As a fan of mob stories and movies, I was eager to check out last night’s episode of BET’s American Gangster to check out the profile of the Philadelphia Black Mafia. Their exploits, which have been largely forgotten, were introduced to a new generation as a cautionary tale of what happens when bad people believe that their actions are righteous and justified.

The group largely comprised of Mosque Temple No. 12 members in Philadelphia in the early to mid 1970s under the motto “Do For Self.” The group took that motto quite seriously as they wanted to keep the Black dollar in the ‘hood. The problem is that meant every black dollar, honest money as well as extortion, prostitution, drugs, etc.

While they used some of the money to build schools and business in Philly, they also assaulted, beat and sometimes murdered people who would not go along with their program. The group, under the cover of the Nation of Islam, committed several high-profile murders including killing seven people (women and a nine-day old baby) on a hit to take down a rival Muslim leader.

For all the flack that BET takes for some of the programming, American Gangster is one of the network’s crowning jewels and the show’s producers deserves serious accolades.  – cyrtical1

Does this story glorify the Philadelphia Black Mafia or is this history that should be swept under the rug?

For more information on the American Gangster series, click here.

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