be? Luciano was the most powerful mobster in New York. Could have
powerful mobster in New York. Could have him killed with a phone call. Could have
him killed with a phone call. Could have Harlem flooded with soldiers. Could take
Harlem flooded with soldiers. Could take whatever he wanted. Why negotiate? What
whatever he wanted. Why negotiate? What did Luchiano need from him that he
did Luchiano need from him that he couldn't just take? But Bumpy was also
couldn't just take? But Bumpy was also curious and practical. The war with
curious and practical. The war with Schultz had proven something Harlem
Schultz had proven something Harlem could resist, could fight, could make
could resist, could fight, could make White takeover expensive, but it
White takeover expensive, but it couldn't win permanently. Couldn't hold
couldn't win permanently. Couldn't hold out forever. Because the mob had
out forever. Because the mob had infinite resources, had political
infinite resources, had political connections, had judges and cops and
connections, had judges and cops and politicians on payroll, had
politicians on payroll, had infrastructure that Harlem's independent
infrastructure that Harlem's independent operators couldn't match. Fighting
operators couldn't match. Fighting forever meant dying eventually. But
forever meant dying eventually. But maybe, just maybe, there was another
maybe, just maybe, there was another option. Maybe the system could be worked
option. Maybe the system could be worked from the inside. Maybe partnership was
from the inside. Maybe partnership was survival. Maybe compromise was victory.
survival. Maybe compromise was victory. So Bumpy agreed to meet in January 1936
So Bumpy agreed to meet in January 1936 in a restaurant in Little Italy. Neutral
in a restaurant in Little Italy. Neutral ground, sort of. It was Luchiano's
ground, sort of. It was Luchiano's territory, but at least it wasn't a
territory, but at least it wasn't a trap. At least it was public. At least
trap. At least it was public. At least Bumpy could walk in knowing he'd
Bumpy could walk in knowing he'd probably walk out. The restaurant was
probably walk out. The restaurant was closed for a private party. Just
closed for a private party. Just Luchiano and a few of his people. Meer
Luchiano and a few of his people. Meer Lansky was there, Frank Costello, the
Lansky was there, Frank Costello, the commission's brain trust, and Bumpy
commission's brain trust, and Bumpy Johnson. 31 years old, walking into a
Johnson. 31 years old, walking into a room with the most powerful gangsters in
room with the most powerful gangsters in America. He came alone, no backup, no
America. He came alone, no backup, no weapons, just himself. Because bringing
weapons, just himself. Because bringing soldiers to this meeting would have been
soldiers to this meeting would have been an insult. Would have suggested he
an insult. Would have suggested he didn't trust Luchiano's word. And in the
didn't trust Luchiano's word. And in the mob, your word was everything.
mob, your word was everything. Luchiano stood when Bumpy entered, shook
Luchiano stood when Bumpy entered, shook his hand, offered him a seat, offered
his hand, offered him a seat, offered him food, wine, treated him like an
him food, wine, treated him like an equal, not like a subordinate, not like
equal, not like a subordinate, not like someone being granted an audience, like
someone being granted an audience, like a peer. It was deliberate, calculated.
a peer. It was deliberate, calculated. Luchiano was sending a message before
Luchiano was sending a message before words were even spoken. You're not here
words were even spoken. You're not here to bow. You're here to negotiate. They
to bow. You're here to negotiate. They ate first, made small talk, discussed
ate first, made small talk, discussed safe topics, the weather, sports,
safe topics, the weather, sports, nothing important. Because in mob
nothing important. Because in mob culture, business comes after comfort.
culture, business comes after comfort. After establishing that you're civilized
After establishing that you're civilized people who can share a meal, after
people who can share a meal, after creating the social framework that makes
creating the social framework that makes negotiation possible, only after the
negotiation possible, only after the plates were cleared did Luchiano get to
plates were cleared did Luchiano get to the point. Dutch was an idiot, Luchiano
the point. Dutch was an idiot, Luchiano said. Simple, direct.
said. Simple, direct. thought he could take Harlem by force.
thought he could take Harlem by force. Didn't understand that you can't occupy
Didn't understand that you can't occupy a community that hates you. Can't make
a community that hates you. Can't make money in a place where everyone's
money in a place where everyone's working against you. Bumpy didn't
working against you. Bumpy didn't respond. Just listened. Waited. He cost
respond. Just listened. Waited. He cost me money, Luchiano continued. Cost me
me money, Luchiano continued. Cost me men. Cost me reputation. And for what?
men. Cost me reputation. And for what? To prove he could beat up a black
To prove he could beat up a black neighborhood to show everyone how tough
neighborhood to show everyone how tough he was? Stupid. Wasteful. Bad business.
he was? Stupid. Wasteful. Bad business. Luciano leaned back, lit a cigarette. I
Luciano leaned back, lit a cigarette. I don't care about race, he said. And
don't care about race, he said. And Bumpy almost laughed. Because of course,
Bumpy almost laughed. Because of course, Luciano cared about race. Everyone cared
Luciano cared about race. Everyone cared about race. It determined everything in
about race. It determined everything in America. But Luchiano qualified it. I
America. But Luchiano qualified it. I don't care about race when it comes to
don't care about race when it comes to business. I care about money. I care
business. I care about money. I care about efficiency. I care about who can
about efficiency. I care about who can deliver. And you, my friend, can
deliver. And you, my friend, can deliver. He laid out the situation.
