Original subtitles

[Frank] So, you're the Joe Colombo

I've been hearing so much about.

Folks saying you the shit.

If you go into business with me, you'd be owning Harlem.

- You killed a made man... - [shouts indistinctly]

and then you fenced his ring?

What, you gonna feed me to the wolves?

Your time's up, Country.

Fuck this guy. He's gotta go.

You think you got Bumpy in your pocket, huh?

Check again. He playing you.

All right, I'm gonna let you live, on one condition.

I need to know everything

that's happening on the streets of Harlem.

- Elise, right? - Yeah.

Sadiq. Pleasure to meet you.

[Elise] I joined the Panthers.

Have you lost your goddamn mind?

The Panthers are the only ones helping the community right now.

What do you have against them?

Nothing. I just don't want to see you arrested.

I can take care of myself.

[screaming, sobbing]

Malcolm's killers will pay.

You do that, you gon' have to answer to Bumpy Johnson.

Turn him loose!

I am thrilled to be considered

for the New York Fine Arts Board.

I think bringing the real Harlem to the museum

is exactly what we need.

Thank you all for coming

to the groundbreaking for Club St. Clair.

[men chanting] ...union town.

I made arrangements with the necessary parties

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

I'm a union boss, and we don't got no arrangement.

Only Negro workers?

You're living in fantasy land, brother.

[Bumpy] Some fantasies are worth fighting for.

[sighs]

[door closes]

[dog barking in distance]

Fucking Sally "Beesh" and Joe "Fig"

are light this week.

[Vinnie] Yeah. I'll talk to them.

Yeah, tell 'em it better not fucking happen again.

[clears throat] Well, what do you want?

Frank Lucas is here to see you.

Frank?

All right, send him in.

Hey! Look who it is.

What happened?

Some more Genovese duji fell off a truck?

Nah, I ain't that lucky.

What? You just missed my smiling face?

Not quite.

Look, man, I'm wondering if you got some work for me.

[chuckles]

Work?

What, this look like a fucking employment office to you?

Look, it's my old lady, all right?

She likes certain things, man.

Certain things cost money.

[inhales deeply]

All right, yeah, I understand.

What's her name?

You got some work for me?

Have him collect from Sally and Joe.

No. You know what? I got somethin' better...

somethin' more in your lane I could use a hand with.

Yeah, what's that?

Well, Bumpy Johnson broke ground on his site uptown in Harlem.

Somehow, he found a concrete company

not under my influence.

[rips paper from book]

I need you to go talk to the owner.

Guy's name is Earl.

Tell Earl that he owes me a G a week

for as long as he pours for Bumpy.

And if he don't pay?

Well, then, you don't get paid.

Well, let's make sure he pay, then.

That's the idea, Frank.

[ship horn blowing, traffic sounds]

[Frank] Your name Big Earl?

I am, boy. Who's you?

My name Frank.

I work with Mr. Joe Columbo.

Oh. You mean you work for him.

What you want, man? It's been a long day.

I'm ready to get home to my old lady.

I'm guessing you know how this work.

Now, like, Joe only want one G from you a week.

Now, he gonna be sending me down here to get it from you now.

I'm being shaken down by my own kind.

Fuck this world coming to?

Look, you're paying a lot less

than a lot of other motherfuckers now.

Listen to me, boy.

I ain't ever paid shakedown money.

Know why?

I'm sure you gon' tell me.

'Cause when you were swimming around in your daddy's balls,

I was putting bullets in Nazi heads.

Yeah, protecting this country so shitbags like you

could see the light of day.

Now, you go tell your boss I want a G a week from him

for saving his spaghetti-shitting ass

from eating schnitzel for the rest of his life.

[exhales deeply]

How much you got on you?

All right, look, whatever you got, man,

could be a down payment... [grunts]

Yeah, mm-hmm. Yeah.

Get the fuck off my goddamn lot!

I'll kill you if I see you around here again, you hear?!

I said, you hear?!

Aah! Shit! Ah! The fuck you gone done?

Put your fucking hands on me.

- [grunts] - [shouts]

You fucking... Oh, you fucking punk!

