Godfather of Harlem

.

.

Despite what you think, I still love you.

I'm the smartest one of all my father's goombahs,

and he put fucking Pino in charge.

Power is something you gotta take.

Don't wait for some man to bestow that on you.

That boy's fresh off the bus, country as a bowl of grits.

Thought of something you can do for me.

Chin Gigante-- rob him blind.

Weren't you supposed to give that back to Bumpy?

Gave him back some. The rest was milk sugar.

Bumpy Johnson gotta learn. Nobody plays Frank Lucas.

The job I gave you was a test. You failed.

Don't make me deliver your ass to the devil.

Cross me once more, and I will.

Checked all of Johnson's spots, wherever he's hiding our dope,

it's gonna take a team of bloodhounds to find it.

Go back to all our dope spots and check out who's dealing.

You see anybody who ain't ours,

yank 'em up and bring the dope with.

Nice ring.

The Blank Panther Party for Self-Defense...

Who are they?

California criminals, if you ask me.

- They look fine to me. - Shut your mouth!

You wanna know what really goes on in class?

No more abuse in our community!

- Stop the pigs! - You wanna test us?

Mr. Johnson. You brought a friend with you.

This is Marshall Grant, your straw man.

You gonna tear down the Apollo Theater to put this up?

I'm selling my property to Bumpy Johnson.

- - Yes, sir.

Thank you all for coming today.

It's a day that I wish my dear friend Malcolm

were able to witness with us here.

Public speaking's not my strength,

so I'm gonna pass this over to my beautiful,

lovely wife, Mayme Johnson.

Thank you all for coming

to the groundbreaking for Club St. Clair,

Harlem's new culture and entertainment center,

named after Ellsworth's mentor,

the great Stephanie St. Clair.

During the '20s and '30s,

Harlem was a magnet for culture in New York City.

People like Langston Hughes,

Aaron Douglas, and many others

created a true Renaissance.

This project will help bring that back.

The men working here are from Harlem,

and we are happy to report that this project will create

over 1,500 new jobs for our people.

Strong and proud, we stand out ground.

New York is a union town. Strong and proud...

Come on.

Eyes on you, Ellsworth.

Yeah, yeah.

Strong and proud, we stand our ground.

New York is a union town.

Strong and proud, we stand our ground.

- New York is a union town. - How you doing?

Not bad. How about yourself?

I was having a lovely day till you showed up.

Bumpy Johnson.

Mickey Campanella.

...we stand our ground.

So, what's this about?

Can't you read the signs?

Yeah, I can read the fucking signs.

I made arrangements with the necessary parties

that my men will be able to work on this site.

Well, I'm a union boss.

I'm not a gangster,

and we don't got no arrangement.

How about you get your goons to go home

and we work something out?

Nah. That's not how this goes.

How does it go?

Well, my men are gonna be here

every day, from dawn till dusk,

until you unionize.

Till I hire your guys.

Oh, you catch on quick, for a colored.

It's not gonna go that way.

Taking our fucking jobs!

Goddamn it! Break this shit up.

You spoken to Powell?

He's still in Bimini.

Bimini's not the district that he was elected to serve.

This is slander. We should sue.

How is it slander?

You were going to build without unionizing.

Harlem is Harlem.

It ain't no Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

White people-- they have no right

coming up in here making demands.

They see it differently.

Whose side are you on?

Hmm.

I am on the side of making sure the money

from the Revitalization Act ends up in your pocket.

The last thing I wanna see is Harlem rebuilt

by a bunch of guineas.

I just...

I don't see a way around unionizing,

not once it goes public like this.

I think you're gonna have to cut a deal, Ellsworth.

I ain't cutting nothing.

If City Hall catches even a whiff of you

doing something foolish, they will pull their funding.

Well, we'll see about that, won't we?

Ellsworth, you are the one

who wanted to do things differently.

You can't turn gangster every time

an obstacle gets in your way.

If our kids don't eat, they can't learn.

That's a fact.

And if they don't learn, they won't rise.

Harlem kids are going to school hungry.

They've fallen out in the classroom.

We want every child to have at least one square meal a day.

We need your help.

Volunteers, donations, anything that you can give.

Oh, perfect timing. Thanks.

You're welcome.

- Elise, right? - Yeah.

Afeni told us what you did at school the other day.

Nice work.

Couldn't have done it without her.

Hmm. Driven and humble.

That is a hard combo to find these days.

Maybe you're just meeting the wrong people.

Maybe.

Uh, Sadiq.

Pleasure to meet you.

Pleasure to meet you as well.

- What else can I do? - Oh, uh,

Maurice is handing out voter registration fliers over there.

- You mind helping him out? - Not at all.

Thanks.

Um, I'll see you around.

Yeah, see you around.

Yes.

Hey!

Officers, I don't have any donuts,

but I can offer you some fresh fruit if you like.

We didn't come for peaches and cream.

Where's your permit?

Our permit is our constitutional right to be on this free land.

This isn't free land.

This is New York City school property.

- Time to shut this down. - We ain't shutting shit down.

You ain't the law. I am.

- Easy, pal. - Get your pig hands off me.

Relax, Sadiq. Don't give these gentlemen what they want.

Oh, no, no, no. They're not gentlemen.

They're pigs.

Cuff Rosa Parks over here. Toss her ass in the car.

My name is Afeni Shakur.

On what charge?

Resisting arrest.

Okay, folks, break it up.