deliver. He laid out the situation. Harlem's numbers racket was valuable,
Harlem's numbers racket was valuable, potentially worth millions annually, but
potentially worth millions annually, but only if it ran smoothly, only if the
only if it ran smoothly, only if the community participated, only if costs
community participated, only if costs were controlled, only if it was managed
were controlled, only if it was managed by someone Harlem trusted. I can't run
by someone Harlem trusted. I can't run Harlem, Luciano said. My people can't
Harlem, Luciano said. My people can't run Harlem. We're white. Harlem is
run Harlem. We're white. Harlem is black. They hate us. They'll never
black. They hate us. They'll never cooperate. They'll fight us forever, and
cooperate. They'll fight us forever, and fighting forever is expensive. But you,
fighting forever is expensive. But you, Luchiano pointed at Bumpy. You can run
Luchiano pointed at Bumpy. You can run Harlem. You're from Harlem. You fought
Harlem. You're from Harlem. You fought for Harlem. The people respect you.
for Harlem. The people respect you. Trust you. They'll work with you.
Trust you. They'll work with you. They'll play your numbers. They'll make
They'll play your numbers. They'll make us all rich. Bumpy finally spoke. Why
us all rich. Bumpy finally spoke. Why would I work for you? Luciano smiled.
would I work for you? Luciano smiled. You wouldn't. You'd work with me
You wouldn't. You'd work with me partnership, not employment. He laid out
partnership, not employment. He laid out the terms. Bumpy would control Harlem's
the terms. Bumpy would control Harlem's numbers operation. would manage it
numbers operation. would manage it completely, would hire his own people,
completely, would hire his own people, would run it his way. The commission
would run it his way. The commission would provide protection, political
would provide protection, political connections, access to judges and cops,
connections, access to judges and cops, muscle if needed, infrastructure. Bumpy
muscle if needed, infrastructure. Bumpy would pay the commission a percentage,
would pay the commission a percentage, not all the profits, a percentage. The
not all the profits, a percentage. The rest he kept. You'd be rich, Luchiano
rest he kept. You'd be rich, Luchiano said. really rich, protected, connected,
said. really rich, protected, connected, part of the organization, not under us,
part of the organization, not under us, with us. It was an extraordinary offer,
with us. It was an extraordinary offer, unprecedented.
unprecedented. No black gangster had ever been offered
No black gangster had ever been offered partnership with the Italian mob before.
partnership with the Italian mob before. Employment, yes, working for them,
Employment, yes, working for them, running street level operations,
running street level operations, absolutely. But partnership, equal
absolutely. But partnership, equal footing, a seat at the table, never.
footing, a seat at the table, never. Bumpy asked the obvious question,
Bumpy asked the obvious question, "What's the percentage?" Lutiano named a
"What's the percentage?" Lutiano named a number. Bumpy countered. They negotiated
number. Bumpy countered. They negotiated back and forth like businessmen, like
back and forth like businessmen, like equals, and eventually they reached an
equals, and eventually they reached an agreement. Bumpy would control Harlem's
agreement. Bumpy would control Harlem's numbers, would pay 40% to the
numbers, would pay 40% to the commission, keep 60%. would have
commission, keep 60%. would have autonomy in Harlem, would attend certain
autonomy in Harlem, would attend certain commission meetings when Harlem business
commission meetings when Harlem business was discussed, would be for the first
was discussed, would be for the first time in American mob history, a black
time in American mob history, a black gangster with real institutional power.
gangster with real institutional power. But there were conditions, unspoken, but
But there were conditions, unspoken, but understood. Bumpy couldn't go
understood. Bumpy couldn't go independent, couldn't try to break away,
independent, couldn't try to break away, couldn't build his own organization
couldn't build his own organization separate from the commission he was in.
separate from the commission he was in. And once you're in the mob, you don't
And once you're in the mob, you don't get out. You're in until you die or go
get out. You're in until you die or go to prison. That was the trade. Power and
to prison. That was the trade. Power and wealth and protection in exchange for
wealth and protection in exchange for loyalty and obedience and permanent
loyalty and obedience and permanent connection to an organization that would
connection to an organization that would own him as much as he owned Harlem.
own him as much as he owned Harlem. Bumpy sat there thinking this was
Bumpy sat there thinking this was everything he'd fought against. St.
everything he'd fought against. St. Clare had fought to keep Harlem
Clare had fought to keep Harlem independent, to keep black people in
independent, to keep black people in control of their own economics, to
control of their own economics, to resist white takeover. And here he was
resist white takeover. And here he was about to become part of that takeover,
about to become part of that takeover, to legitimize it, to become the black
to legitimize it, to become the black face on white exploitation. It was
face on white exploitation. It was betrayal, compromise, surrender,
betrayal, compromise, surrender, everything he'd spent 3 years fighting
everything he'd spent 3 years fighting against, but it was also survival,
against, but it was also survival, power, the ability to protect Harlem in
power, the ability to protect Harlem in ways he never could as an independent
ways he never could as an independent operator, access to resources that would
operator, access to resources that would let him build something lasting. And the
let him build something lasting. And the cold truth was that St. Claire's vision,
cold truth was that St. Claire's vision, beautiful as it was, had failed. She was
beautiful as it was, had failed. She was in prison. Holstein was broken. The
in prison. Holstein was broken. The other independent operators had folded
other independent operators had folded black independence in Harlem's
black independence in Harlem's underworld was already dead. The
underworld was already dead. The question wasn't whether the mob would
question wasn't whether the mob would control Harlem. They already did. The
control Harlem. They already did. The question was whether a black gangster
question was whether a black gangster would share that control or whether
would share that control or whether white gangsters would run everything.