Oh, goddamn it! [moans]

[theme song playing]

[choir] ♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Change ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

[Swizz Beatz] ♪ Open up my window again ♪

♪ Open up my window again ♪

♪ I can hear death Calling my name ♪

♪ I can hear death Calling again ♪

♪ I swear to God, Things ain't gon' change ♪

♪ I swear to God, things Ain't gon' change ♪

♪ I keep a revolver With your name ♪

♪ I keep a revolver With your name, just in case ♪

[Rick Ross rapping] ♪ Lay on my Back watching the ceiling fan ♪

♪ I had a dream To touch a kilogram ♪

♪ Still at odds With the Irish mob ♪

♪ Rolls-Royce down Malcolm X Boulevard ♪

♪ Lord, these... really Out here preying on me ♪

♪ Got the .40 on me And His hand on me ♪

♪ Snow-white mink Like I'm Dutch Schultz ♪

♪ Run the books and let me show You how the numbers look ♪

♪ You can't be lucky Like you Luciano ♪

♪ The kilos slammin' Like they new pianos ♪

♪ Fat Boy got the big body ♪

♪ Coast to coast, I can shoot product ♪

[Swizz Beatz] ♪ Open up my window again ♪

♪ Open up my window again ♪

♪ I can hear death Calling my name ♪

♪ I can hear Death calling again ♪

♪ I swear to God, Things ain't gon' change ♪

♪ I swear to God, things Ain't gon' change ♪

♪ I keep a revolver With your name ♪

♪ I keep a revolver with Your name, just in case ♪

[indistinct conversations]

Bring it in.

[indistinct conversations continue]

Look at that! At this rate, we'll be over by summer.

You really think Bumpy gon' make it happen, huh?

- What did you say? - You heard me.

Every time he about to break free,

they put something else in front of him.

Nat, you ever known Bumpy not to do what Bumpy say he gon' do?

No, no, I ain't never heard Bumpy say something,

then that something don't happen. No.

Then shut the fuck up. It's a beautiful fucking sight.

Look around you.

Got nothing but brothers up in here.

Brothers doing the demo, brothers digging ditches,

brothers pouring the cement.

Yeah, yeah. From Brother Earl in Trenton.

[laughs] Earl,

the only motherfucking Negro in the Tri-State area

with a cement yard. [laughs]

[laughs] I gotta give you that one, man.

Earl is one tough, hard-headed brother.

Almost as hard-headed as you.

What that supposed to mean?

Well, if being hard-headed was a sport, you had a trophy case.

- What? - [laughs]

- We got a fucking problem! - What?

- What the fuck is it? - Come on. Follow me then.

Excuse... Move, move, move.

What's going on?

[indistinct conversations]

♪

No fucking way.

[Chance] Earl!

[man] This is so fucked. Damn.

You did good work, kid.

Hey, let me ask you somethin'.

You really put the guy inside the mixer?

Can't say I too much remember.

Ah! This kid... he catches on quick.

Yeah, he's a keeper.

So, who the fuck do you think you are?

I tell you when it's time to leave.

[sighs]

As I was saying,

I could always use a kid catches on quick.

What do you say,

you wanna come on board with me, more permanent?

Got a lot of stuff I need managed uptown.

With all due respect, Mr. Colombo,

I ain't come up from Goldsboro

to be nobody's house nigga.

You see, I comes out here to make it on my own.

[snickers]

Nobody makes it on their own.

Everybody needs friends.

[sighs] Sooner or later, you'll find that out.

Probably sooner, as stubborn as you are.

But hey, hey, look, I ain't gonna force you to work for me.

This is America, after all,

you know, the land of opportunity.

I offer you an opportunity, you're too dumb to take it,

none of my business.

Well, I appreciate you understanding, Mr. Colombo.

Now, if you've got any day work, you know where to find me.

Well, good luck out there on your own.

As long as our interests don't conflict.

[clears throat] But if they do...

yeah, I know where to find you.

Now you go.

Five minutes.

[indistinct conversations]

[door closes]

Well, look at this.

I joined the Black Panther Party.

What do you think?

I like it.

Brings out your natural strength, confidence.

