Black Brothers, Inc.
The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia
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Narrated by:
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Mike Chamberlain
About this listen
The Black Mafia is one of the bloodiest crime syndicates in modern US history. From its roots in Philadelphia's ghettos in the 1960s, it grew from a rabble of street toughs to a disciplined, ruthless organization based on fear and intimidation.
Known in its "legitimate" guise as Black Brothers Inc, it held regular meetings, appointed investigators, treasurers and enforcers, and controlled drug dealing, loan-sharking, numbers rackets, armed robbery, and extortion.
Its ferocious crew of gunmen was led by Sam Christian, the most feared man on Philly's streets. They developed close ties with the influential Nation of Islam and soon were executing rivals, extorting bookies connected to the city's powerful Cosa Nostra crew, and cowing local gangs.
Police say the Black Mafia was responsible for over 40 killings, the most chilling being the massacre of two adults and five children in a feud between rival religious factions. Despite the arrests that followed, they continued their rampage, exploiting their ties to prominent lawyers and civil rights leaders.
Convictions and sentences eventually shattered their strength - only for the crack-dealing Junior Black Mafia to emerge in their wake.
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"Griffin did extensive research and backs up his claims carefully . . . If you're a crime buff, a history lover, or if you just want something fascinating to read, it's a book you can't refuse." (Terri Schlichenmeyer, syndicated reviewer and host of www.BookWormSez.com)
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In the early 1960s, uncertainty and menace gripped New York, crystallizing in a poisonous divide between a deeply corrupt, cynical, and racist police force, and an African American community buffeted by economic distress, brutality, and narcotics. On August 28, 1963 - the day Martin Luther King Jr. declared "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial - two young white women were murdered in their Manhattan apartment. Dubbed the Career Girls Murders case, the crime sent ripples of fear throughout the city, as police scrambled fruitlessly for months to find the killer.
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I Highly Recommend This Book!
- By R on 05-15-13
By: T. J. English
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The Year of Dangerous Days
- Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980
- By: Nicholas Griffin
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of The Wire, the “utterly absorbing” (The New York Times) story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s bustling cities - rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality - from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin.
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Forty Years Ago or Yesterday?
- By Anka on 07-20-20
By: Nicholas Griffin
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Tulsa 1921
- Reporting a Massacre
- By: Randy Krehbiel
- Narrated by: Kevin Meyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood District - known then as the nation’s “Black Wall Street” - was one of the most prosperous African American communities in the United States. But on May 31 of that year, a white mob, inflamed by rumors that a young black man had attempted to rape a white teenage girl, invaded Greenwood. By the end of the following day, thousands of homes and businesses lay in ashes, and perhaps, as many as 300 people were dead.
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Exceptional and
- By Heath on 03-07-20
By: Randy Krehbiel
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The Bourbon King
- The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius
- By: Bob Batchelor
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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October 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act, which put the enforcement teeth into Prohibition. But the law didn't stop George Remus from cornering the boozy, illegal liquor marketplace and amassing a fortune that eclipsed $200 million (the equivalent of $4.75 billion today). As eminent documentarian Ken Burns proclaimed, "Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil." Author Bob Batchelor has unearthed a treasure trove of untapped historical archives to cover the life, times, and crimes of the man who ran the largest bootlegging operation in America.
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Disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
By: Bob Batchelor
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Race Against Time
- By: Jerry Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jerry Mitchell
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes listeners on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the Civil Rights Movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham, and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents and found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan.
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Absolutely horrible reading
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-14-20
By: Jerry Mitchell
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Mafia Summit
- J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob
- By: Gil Reavill
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In a small village in New York, mob bosses from all over the country - Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Cuba boss Santo Trafficante, Jr., and Paul Castellano - were nabbed by Sergeant Edgar D. Croswell as they gathered to sort out a bloody war of succession. For years FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had adamantly denied the existence of the Mafia, but Robert Kennedy immediately recognized the shattering importance of the Apalachin summit....
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Something I Didn't Know
- By Kevin on 03-29-13
By: Gil Reavill
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The Bluegrass Conspiracy
- An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs, and Murder
- By: Sally Denton
- Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Kentucky blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985 - carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine - the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the US government. The story of Thornton and “The Company” he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption, is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.
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Good story if you're from the area
- By Jackie Disponette on 08-29-19
By: Sally Denton
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The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
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Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
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The Assassination of Fred Hampton
- How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
- By: Jeffrey Haas
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Uncovering a cold-blooded execution at the hands of a conspiring police force, this engaging account relentlessly pursues the murderers of Black Panther Fred Hampton. Documenting the entire 14-year process of bringing the killers to justice, this chronicle also depicts the 18-month court trial in detail. Revealing Hampton himself in a new light, this examination presents him as a dynamic community leader whose dedication to his people and to the truth inspired the young lawyers of the People's Law Office.
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Terrible narrator for a great story!!!
- By D. Rolland on 11-06-20
By: Jeffrey Haas
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American Mafia
- A History of Its Rise to Power
- By: Thomas Reppetto
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Organized crime - the Italian American kind - has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's rise - from the 1880s to the post-World War II era - that is as exciting as it is authoritative. Structuring his narrative around a series of case histories featuring such infamous characters as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, Reppetto draws on a lifetime of field experience and access to unseen documents to show us a locally grown Mafia.