white gangsters would run everything. Bumpy made his decision. He shook
Bumpy made his decision. He shook Luciano's hand. The deal was made, the
Luciano's hand. The deal was made, the partnership was formed, and everything
partnership was formed, and everything changed.
changed. When Stephanie St. Clair got out of
When Stephanie St. Clair got out of prison in 1938 after serving 5 years,
prison in 1938 after serving 5 years, Harlem was different, not dramatically.
Harlem was different, not dramatically. The streets looked the same. The
The streets looked the same. The buildings, the people, but the power
buildings, the people, but the power structure had shifted. Dutch Schultz was
structure had shifted. Dutch Schultz was dead. The independent black numbers
dead. The independent black numbers bankers were mostly gone. and Bumpy
bankers were mostly gone. and Bumpy Johnson, her former enforcer, was
Johnson, her former enforcer, was running Harlem's numbers in partnership
running Harlem's numbers in partnership with Lucky Luchiano's organization.
with Lucky Luchiano's organization. She was furious, felt betrayed,
She was furious, felt betrayed, had spent 5 years in prison fighting,
had spent 5 years in prison fighting, refusing to surrender, maintaining her
refusing to surrender, maintaining her dignity and defiance, and she came home
dignity and defiance, and she came home to find that the war she'd fought had
to find that the war she'd fought had been lost anyway, that her protege had
been lost anyway, that her protege had made a deal with the very people she'd
made a deal with the very people she'd gone to prison resisting.
gone to prison resisting. She confronted Bumpy. The conversation
She confronted Bumpy. The conversation was private, but people heard about it.
was private, but people heard about it. Heard her rage. Heard her accusations.
Heard her rage. Heard her accusations. Traitor, sellout, Uncle Tom. Everything
voting rights, anti-discrimination laws. The barriers that had forced people like
The barriers that had forced people like St. Claire and Holstein and Bumpy into
St. Claire and Holstein and Bumpy into crime were being challenged. Not
crime were being challenged. Not eliminated, not destroyed, but
eliminated, not destroyed, but challenged. Black people could go to
challenged. Black people could go to better schools, could get better jobs,
better schools, could get better jobs, could access opportunities that previous
could access opportunities that previous generations couldn't imagine.
generations couldn't imagine. The children and grandchildren of the
The children and grandchildren of the great migration, the people who'd come
great migration, the people who'd come to Harlem seeking something better were
to Harlem seeking something better were finding it. Not in the underworld, in
finding it. Not in the underworld, in the legitimate world, becoming doctors,
the legitimate world, becoming doctors, lawyers, business owners, politicians,
lawyers, business owners, politicians, building wealth legally, achieving power
building wealth legally, achieving power legitimately, proving that the criminal
legitimately, proving that the criminal path, however successful individuals
path, however successful individuals became, wasn't the only path, wasn't
became, wasn't the only path, wasn't even the best path. And that raises the
even the best path. And that raises the question, what if? What if Stephanie St.
question, what if? What if Stephanie St. Clair's brilliance had been applied to
Clair's brilliance had been applied to legitimate business? What if Bumpy
legitimate business? What if Bumpy Johnson's strategic intelligence had
Johnson's strategic intelligence had been used for legal enterprises? What if
been used for legal enterprises? What if Frank Lucas's entrepreneurial genius had
Frank Lucas's entrepreneurial genius had built legitimate corporations instead of
built legitimate corporations instead of drug empires? What if Nikki Barnes's
drug empires? What if Nikki Barnes's organizational skills had created legal
organizational skills had created legal businesses instead of the council? How
businesses instead of the council? How much could they have achieved? How much
much could they have achieved? How much could they have built? How much could
could they have built? How much could they have helped their communities
they have helped their communities without destroying them? We'll never
without destroying them? We'll never know because the system in their time
know because the system in their time didn't offer those options. Didn't allow
didn't offer those options. Didn't allow black excellence to flourish
black excellence to flourish legitimately. Forced brilliance into the
legitimately. Forced brilliance into the shadows into crime, into paths that led
shadows into crime, into paths that led to prison or death or betrayal. But by
to prison or death or betrayal. But by the 1980s and 1990s, those options were
the 1980s and 1990s, those options were starting to exist. Not easily, not
starting to exist. Not easily, not without barriers, not without racism and
without barriers, not without racism and discrimination and all the obstacles
discrimination and all the obstacles that still existed, but they were
that still existed, but they were possible.
possible. And that makes the gangster story both
And that makes the gangster story both more tragic and more heroic. More tragic
more tragic and more heroic. More tragic because they fought and died and
because they fought and died and destroyed for something that their
destroyed for something that their children could achieve legally.