I've been trying to see you for a while.

All they'd say is you were in the infirmary?

Well, apparently, they like to keep an eye on a gut wound

in case it turns septic.

A gut wound? My daddy swore that...

Your daddy wasn't behind it.

In fact, what I understand, he's the reason I'm alive.

[sighs]

So, they finally gonna move you someplace with special housing?

It don't matter.

Words out now Bumpy Johnson's behind me.

Makes me the safest man in this joint.

[sighs] Thank God. I can't lose you, too.

Elise, I don't want you to come see me anymore.

- What? - I respect the fact

you joined the Black Panther Party.

It's time to move on with your life.

You're part of my life.

I'm a part of this now, and you ain't.

I'm not gonna abandon you.

You know what it's like to see you in here?

To see what I know I'll never have?

Thank you for everything.

Don't come back.

[door closes]

[cries softly]

[Chance] They killed Earl. Stuck him in a cement mixer.

Damn.

[sirens wailing in distance]

Earl had a family, kids?

- What you do for 'em? - What you want?

You reach out to his wife?

Not yet.

Where's she living? In, uh, Jersey?

Yeah. East Orange.

I want you two to drive out there tomorrow

and give her 10 grand.

Ask her if there's anything she needs.

Yeah. Okay.

So... who killed him?

Chin's out of town, so I'm guessing Joe Colombo.

Me, too.

The question is, what are we gonna do about it?

The other question is where we getting concrete now?

You got any thoughts about that?

Remember Jackie Henderson?

He used to manage fighters out of Gleason's for a while

until they took his license for that nasty Benny Paret business?

Oh, yeah.

Well, he bought into a batching plant in Flushing.

Well, that's our next move.

[sighs]

What?

These Guineas... you keep cutting 'em out,

they're gon' keep cutting us up.

You want me to make a deal with 'em

after all we've been through? - Way of the world, Bump.

White man got his fingers in every pie, no matter what it is.

How we gon' change that?

No one ever has.

Reach out to Jackie in Flushing, see if he wants to make a deal.

Where you gon' be?

Telling Colombo that if he keeps fucking with our concrete,

then I'm gonna fit him for a pair of concrete shoes.

[door closes]

[indistinct conversations]

[billiard balls clacking]

I'm afraid I wasn't at my best last time we met.

You mean when I gave you your life?

It's good to see you again.

You wanna tell me why you called me here,

or you expect me to guess?

Watch your fucking tone.

I understand that Joe Colombo had you whack some poor sap

from Philly and stick him in one of his own concrete trucks.

Oh. Can't say I know nothin' about that.

But if you did...

If I did...

[sighs] I left you breathing

so that you could keep me one step ahead.

How come we gotta hear about this all secondhand?

Ah, I told you we should have greased this fucking clown.

And we will grease this fucking clown

if he ever tries this shit again.

You know, you think you can play both sides against the middle.

That's just gonna get you a shallow grave

on the Eastern Parkway, you hear me?

Oh, I'm listening.

So, Colombo's trying to muscle in

on Bumpy's construction project.

The thing about Joe Colombo...

he don't think he owe me any explanations.

Just hired me for a job.

But you're still in tight with him?

- As far as it goes. - What the fuck does that mean?

It means there's a limit to how much Joe will trust a Black man.

Makes sense.

Won't trust a nigger any more he would a woman.

'Cause women are soft?

I guess you're right,

'cause if we ever hear about Colombo secondhand again,

Pino's gonna wanna cut off your balls,

stuff 'em in your mouth.

Me? I'll just have you killed fast and easy.

I warned you about Campanella leaking your union books,

and this is how you repay me? - Get the fuck outta here!

You and that cocksucker Chin got me 13 months in Greenhaven.

Seems to me I'm still the one who ought to be getting paid.

The guy you killed is a citizen, Earl Brantley.

You know, a working man.

You don't want a player tackled, keep him off the fucking field.

What's it gonna take, Joe, to get you out of my way

so that I can get this thing built?

I told you.

I want a piece.

And I'm telling you, let this one be.

If it ain't me, it's gonna be somebody else.

