Fact vs Fiction: Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 7 — did Joe Colombo start the Italian-American Civil Rights League?

In Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 7, "The Pawn Goes First," things jump ahead three months, and Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) is opening his new club, The St. Clair, for business. During the grand opening, Frank Lucas (Rome Flynn ) steals the show wearing a chinchilla fur coat, a fashion piece that eventually brought on the wrong kind of attention. Additionally, while Frank is allowed to roam the floors of Bumpy’s establishment, the two men still aren’t friends or even allies. However, Frank works to change that through the course of the episode.

Elsewhere, Joe Colombo (Michael Raymond-James) has a big problem with the feds thanks to ADA Pike (Hudson Oz) and the federal government. Feeling pressure to bust Colombo, Pike starts harassing the kingpin. However, that proves to be a mistake when Colombo doesn’t just cower into the shadows, but instead starts the Italian-American Civil Rights League.

So what’s the deal with Frank Lucas and the fur coat? Also, did Colombo start an organization to protect his rights and those of Italian Americans? Here’s what happened in Godfather of Harlem season 4 episode 7.

Did Frank Lucas wear a fur coat?

The fiction
It’s the night of the grand opening of the St. Clair, and there is a line out the door. Frank Lucas pulls up with his girlfriend in what looks to be a brand-new car. Hopping out, he’s dressed in a long fur coat and attracts the eyes of quite a few people. He and his girlfriend walk into the club without problems, and he alone goes into a back room that appears to be for VIPs. Colombo spots him and resentfully tells his associate that Frank looks like a clown in the getup, and the associate suspects the coat signals Frank has been moving drugs for someone.

Frank eventually speaks to Bumpy, complimenting the kingpin on the success of the club. Bumpy extends his congratulations on rising up the ranks, but warns Frank not to try selling drugs out of his establishment.

Leaving, Frank puts his girlfriend in the car, but before he gets in, he’s approached by a friend. The two men talk briefly, and when Frank turns to get in his vehicle, it explodes. Frank is left devastated.

Later, when Frank goes to Stella (Lucy Fry) and Pino (Erik Palladino) to inquire what they know about the hit, she has no answers for him about a suspect. However, she speculates that someone from the Five Families didn’t like the fact that Frank was selling product for her out in Philly. Pino chimes in that Frank made himself a target because he’s been strutting around like a “fuzzy peacock.” Stella severs her business tie with Frank until they all get some answers.

The fact
If you’ve ever seen Denzel Washington’s American Gangster (one of the top 25 best Black movies of the last 25 years), then you probably recall that Washington’s Frank Lucas wore a chinchilla fur coat that put him on the radar of law enforcement. As shared in the New York Post, the real Frank did attribute his downfall and ultimate arrest to a $100,000 fur coat he decided to wear to a Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier fight at Madison Square Garden in March 1971.

That being said, we were unable to find anything to suggest that Frank wearing an eccentric fur coat led to him drawing attention from the Italian American Mafia to the point that an attempt was made on his life. Furthermore, because we previously didn’t find any information to prove that St. Clair existed, Frank was unable to wear it to the grand opening of such club.

Did Joe Colombo start the Italian-American Civil Rights League?

The fiction
Joe Colombo is walking with his henchman to his headquarters in the junkyard, and Colombo expresses how confused he is that Frank survived a car bomb. As they turn the corner, Colombo sees the feds confiscating his things and frisking his workers. ADA Pike tells Colombo that his business is in violation of several ordinances, including unsafe working conditions, illegal dumping of scrap metal and selling stolen car parts. Colombo says this is made up, and the feds have been harassing him for months. Pike warns Colombo that he’s going down for the murder of Bumpy’s concrete guy and the deceased labor union captain.

In the aftermath, Colombo is fuming, and he has his men retaliate. One of Colombo’s men picks up Pike’s daughter from school and drops her off at home. When Pike’s wife recounts the story of their daughter being brought home thanks to an associate of Colombo, Pike has local officers later pull Colombo and his men over and beat them up.

Having had enough harassment, and after griping about discrimination to Bumpy and claiming Italian Americans had it harder than Black Americans, Colombo stood on the streets of New York in front of the press, announcing the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Stella and Pino listen to the announcement on the radio, perplexed by his move. However, the move is enough for Pike’s superior to tell Pike to back off Colombo.

The fact
According to The New York Times, Colombo did start the Italian-American Civil Rights League, and in the literature for the league, he was credited as a founder. The league originated in March 1970, as a protest against Colombo’s son being arrested, but represented an overarching sentiment that many felt was the misrepresentation of Italian-Americans and their mistreatment. The league also wanted to stop vocabulary in the mainstream that perpetuated “stereotypes that equate Italian‐Americans with gangsterism.”

For more on Colombo and how he came up with the organization, we recommend taking a look at this episode of National Geographic’s Inside the American Mob.

Colombo Crime Family (Full Episode) | Inside the American Mob | National Geographic - YouTube

Watch On

Godfather of Harlem season 4 continues to air on Sundays on MGM Plus.