children could achieve legally. more heroic because their fight, their
more heroic because their fight, their resistance, their refusal to accept
resistance, their refusal to accept poverty helped create the conditions
poverty helped create the conditions that made legitimate success possible
that made legitimate success possible for the next generation.
for the next generation. The gangsters didn't cause the civil
The gangsters didn't cause the civil rights movement, didn't lead it, weren't
rights movement, didn't lead it, weren't even particularly supportive of it. But
even particularly supportive of it. But they were part of the same impulse, the
they were part of the same impulse, the same refusal to accept white supremacy's
same refusal to accept white supremacy's limitations, the same insistence on
limitations, the same insistence on black power and black excellence and
black power and black excellence and black independence. just expressed
black independence. just expressed through crime instead of protest,
through crime instead of protest, through organization instead of marches,
through organization instead of marches, through building underground economies
through building underground economies instead of changing legal ones. Every
instead of changing legal ones. Every successful black entrepreneur today
successful black entrepreneur today stands on foundations built partially by
stands on foundations built partially by criminals. Not because crime is good,
criminals. Not because crime is good, not because we should celebrate it, but
not because we should celebrate it, but because in the absence of legal
because in the absence of legal opportunities, black people built
opportunities, black people built economic infrastructure however they
economic infrastructure however they could. and that infrastructure, those
could. and that infrastructure, those networks, those examples of black
networks, those examples of black organizational capacity. They created
organizational capacity. They created templates, created proof, created
templates, created proof, created possibilities, showed that black people
possibilities, showed that black people could build and manage and succeed at
could build and manage and succeed at complex enterprises. And when legal
complex enterprises. And when legal opportunities finally opened, even
opportunities finally opened, even partially, black people already knew how
partially, black people already knew how to do it, already had the skills,
to do it, already had the skills, already had the examples, already had
already had the examples, already had the confidence. Some of that came from
the confidence. Some of that came from legitimate sources, from churches, from
legitimate sources, from churches, from schools, from civil rights
schools, from civil rights organizations. But some of it, whether
organizations. But some of it, whether we like it or not, came from watching
we like it or not, came from watching gangsters build empires. From seeing
gangsters build empires. From seeing that black people could organize, could
that black people could organize, could lead, could succeed, even if the success
lead, could succeed, even if the success was criminal. So, what does it all mean?
was criminal. So, what does it all mean? This three-hour journey through Harlem's
This three-hour journey through Harlem's criminal underworld, through numbers
criminal underworld, through numbers rackets and heroine empires, through
rackets and heroine empires, through gangsters who were heroes and villains
gangsters who were heroes and villains simultaneously, through resistance and
simultaneously, through resistance and exploitation, through independence and
exploitation, through independence and destruction. What are we supposed to
destruction. What are we supposed to take from this? What lessons exist in
take from this? What lessons exist in these complicated, contradictory
these complicated, contradictory stories? First, that history is never
stories? First, that history is never clean, never simple, never reducible to
clean, never simple, never reducible to good guys and bad guys. Stephanie St.
good guys and bad guys. Stephanie St. Clair fought racist white gangsters
Clair fought racist white gangsters admirable. She also ran an illegal
admirable. She also ran an illegal gambling operation that exploited poor
gambling operation that exploited poor people. Condemnable. Both things are
people. Condemnable. Both things are true. Both things matter. And trying to
true. Both things matter. And trying to reduce her to either hero or villain
reduce her to either hero or villain misses the point entirely.
misses the point entirely. She was a human being navigating an
She was a human being navigating an impossible situation. Making choices
impossible situation. Making choices that had both positive and negative
that had both positive and negative consequences.
consequences. surviving in a system designed to
surviving in a system designed to destroy her and her survival, her
destroy her and her survival, her resistance, her refusal to bow that
resistance, her refusal to bow that matters. Even if the empire she was
matters. Even if the empire she was protecting was built on exploitation,
protecting was built on exploitation, even if her fight preserved something
even if her fight preserved something harmful, because the fight itself, the
harmful, because the fight itself, the refusal itself, that had value beyond
refusal itself, that had value beyond the immediate circumstances.
the immediate circumstances. Second, that survival under oppression
Second, that survival under oppression requires compromises that look different
requires compromises that look different from the outside than they feel from the
from the outside than they feel from the inside. Bumpy Johnson's partnership with
inside. Bumpy Johnson's partnership with the mob looks like betrayal from St.
the mob looks like betrayal from St. Clare's perspective.