Project this big, Vegas in Harlem?

Nobody goes it alone.

I said I'd stay out of the uptown duji business.

This is what I expect in return.

- This is what you expect? - That's right.

You know, look, I've...

I've always respected you, Bumpy.

Okay, we've had our differences,

but I respect the way you carry yourself.

And I respect the way you always make money.

What I cannot respect

is you not wanting to share.

Let me be clear, Joe, so that there's no mistakes.

If you don't want trouble, stay away from me,

stay away from my people.

[sighs]

[Charlotte] James Baldwin?

Agnes at MoMA can't even get him to tour the museum.

[Mayme laughs]

And you managed to get him to do a reading.

Well, I told you, James is an old friend.

Well, the board is simply over the moon.

The tea... it's called chamomile.

I'm aware.

Do you know what he plans to read?

He hasn't told me yet, but we're having coffee to discuss it.

It should be something more visceral,

something that captures the raw essence

of the Harlem ghetto.

Shocking, but hopeful.

I'll be sure to tell him.

This is delicious.

Chamomile.

[dishes clink]

[horns honking in distance]

[birds chirping]

Hey, Daddy.

Hey there, little one.

I wanted to thank you for watching out for Omar.

Of course.

Y'all figured out a way to bail out your Panther friend?

We got her.

Should I ask where you raised the money?

Not if you don't wanna know.

[clicks teeth]

You gotta stop running with these radicals, Elise.

They're gonna end up getting you killed.

I'd rather die fighting than wait

for some trigger-happy cop to kill me 'cause

I ain't kiss his ass right. - You wanna talk about pigs?

I had my head split open in the basement of the 2-7

long before you were ever born.

I know that.

That's why I thought you, of all people, would understand.

I do.

So, you agree with the Panthers' mission,

but you don't want me to be a part of it

'cause I might get hurt. - Damn right.

Didn't you teach me the worst thing

a person could be was a hypocrite?

[sighs] You're my little girl.

I almost lost you before to the needle.

I couldn't take losing you again.

♪

I love you, Daddy.

[whispers] Love you, too.

But this fight... it's bigger than us.

Look, if you're gonna keep hanging out

with these militants,

you're not gonna be welcome at the house.

I can't have this around Margaret.

You're gonna have to make a decision.

No. I don't.

- The community is listening. - [knock on door]

Every morning... Answer the door, answer the door.

Don't do that. Don't do that now.

Every morning, people are bringing you...

Look, we gotta win hearts and minds.

Hey, girl.

I was worried we spooked you off.

What happened with your other life?

What happened is we got Afeni out.

You think there's room for me to crash here a while?

I don't see why not.

The more the merrier, isn't that what they say?

Yeah. They're talking about next steps.

So, then, I don't know... I don't think y'all thinking...

You're missing the point about what our objective is here.

[Jamal] No, no, listen. Listen. Listen.

No one's doubting the importance of the school programs.

I just said we gotta do something

that's gonna make people notice.

They are noticing.

They are noticing as soon as we go on the offensive,

we are not only giving those pigs more reason

to come down on us... - Mm-hmm.

We alienate our white allies like The Village Voice...

Man, fuck The Village Voice!

Fuck them white, liberal motherfuckers.

We are a self-defense collective,

not a paramilitary organization.

That's the point right there.

We're talking about a symbolic action.

- We not aiming to kill anyone. - Hey, look here.

Fella I know talking about some crackers

trying to sell some explosives.

Military grade.

Enough to turn the 2-7 precinct house

into a "symbolic" parking lot.

Ain't nothing symbolic about explosives, Sadiq.

We barely had enough money to bail her out,

and now you talking about buying explosives?

Do you hear yourself?

Who said something about buying?

Oh, so robbing explosives?

[laughs] Guys, guys, we agreed to table this

until after the summit with Oakland.

And now I wanna untable it.

Look what they did to you.

All I'm asking is, what we gonna do about it?

[Jamal] Don't make this about her all of a sudden.

I'm as angry about it as you are.

Bombing them, though,

is only gonna give them an excuse to fuck us up.

They don't need an excuse.