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Mob at its best
- By Thomas on 02-14-23
By: Thomas Reppetto
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L.A. Noir
- The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City
- By: John Buntin
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Midcentury Los Angeles: A city sold to the world as "the white spot of America", a land of sunshine and orange groves, Midwestern values, and Hollywood stars, protected by the world's most famous police force, the Dragnet-era LAPD. Behind this public image lies a hidden world of "pleasure girls" and crooked cops, ruthless newspaper tycoons, corrupt politicians, and East Coast gangsters on the make. Into this underworld came two men - one L.A.'s most notorious gangster, the other its most famous police chief - each prepared to battle the other for the soul of the city.
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A good (but a little corny) history of LA
- By Jimmy on 10-23-12
By: John Buntin
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The Last Godfather
- The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino
- By: Simon Crittle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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As head of the Bonanno clan, Joey Massino was the last don, and ran his world with an iron hand - until he got hit with a murder rap, and turned on his own people. Here, for the first time, is his shocking true story - a glimpse inside the world of organized crime that we may never see again.
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the 6th family
- By chris torkelson on 05-16-20
By: Simon Crittle
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The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
- Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up - A New Investigation
- By: Tim Tate, Brad Johnson
- Narrated by: Lewis Hancock
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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At 12.16 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded in the service pantry of the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. A 24-year-old Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, was found holding the smoking gun and convicted of murder. That is the official history - but Tim Tate and Brad Johnson have uncovered a different story.
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Definitive Work on the RFK assassination!
- By Lisa Hardy on 09-26-19
By: Tim Tate, and others
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I was known as the traitor's daughter. When I was five years old, my father was tortured, branded with the letter Z, then beaten and left for dead. The grueling punishment for his crime was a reminder to all others who dared threaten the Russian's reign. I was the young girl left behind. A living piece of the traitorous puzzle the Russian leader tried so diligently to ignore - until I grew up. No longer could he deny how much my existence had always been intertwined with his. And in order to survive the life I was thrown into, I was forced to learn my place inside of it.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano presents the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso - from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan's mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire.
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Borderline fiction
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In the late 1970s, a string of seemingly unconnected murders had Harlem police and federal authorities at their wits' end until they realized several commonalities. The victims were all either Mafia members or potential witnesses of Mafia activity and they'd all been shot from .22 pistols traced back to a single private sale in Florida. From these details, the FBI and police were able to build a profile of a rogue sect of Mafia hitmen known as the East Harlem Purple Gang.
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Excellent for any mob enthusiast and historian
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The first and only full biography on legendary Harlem gangster, Bumpy Johnson who was depicted in the movies Cotton Club, Hoodlum, and American Gangster.
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Amazingly presented book.
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What listeners say about Black Brothers, Inc.
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- hanif prince
- 07-10-23
Good but not Great
Was familiar with a lot of the facts mentioned and found out some new information as well. The narrator kept jumping around with the characters and their involvement. I was able to keep up because I knew some of the details but sheesh if these narrators can’t put some life into it I’ll just start reading the books myself 🙄.
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Overall
- Tonia Marie
- 06-13-21
Great informative read
Loved this book, and the narrative was excellent!! I really loved how gripping it is.
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- Mannymyth
- 09-13-21
Not Impressed
Narration was dry and unfeeling. Lots of informative history but hard to keep interest.
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- Orlando
- 12-06-22
Great Story/Bad Auration
It's a great story, however authors have to understand aurators bring life to a story. Due to the aurator I found it a little hard to follow. Someone who can do accurate accents and voice inflections would do your book justice. The story prevented me from abandoning the book.
Thanks for writing it.
(A book with an aurator right for the book is "Power of The Dog", listen to it to hear what i mean.)
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- Great Reviewer
- 05-11-20
Great Reviewer
I loved it! I actually know some of the principle characters! A very informative read!
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. R.
- 07-08-24
Amazing what these cats got away with
It is baffling to me how many of these cats were multiple-murderers, some of which went to prison, “found (prison) Islam” gave themselves Islamic-sounding names, then re-interjected themselves into high level politics and presidencies of companies. I think much of the same PC stuff we deal with today played a part in them being able to do so. If Sean Patrick Griffin thought people’s fears of being called the omnipresent “R word” for having his book or making it into a movie, were unfounded in 2006, he’s got to be beside himself in the year 2024 at the weaponization and overuse of that word to the point where it has lost all meaning. Excellent book about a subject and time with little to no previous coverage.
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- Kayo
- 05-31-23
Great believable story until the author ruins it
I was excited to read the book because many of the names and faces I knew while growing up. I was just about to say 💭 how much I like the book 📗 until the appendix. The author goes on a tangent about "political correct". PC is a buzz word that turns off people. Once one starts to go on about being "politically correct" "woke" all credibility goes out the window. If I read the appendix I won't have bought the book 📗. I was expecting the facts not the trade. I just wish the author chose his words more tactfully. One can be honest without howling at the moon. I understand and know exactly what he was complaining about. It started off good then crashed
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- HappyMiMi
- 04-21-20
Not what I was expecting
Not what I was expecting...and not in a good way. The narration was very dry. I don't feel like I knew any of the people involved in any way; and in fact, had trouble remembering who was who except for maybe 2 characters. Even then I had to remind myself who they were and how they fit into the story. I don't know if it was the narration or the actual writing syle, or both. I'm sorry I wasted a credit on this one.
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2 people found this helpful