Clare's perspective. Looks like selling out. Looks like
Looks like selling out. Looks like surrendering everything they'd fought
surrendering everything they'd fought for. But from Bumpy's perspective, it
for. But from Bumpy's perspective, it was survival. was the only way to
was survival. was the only way to maintain any black power in Harlem was
maintain any black power in Harlem was choosing some independence over none,
choosing some independence over none, some power over no power, some
some power over no power, some protection over complete vulnerability.
protection over complete vulnerability. Neither perspective is wrong, both are
Neither perspective is wrong, both are valid. And the fact that they're
valid. And the fact that they're contradictory, that they can't both be
contradictory, that they can't both be right simultaneously,
right simultaneously, that's the reality of surviving
that's the reality of surviving oppression.
oppression. You make impossible choices. You
You make impossible choices. You compromise values to preserve survival.
compromise values to preserve survival. You do things that look like weakness
You do things that look like weakness but feel like strategy. And you live
but feel like strategy. And you live with the guilt and the doubt and the
with the guilt and the doubt and the knowledge that maybe there was a better
knowledge that maybe there was a better way, but you didn't see it and you did
way, but you didn't see it and you did the best you could with what you had.
the best you could with what you had. Third, that systems of oppression force
Third, that systems of oppression force people into positions where all
people into positions where all available choices are bad, where crime
available choices are bad, where crime becomes rational, where exploitation of
becomes rational, where exploitation of your own community becomes survival,
your own community becomes survival, where poisoning your own people becomes
where poisoning your own people becomes economic opportunity. And while we can
economic opportunity. And while we can judge those choices, while we should
judge those choices, while we should acknowledge the harm they caused, we
acknowledge the harm they caused, we also need to understand the context.
also need to understand the context. Understand that when legitimate paths
Understand that when legitimate paths are blocked, when the legal economy
are blocked, when the legal economy offers nothing but poverty, when the
offers nothing but poverty, when the system is designed to keep you down,
system is designed to keep you down, crime stops being irrational.
crime stops being irrational. Becomes a logical response to an
Becomes a logical response to an irrational situation.
irrational situation. That doesn't make it right. Doesn't
That doesn't make it right. Doesn't excuse the damage. Doesn't absolve
excuse the damage. Doesn't absolve responsibility, but it explains it.
responsibility, but it explains it. Makes it comprehensible. Keeps us from
Makes it comprehensible. Keeps us from simplistic moral judgments that ignore
simplistic moral judgments that ignore systemic context.
systemic context. Fourth, that black excellence is real,
Fourth, that black excellence is real, is undeniable, exists even in the
is undeniable, exists even in the darkest places. Stephanie St. Clair
darkest places. Stephanie St. Clair built an empire in the 1920s and 1930s
built an empire in the 1920s and 1930s that rivaled anything white gangsters
that rivaled anything white gangsters created as a woman, as an immigrant, as
created as a woman, as an immigrant, as someone the system declared worthless.
someone the system declared worthless. That's excellence. Bumpy Johnson
That's excellence. Bumpy Johnson navigated mob politics for decades.
navigated mob politics for decades. Built relationships with the most
Built relationships with the most powerful criminals in America,
powerful criminals in America, maintained power in a world designed to
maintained power in a world designed to destroy him. That's excellence. Frank
destroy him. That's excellence. Frank Lucas revolutionized drug trafficking,
Lucas revolutionized drug trafficking, created supply chains that criminal
created supply chains that criminal organizations still study, built an
organizations still study, built an empire from nothing. That's excellence.
empire from nothing. That's excellence. Nikki Barnes created the council, an
Nikki Barnes created the council, an organizational structure sophisticated
organizational structure sophisticated enough to compete with the Italian mob.
enough to compete with the Italian mob. That's excellence. None of it is moral
That's excellence. None of it is moral excellence. None of it is admirable in
excellence. None of it is admirable in the traditional sense, but it's
the traditional sense, but it's excellence nonetheless. Brilliance
excellence nonetheless. Brilliance applied to evil ends is still
applied to evil ends is still brilliance. and recognizing that
brilliance. and recognizing that acknowledging that black people can be
acknowledging that black people can be excellent even in crime that matters
excellent even in crime that matters because excellence denied in one context
because excellence denied in one context gets denied in all contexts. If we can't
gets denied in all contexts. If we can't acknowledge that black criminals were
acknowledge that black criminals were brilliant, were strategic, were capable,
brilliant, were strategic, were capable, then we can't fully acknowledge black
then we can't fully acknowledge black capability in legitimate fields either.
capability in legitimate fields either. The recognition of capacity has to be
The recognition of capacity has to be universal or it's meaningless. Fifth,
universal or it's meaningless. Fifth, that representation matters. even
that representation matters. even criminal representation. When Dutch
criminal representation. When Dutch Schultz said black gangsters were
Schultz said black gangsters were small-time hustlers who'd never
small-time hustlers who'd never understand real organized crime, he was
understand real organized crime, he was expressing the dominant view of his era,
expressing the dominant view of his era, the belief that black people were
the belief that black people were incapable of complex organization,
incapable of complex organization, incapable of strategic thinking,
incapable of strategic thinking, incapable of building institutions. And
incapable of building institutions. And every time a black gangster proved him
every time a black gangster proved him wrong, every time they built something
wrong, every time they built something sophisticated, every time they
sophisticated, every time they demonstrated capacity, it challenged
demonstrated capacity, it challenged that narrative, changed perceptions,
that narrative, changed perceptions, created possibilities. Yes, it was
created possibilities. Yes, it was criminal capacity. Yes, it caused harm.
criminal capacity. Yes, it caused harm. But the demonstration of black
But the demonstration of black organizational ability, even criminal
organizational ability, even criminal organizational ability, had spillover
organizational ability, had spillover effects, made it harder to claim black
effects, made it harder to claim black people couldn't run businesses, couldn't
people couldn't run businesses, couldn't manage enterprises, couldn't lead
manage enterprises, couldn't lead organizations. If black people could run
organizations. If black people could run sophisticated criminal operations, the
sophisticated criminal operations, the argument that they couldn't run
argument that they couldn't run legitimate businesses became less
legitimate businesses became less credible.