They lock us up for nothin',

put away innocent men for the rest of their lives.

Nobody ever has to answer for it.

What do you mean? Y-You're supporting this?

Violence is the pig's only language.

They need to know that we're for real.

Must have learned that from her father.

[Afeni] Hey.

- Stop, stop. - Somebody gotta say it.

[Elise] Maybe I did.

♪

Let's put it to a vote.

♪

[Jackie] Tell Bumpy I'm sorry.

[Pettigrew] Bumpy don't wanna hear sorry.

Well, what's he want to hear then?

[Chance] He wants to hear "yes."

Hey, what am I supposed to say?

You're supposed to say you'll sell us concrete.

Do you think I ain't heard about the last guy

y'all talked to supply you,

how he ended up in the back of his own mixer?

Come on, man, what do I say

when Joe Colombo spots my trucks in Manhattan?

Afraid we're gonna have to insist.

Oh, come on. Man, I've been doing business with Bumpy

since I first started out in the fight game,

and never once has he insisted I take an offer.

Desperate times, I guess.

What, so now I gotta choose who I'm more afraid of,

y'all or Joe Colombo?

Man, this ain't no way to do business.

What if we paint the trucks, swap out the plates?

Colombo can't tell they're yours.

But Joe Colombo's got long tentacles.

He could suss out Jackie's trucks are doing the job.

Man, why you always gotta shit on my ideas?

'Cause your ideas are shit.

What if we didn't need your truck?

If we just wanted the concrete, would you sell it to us then?

What's good the concrete you can't get it where you need it?

Let us worry about that.

[horns honking]

[footsteps approach]

Woman, you look as fine as fish sticks.

- [laughs] - Where are you headed?

I'm going to see Jimmy Baldwin,

tell him Alice Bradshaw has some "thoughts"

about what he's reading at the gathering tomorrow.

[laughs]

He'll love that.

I hope you didn't wear that dress for Baldwin, did you?

It'd be an awful waste.

I noticed, um,

Elise packed her bags and left.

She can come back as soon as she's done with those radicals.

I can't have that stuff around Margaret.

Ellsworth,

Margaret is already around all that stuff.

I mean, in school, in the newspapers, on television.

Do you understand that by kicking Elise out,

you're actually making her more exposed to danger?

And what's gonna hurt Margaret more,

if Elise dies as a Panther or lives here as one?

I don't want her to die anywhere.

I know, and I personally think

the Panthers are going about things the wrong way, but...

Maybe Elise would rather live for something

than die for nothing.

- See you later. - Okay.

[footsteps depart]

So, uh, what do you mean you never drove a truck before?

Now, when the hell would I ever had to drive a cement truck?

It's just like a car, except everything's slow and heavy.

Plus, your blind spots are really blind.

Fuck it, I'll figure it out.

None of which matters a lick

until we get through this chain link.

He could climb over the razor wire,

ram through the fence on our way out.

Driving over a chain link and razor wire

might snag one of the axles.

Besides... I came prepared.

Ahh!

[dog barking in distance]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the phone, baby.

Something that captures the raw essence of the Harlem ghetto?

Shocking but hopeful?

Those bitches got another thing coming.

- [Mayme] James. - More coffee?

Yes. Thank you, Delia.

Mnh-mnh. You've had enough.

And you still owe me $20 from Rosa's poker night.

[chuckles]

Delia, Delia, Delia, Delia, Delia.

[R&B music playing on jukebox]

♪

I need you to mind yourself.

Stay away from controversial topics, just this once.

The New York Fine Arts Board

is a very influential group of people.

Ain't it the truth?

I imagine that's why you're trying so hard to get on it?

I am trying to get on it to help Black artists,

present company very much included,

get the recognition they deserve.

You know how much talent in our community never gets seen

or heard in wider circles?

No. Tell me about it.

[exhales]

You know those white bellies don't want change.

They just wanna feel noble 'cause they rub elbows

with us pitiful Negroes up here in the jungle.

Well, this pitiful Negress is begging you to err

on the side of hopeful, not shocking.

Let's not offend those white bellies.

♪

Mayme Johnson...

you are the bee's knees.