credible. Again, not justification, not
Again, not justification, not celebration, just recognition of
celebration, just recognition of complexity. of unintended consequences
complexity. of unintended consequences of how change happens in messy
of how change happens in messy contradictory ways. Sixth, that the cost
contradictory ways. Sixth, that the cost was real, enormous, devastating, and
was real, enormous, devastating, and can't be ignored. Thousands of people
can't be ignored. Thousands of people died from heroin addiction. Tens of
died from heroin addiction. Tens of thousands had their lives destroyed.
thousands had their lives destroyed. Families fell apart. Communities
Families fell apart. Communities collapsed. Children grew up surrounded
collapsed. Children grew up surrounded by violence and addiction and
by violence and addiction and hopelessness. And black gangsters caused
hopelessness. And black gangsters caused this not alone. Not entirely, but
this not alone. Not entirely, but significantly. They made decisions that
significantly. They made decisions that prioritized their wealth over community
prioritized their wealth over community well-being, their power over other
well-being, their power over other people's survival, their success over
people's survival, their success over collective health. And that has to be
collective health. And that has to be acknowledged, has to be centered, has to
acknowledged, has to be centered, has to be part of the story. Because any
be part of the story. Because any narrative that celebrates black gangster
narrative that celebrates black gangster success without acknowledging black
success without acknowledging black gangster damage is propaganda, not
gangster damage is propaganda, not history, is entertainment, not truth.
history, is entertainment, not truth. The legacy of Harlem's gangsters is
The legacy of Harlem's gangsters is complicated. Includes both resistance
complicated. Includes both resistance and destruction, both excellence and
and destruction, both excellence and exploitation,
exploitation, both community protection and community
both community protection and community devastation. All of it is true. All of
devastation. All of it is true. All of it matters. None of it can be erased to
it matters. None of it can be erased to make the story cleaner or more
make the story cleaner or more comfortable. And finally, seventh, that
comfortable. And finally, seventh, that we're still grappling with these
we're still grappling with these questions. Still trying to understand
questions. Still trying to understand how to build black power in a system
how to build black power in a system designed to prevent it. Still navigating
designed to prevent it. Still navigating the tension between survival and values.
the tension between survival and values. Still making impossible choices. Still
Still making impossible choices. Still trying to determine what's justified by
trying to determine what's justified by oppression and what's just exploitation.
oppression and what's just exploitation. Wearing oppression as an excuse.
Wearing oppression as an excuse. The gangsters are mostly gone now. The
The gangsters are mostly gone now. The specific organizations they built are
specific organizations they built are destroyed. But the questions they
destroyed. But the questions they raised, the moral dilemmas they
raised, the moral dilemmas they embodied, the contradictions they
embodied, the contradictions they represented, those remain. How do you
represented, those remain. How do you build economic power when the legal
build economic power when the legal economy excludes you? How do you
economy excludes you? How do you maintain values when survival requires
maintain values when survival requires compromising them? How do you protect
compromising them? How do you protect your community when protecting it might
your community when protecting it might mean participating in systems that harm
mean participating in systems that harm it? How do you be excellent in a society
it? How do you be excellent in a society that denies your humanity? How do you
that denies your humanity? How do you survive with dignity when the system is
survive with dignity when the system is designed to strip both survival and
designed to strip both survival and dignity away? These aren't questions
dignity away? These aren't questions with easy answers, aren't questions with
with easy answers, aren't questions with single answers. Are questions that every
single answers. Are questions that every generation of black Americans has had to
generation of black Americans has had to navigate in different contexts with
navigate in different contexts with different stakes. But always present,
different stakes. But always present, always urgent, always impossible. The
always urgent, always impossible. The gangsters of Harlem, from Stephanie St.
gangsters of Harlem, from Stephanie St. Claire to Nikki Barnes. They gave their
Claire to Nikki Barnes. They gave their answers, built their empires, made their
answers, built their empires, made their choices, paid their prices, and left us
choices, paid their prices, and left us with examples that are both inspiring
with examples that are both inspiring and horrifying, both admirable and
and horrifying, both admirable and condemnable, both heroic and villainous.
condemnable, both heroic and villainous. And maybe that's the point. Maybe the
And maybe that's the point. Maybe the lesson isn't that they were right or
lesson isn't that they were right or wrong, good or bad, heroes or villains.
wrong, good or bad, heroes or villains. Maybe the lesson is that people are
Maybe the lesson is that people are complicated, that history is
complicated, that history is complicated, that resistance is
complicated, that resistance is complicated, that survival is
complicated, that survival is complicated, that you can fight against
complicated, that you can fight against oppression and still cause harm, can
oppression and still cause harm, can build something impressive and still
build something impressive and still destroy lives, can be brilliant and
destroy lives, can be brilliant and still be destructive, can be admirable
still be destructive, can be admirable and still be criminal. They told
and still be criminal. They told Harlem's gangsters they'd never sit with
Harlem's gangsters they'd never sit with the mob, that black criminals were small
the mob, that black criminals were small time, that they didn't understand real
time, that they didn't understand real organization, that they should stay in
organization, that they should stay in their place, accept their limitations,
their place, accept their limitations, know their role. Stephanie St. Clare
know their role. Stephanie St. Clare didn't listen. Built an empire. Went to
didn't listen. Built an empire. Went to war with Dutch Schultz. Went to prison
war with Dutch Schultz. Went to prison rather than surrender. Proved that a
rather than surrender. Proved that a black woman could be as dangerous, as
black woman could be as dangerous, as powerful, as unbreakable as anyone.
powerful, as unbreakable as anyone. Casper Holstein didn't listen. Built the
Casper Holstein didn't listen. Built the numbers racket into an economic engine.
numbers racket into an economic engine. Funded the Harlem Renaissance. Proved
Funded the Harlem Renaissance. Proved that criminal profits could create
that criminal profits could create cultural excellence. that black economic
cultural excellence. that black economic power, even illegal economic power,
power, even illegal economic power, could build institutions that lasted.
could build institutions that lasted. Bumpy Johnson didn't listen. Fought
Bumpy Johnson didn't listen. Fought Schultz to a standstill. Negotiated
Schultz to a standstill. Negotiated partnership with Lucky Luciano, became
partnership with Lucky Luciano, became the first black gangster to sit as
the first black gangster to sit as something approaching an equal with the
something approaching an equal with the Italian mob. Proved that black criminals
Italian mob. Proved that black criminals could navigate white power structures,
could navigate white power structures, could survive, could thrive. Frank Lucas
could survive, could thrive. Frank Lucas didn't listen. Cut out the mob entirely.
didn't listen. Cut out the mob entirely. built his own supply chain, imported
built his own supply chain, imported heroin directly from Southeast Asia,
heroin directly from Southeast Asia, proved that black gangsters didn't need
proved that black gangsters didn't need white permission to build empires.
white permission to build empires. Nikki Barnes didn't listen, created the
Nikki Barnes didn't listen, created the council, built an organization that
council, built an organization that rivaled the mob, made millions, made
rivaled the mob, made millions, made himself untouchable for a while, proved
himself untouchable for a while, proved that black excellence in crime was as
that black excellence in crime was as real as black excellence in any other
real as black excellence in any other field. They all failed eventually.
field. They all failed eventually. St. Clare died marginalized. Holstein
St. Clare died marginalized. Holstein broken. Bumpy died of a heart attack.
broken. Bumpy died of a heart attack. His compromise-based empire dying with
His compromise-based empire dying with him. Lucas cooperated. Barnes
him. Lucas cooperated. Barnes cooperated. Their empires collapsed.
cooperated. Their empires collapsed. Their organizations destroyed. Their
Their organizations destroyed. Their legacies complicated by betrayal and
legacies complicated by betrayal and destruction. And the communities
destruction. And the communities devastated by their products. But they
devastated by their products. But they forced their way to the table. Proved it
forced their way to the table. Proved it could be done. Prove that black people
could be done. Prove that black people could build power even when every system
could build power even when every system was designed to prevent it. Prove that
was designed to prevent it. Prove that excellence, even criminal excellence,
excellence, even criminal excellence, had no color. Prove that the barriers
had no color. Prove that the barriers were real but not permanent. Strong but
were real but not permanent. Strong but not unbreakable.
not unbreakable. Intimidating but not insurmountable.
Intimidating but not insurmountable. And in proving that in building those
And in proving that in building those empires, enforcing that recognition,
empires, enforcing that recognition, they changed organized crime in America.
they changed organized crime in America. Not single-handedly, not alone, but
Not single-handedly, not alone, but significantly, meaningfully, undeniably.
significantly, meaningfully, undeniably. The mob was never the same after Harlem
The mob was never the same after Harlem proved that black gangsters could
proved that black gangsters could compete, could organize, could build
compete, could organize, could build institutions.
institutions. The hierarchy that had seemed permanent
The hierarchy that had seemed permanent was revealed as conditional, as
was revealed as conditional, as vulnerable, as dependent on perception
vulnerable, as dependent on perception rather than reality. And once that
rather than reality. And once that perception broke, once people saw that
perception broke, once people saw that the system could be challenged,
the system could be challenged, everything changed. Not immediately, not
everything changed. Not immediately, not completely, but fundamentally the cost
completely, but fundamentally the cost was enormous. The damage incalculable.
was enormous. The damage incalculable. The communities devastated, the lives
The communities devastated, the lives destroyed, the addiction, the violence,
destroyed, the addiction, the violence, the death. All of it real. All of it
the death. All of it real. All of it attributable at least partially to the
attributable at least partially to the decisions these gangsters made.
decisions these gangsters made. decisions to prioritize profit over
decisions to prioritize profit over people, power over community, individual
people, power over community, individual success over collective well-being that
success over collective well-being that can't be excused, can't be justified,
can't be excused, can't be justified, can't be waved away with talk of
can't be waved away with talk of systemic oppression and limited options.
systemic oppression and limited options. The harm was real. The responsibility
The harm was real. The responsibility was real. The judgment has to be real.
was real. The judgment has to be real. But so does the recognition, the
But so does the recognition, the acknowledgement, the understanding that
acknowledgement, the understanding that these were brilliant people navigating
these were brilliant people navigating impossible situations making terrible
impossible situations making terrible choices because all the choices were
choices because all the choices were terrible.