[both laugh]

[siren wailing in distance, traffic sounds]

[Afeni] Where you going, girl?

I'm... not sure.

[horn honking in distance]

It's bad manners.

Vote for a call of action,

and then bail before you come to.

Might call that chickenshit.

Look, I respect what we're doing here.

You know I do. But my daddy is right.

I go to prison, it ain't just me that suffers.

My daughter.

We're doing this for your daughter

and for the children to come.

You were the one who said bombing is wrong.

[sighs] Look, Elise,

when I first joined the party,

I was flip-flopping around, just like you.

It just takes some time to get used to the idea of revolution.

I'm just confused, is all.

Omar, my kid, my daddy...

it's all just a jumble in my head.

When your daughter was getting whupped by the school,

who had your back?

Just keep the faith with us, sis.

- Yeah, I got that. - How's it going?

We're making good time.

Odds are we're finished by sundown.

That's good.

Junie ain't never drove a truck before today.

He never drove a truck before?

Shit, I'm a fast learner.

[Chance and Pettigrew laugh]

Don't worry about it.

He ain't gonna be driving into the city anyway.

- How come? - Black driving a cab?

Colombo makes him as soon as they cross the bridge.

Who are we gon' get to drive 'em?

That's my next stop.

Hey, hey.

[sighs]

What?

Backing down don't always make you a coward.

Sometimes it just makes you smart.

You really don't think I can beat these Guineas, huh?

Shit, since I was 22 years old,

I seen you do things I didn't think could be done.

So, what's the problem then?

You get your dream built. Vegas in Harlem.

People from the hood are gonna be staring up

at Bumpy Johnson's empire,

touching the sky, thinking,

"What else could be possible?"

Who's gonna be thinking about what kind of piece

Joe Colombo got? No one's even gonna know.

- I'll know. I'll know! - That's pride.

You bet your ass it is.

We putting a lot on the line for your pride.

He's gonna come after you hard, and you know it.

You want out? Just say so. Just say so.

Not me. I'm with you till the end.

My man.

Just saying, you ain't gotta jump off a cliff

just to prove you ain't scared of heights.

You're asking us to go against Joe Colombo.

You are against Joe Colombo.

Last I checked, you're the Genovese Family, right?

If we give you union drivers for the cement,

Colombo will find out.

It'll cause a war.

- So, we gotta be careful. - What's in it for us?

I figure anything that's against Joe Colombo

is a win for you.

I don't know how many times I got to say this.

I got out of the duji game.

Your old man... he'd understand the value of that.

My old man, who hates your fucking guts,

you think mentioning him helps your case?

He hates my guts, but he always ended up siding with me.

You know why?

Because he knew that he could trust me.

I advise you to do the same.

- You're giving us advice now? - Yeah, why not?

All right, look.

We'll give you the drivers because we make more money

with you as our friend than our enemy.

But if Colombo finds out, we're both fucked.

So, we gotta make sure that he don't.

[gun cocks]

Remember, the more they believe you're really ready to kill him,

the less likely they are to make you prove it.

You're talking about robbing an armory.

We need explosives, and we ain't got money to buy 'em.

What choice do we got?

Look, y'all asking for trouble.

There'll be military police all over the place.

And we'll be ready for those motherfucking mean-green MPs.

I scouted the place.

The west gate only got one guard.

You got any idea how many tons of ordnance

the Army's sending to Vietnam every day?

We pluck one box, and we gone. Nobody's the wiser.

Look, all I'm saying is, I hope it don't end up

like the last time with one of us in jail.

You got a better idea, college boy?

A chemical company.

What, we fitting to get the ingredients,

mix it up ourselves like a cake? [laughs]

No, they got dynamite there

for demolition projects, stuff like that.

Dynamite? At a chemical company?

Ain't really chemical. They do extermination.

Yeah, and how you know all this, sister?

Because...

it belongs to my father.

[door squeaks]

[door closes]

[clears throat]

Sit the fuck down.

I don't know why you called me back.

I ain't talked to Joe Colombo since the last time we spoke.

You will.

He's gonna be sending you after some of my union drivers.