terrible. Building empires because empire building
Building empires because empire building was the only path to power they could
was the only path to power they could see. Destroying communities because the
see. Destroying communities because the alternative was accepting their own
alternative was accepting their own destruction. They weren't heroes, but
destruction. They weren't heroes, but they weren't simple villains either.
they weren't simple villains either. They were people. complicated,
They were people. complicated, contradictory,
contradictory, capable of both great things and
capable of both great things and terrible things, often simultaneously.
terrible things, often simultaneously. They changed history. Not always for the
They changed history. Not always for the better, not always in ways we should
better, not always in ways we should celebrate, but meaningfully,
celebrate, but meaningfully, significantly, in ways that still echo
significantly, in ways that still echo today. In the recognition that black
today. In the recognition that black people can build anything, can organize
people can build anything, can organize anything, can achieve excellence in any
anything, can achieve excellence in any field, even fields we wish didn't exist,
field, even fields we wish didn't exist, even fields that cause harm, even fields
even fields that cause harm, even fields that destroy as they build. That's the
that destroy as they build. That's the legacy. Complicated, contradictory,
legacy. Complicated, contradictory, impossible to reduce to simple
impossible to reduce to simple narratives, impossible to celebrate
narratives, impossible to celebrate without acknowledging the cost,
without acknowledging the cost, impossible to condemn without
impossible to condemn without understanding the context. The story of
understanding the context. The story of Harlem's gangsters, from the numbers
Harlem's gangsters, from the numbers rackets of the 1920s to the heroine
rackets of the 1920s to the heroine empires of the 1970s, is the story of
empires of the 1970s, is the story of black resistance expressed through
black resistance expressed through crime, of black excellence demonstrated
crime, of black excellence demonstrated through destruction, of black power
through destruction, of black power built on black suffering, of
built on black suffering, of independence achieved through
independence achieved through exploitation. Of brilliance applied to
exploitation. Of brilliance applied to evil, of survival requiring surrender,
evil, of survival requiring surrender, of fighting the system while reinforcing
of fighting the system while reinforcing its worst assumptions. of proving
its worst assumptions. of proving capacity while destroying community, of
capacity while destroying community, of winning while losing, of losing while
winning while losing, of losing while winning. They said black gangsters could
winning. They said black gangsters could never deal with the mob, could never sit
never deal with the mob, could never sit at the table, could never build real
at the table, could never build real organizations, could never compete at
organizations, could never compete at the highest levels. They were wrong.
the highest levels. They were wrong. Harlem's gangsters proved them wrong.
Harlem's gangsters proved them wrong. Forced their way to the table, built
Forced their way to the table, built empires that rivaled anything white
empires that rivaled anything white criminals created, competed, succeeded,
criminals created, competed, succeeded, won for a while until they didn't. Until
won for a while until they didn't. Until the system ground them down, until they
the system ground them down, until they were arrested, killed, betrayed,
were arrested, killed, betrayed, forgotten, until their empires
forgotten, until their empires collapsed, and their communities paid
collapsed, and their communities paid the price, and their legacies became
the price, and their legacies became cautionary tales about the cost of
cautionary tales about the cost of criminal success. But they forced their
criminal success. But they forced their way to the table. And the table was
way to the table. And the table was never the same. That's what they gave
never the same. That's what they gave us. That's what they left behind. That's
us. That's what they left behind. That's why we're still talking about them
why we're still talking about them decades after their deaths. Not because
decades after their deaths. Not because they were right. Not because they were
they were right. Not because they were heroes. Not because we should emulate
heroes. Not because we should emulate them, but because they were undeniable.
them, but because they were undeniable. We're brilliant. We're complex. We're
We're brilliant. We're complex. We're human. We're survivors in a system
human. We're survivors in a system designed to kill them. We're builders in
designed to kill them. We're builders in a context that offered only destruction.
a context that offered only destruction. We're excellence in fields we wish
We're excellence in fields we wish they'd never entered. We're proof that
they'd never entered. We're proof that black capability exists everywhere. Even
black capability exists everywhere. Even in darkness, even in crime, even in
in darkness, even in crime, even in places we wish it didn't. They forced
places we wish it didn't. They forced their way to the table. And we're still
their way to the table. And we're still learning what that means. Still
learning what that means. Still grappling with the contradictions. Still
grappling with the contradictions. Still trying to understand how to honor the
trying to understand how to honor the resistance while acknowledging the
resistance while acknowledging the damage. How to recognize the excellence
damage. How to recognize the excellence while condemning the exploitation.
while condemning the exploitation. How to tell the truth, the whole truth,
How to tell the truth, the whole truth, the complicated, contradictory,
the complicated, contradictory, impossible truth. That's their legacy.
impossible truth. That's their legacy. That's their gift. That's what Harlem's
That's their gift. That's what Harlem's gangsters left us. Not easy answers,
gangsters left us. Not easy answers, hard questions, not simple narratives,
hard questions, not simple narratives, complex realities, not heroes or
complex realities, not heroes or villains. human beings who changed the
villains. human beings who changed the world for better and for worse and left
world for better and for worse and left us to figure out what it all meant.
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