When? Why?

When he finds out they've been delivering concrete

to Bumpy Johnson. I don't want our people hurt.

Might put you in a sweet spot.

If Joe Colombo, Bumpy Johnson going at it,

you get to stay everybody's best friend.

Let us do the thinking, smart guy.

Let me get this straight.

You want me to protect your drivers?

Hey, give him a fucking prize.

For a fee, of course.

Where they hauling Bumpy's concrete from?

Flushing. I'll give you the address.

♪

Fuck us around, screw this up...

I'll be waitin'.

You gon' be waiting on me?

I don't know if that's the date you want.

Hmm. Careful, nigger.

Genovese Family ain't all broads.

[Charles Hodges' "There is Love" playing]

He really say all that?

Yeah, he want me to know how tough he is.

[scoffs] Like a school kid playing Al Capone.

[chuckles]

So, then he really ain't all that tough.

Nah, he plenty tough,

but he ain't calling no shots.

See, Chin Gigante's daughter... she running the show.

Get the fuck out. A woman?

[laughs] See, this ain't no regular woman now.

[chuckles]

That's Chin flesh and blood.

And Pino... he the underboss.

Chin Gigante's daughter.

I don't know, Frank, you in biz with all these Italians.

You playing with fire.

I ain't scared of no fire.

♪

I done seen what fire can do.

♪

But this time... this time I'm gon' do the burning.

♪

I'm gon' burn 'em all down, we gon' see who left standing.

♪

♪ There are many loves ♪

♪ That lives on in history ♪

♪ But the love of all time Is yours ♪

♪ And, uh, And what it does to me ♪

♪ There's no one ♪

♪ Like my love for you ♪

♪ Oh, for you ♪

I got somethin' for you,

but we gon' have to get a couple things straight first.

What the fuck is this?

You come in here making demands?

I ain't got no demands for you.

I just wanna make sure we clear where we stand.

Now, that offer you gave me about looking after

your interests uptown, I gotta admit,

I probably said no a little too quick.

My gran always said I ain't had great patience.

That offer still on the table?

Yeah, I don't know, Frank.

I don't usually reopen negotiations,

you know what I mean?

It ain't good business, you know?

[lighter clicks]

[sets lighter down]

[exhales] I tell you what, just out of curiosity,

what made you change your mind?

[sighs]

You gon' wanna know what I know.

But when I tell you,

it ain't gon' be safe for me out here on my own.

It ain't gon' be safe for you on your own.

Jesus, who would have seen that coming?

Safe from who, Bumpy Johnson?

The Genovese Family.

Stella Gigante.

What about her?

She playing the hell out you.

Now, she helping Bumpy Johnson backdoor you.

Look, like I said,

when I tell you what I know, I'm gon' need protection

'cause she gon' know it came from me.

Okay.

Congrats, you're on the payroll.

You work for me now.

Let's hear it.

I know where Bumpy Johnson getting that concrete.

Almost ready?

For what?

The reading.

Jimmy Baldwin, the New York Fine Arts Board.

Don't tell me you forgot.

I got business.

No.

What?

I said no, not today.

I told you how important this was.

Alice Bradshaw wants to meet my husband,

and last I checked, that's you.

Mayme, I'm due in Flushing at 4:00. It's really important.

And what I'm doing isn't?

Can you just give up your damn business for one afternoon,

or am I, as usual, on the bottom of your priority list?

You know that what I'm trying to build

is not just about me, right?

And the New York Fine Arts Board isn't just about me.

Ellsworth, I am trying to crack open a door

for those coming behind us.

And if that means I have to sit there grinning

for some downtown ladies, then so be it.

Now, are you in or are you out?

- Okay. I'm going. - Thank you.

What's Baldwin gonna read?

Something positive.

- Excuse me, folks. - Yeah, come on in.

You ready, Bump? Junie's out front with the car,

Nat's on his way with the rest of the guys.

I want you to go with Nat.

Leave Junie here to drive us.

- You sure? - Yeah.

Call me from the road when you got it all loaded.

Stella's drivers are on the move.

All right.

So, ready to go?

You know, I had issues with my daddy,

but I ain't never tried to rob him.

This ain't about my father. This is about the cause.

You think he gon' see it that way,

robbing dynamite from his business?

Deep down, I think he supports what we stand for.

[chuckles] All right.

Well, I'm looking forward to reading his thank-you note.

Here's hoping he don't sign it with no straight razor.

I'm gonna share something with you

from my new book this evening.

This is a crowd with an authentic concern

for all of us authentic people of the authentic ghetto.

I figured I'd tell you

what that ghetto's authentically about...

the jungle,

shocking... but hopeful.

What is this?

[whispers] A nightmare.

In the jungle, you're eating, or you're getting eaten.

In the jungle, ain't no such thing as go along to get along.

In the jungle,

the Black man has historically been forced

into a position of sacrifice for the sake of a society

that continually marginalizes him.

In the jungle, sacrifice is a perilous path.

Excuse me, Miss Johnson.

We're supposed to pick up something for my father.

Nobody told me.

I'm telling you.

Need any help?

That's why I brought him.

For precisely at the moment you develop a conscience,

you find yourself at war with society.

The power of the white world

is imperiled whenever a Black man refuses

to accept white society's definitions.

And the more a country is determined to remain white,

the more it will become hostile to everyone who is not white.

[door squeaks]

In the jungle, the sacrifices you make

to fight for civil rights and equality

put you at the very threshold of death's door.

Perhaps the time has come

for Black people to arm themselves against this terror

before it's too late, hmm?

At war with society,

the victim who is able to understand the situation

of victimhood is no longer a victim.

They are a threat.

All right, I'll have Louie show you

where to pull the trucks in. Where's Bumpy?

At a book reading.

Man, get the fuck outta here, man.

All right, we'll check the consistency of the mix,

and then we'll be ready to load. All right?

[gunshots]

[Pettigrew] Oh, shit!

Take cover!

With which Negroes are treated in this country

cannot be overstated,

no matter how unwilling white society is to hear it.

[gunfire]

[Pettigrew] Watch your left, watch your left!

Stay down, stay down!

[gunfire continues]

[grunts]

Oh, shit!

We must take a stand against the brutalization of the people

as a fight for our survival and our dignity,

regardless of the sacrifices it may take.

- [gunfire] - [grunts]

[bullets ricochet]

Ignorance matched with power

is the most dangerous enemy justice can have.

The time has come for Black people to fight back!

[gunshots]

In the jungle,

every day is about striking a balance

between self-preservation and self-sacrifice.

And surely, surely,

the most dangerous creation of any civilization

is the man who has nothing left to lose.

- Come here! - [grunts]

- Die, motherfuckers! - [gunshot]

Chance, on your left!

[gunfire]

[gun clicks]

Damn, man.

In the jungle,

sacrifice is often the cornerstone

of self-preservation,

which brings us to the central question...

how much of yourself can you sacrifice

before there's nothing left to preserve?

- [gun cocks] - I think your luck done run out.

Which means, in no uncertain terms,

the white man's heaven is the Black man's hell.

Get in! [grunts]

[engine starts, car doors close]

Fuck!

Shit!

Shall we give it a test?

Are you ready?

If white America does not address the systemic racism

and oppression of Black people...

there will be an inevitable uprising in the jungle.

Oh.

A fire stoked with the kindling of hatred.

A conflagration fed

by the accumulated rage of frustration

from centuries of oppression.

The fire outside, do remember,

springs always from the fire inside.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Alice, I am so sorry.

I wasn't expecting him to...

Wasn't it brilliant?

Brilliant.

I think it's the best thing he's written in ages.

Do you agree?

I do.

And the board? [stammers]

Did the rest of them like it?

Ah, they were enchanted.

Mayme, darling, I'm almost certain

you're about to be a member of our board.

Nat, what are you...

Hey.

Alice, this is Nat Pettigrew.

He's one of my husband's drivers.

Pleased to meet you.

Hey, boss, I need to talk to you.

Excuse us for a moment.

You lost your mind, running up in here like that?

Look, Bumpy. We have a serious problem.

What is it? What's wrong?

It's Chance.

♪