The Italians invented the Mafia. But in Philadelphia at least, the black community perfected it. There was a time in Philadelphia's history where its Black Mafia ran the streets. And despite the best efforts of both state and federal law enforcement, they simply could not find a chink in the armor of the Philadelphia Black Mafia. Through codes of strict loyalty, and violent and deadly reprisals against those so much as suspected of having spoken with law enforcement, the Black Mafia brought the nation's "No Snitching" policy to a matter of literal life or death. Case after case built against members of the city's original Black Mafia eventually fell apart as witnesses were murdered, and key figures refused to barter their knowledge of bigger fish for more lenient sentencing. There was a time in Philadelphia where the Black Mafia was believed to be untouchable, and their hold on the city's criminal underbelly unquestioned. Those days are, for the most part, behind us now.
Founded by a former Black Panther, Samuel Christian who would later change his name to Suleiman Bey upon his conversion to Islam, the Black Mafia began as the black community's answer to organized crime in its neighborhoods. They would routinely extort money from neighborhood craps games at gunpoint, or crash drug deals of other criminal groups in the city. Turning crime on the criminals worked, at first. But eventually the appeal of the money the actual crimes themselves presented proved too great, and having run most of the outside criminal activity from their neighborhoods, they assumed control of those same operations. Principally, they assumed control of Philadelphia's heroin trade, though racketeering, armed robbery, burglary, illegal gambling, and prostitution also helped to line their pockets. By the mid 70's, most of the mob's members had joined the Nation of Islam, giving them the additional sobriquet of the Muslim Mob.
At their height, their members such as Jeremiah Shabazz, claimed ownership of numerous legitimate businesses in West and East Philly. In addition, their membership had turned the local Nation of Islam Masque and Majid into a front for their criminal enterprises. The extortion demanded by one of the Imams actually led to a criminal investigation that pointed directly to corruption and a payoff made to a Democratic ward leader, and then Mayor John Street's Executive Secretary. And while both politicians and the Imam wound up in prison, that was the extent of the investigation's ability to pierce the wall of silence put forth by the Philadelphia Black Mafia. Mayor Street himself even evaded prosecution. In short, the Black Mafia had friends in high places, and for better or worse ran the streets of Philadelphia from the late 60's through to the 1980s.
After a successful federal wiretapping bust brought over 20 Black Mafia members to justice, the organization went through a period of decline. By the late 1980's, the Junior Black Mafia, formed from the children of the original members, rose to replace it. In the age of the RICO Act and a high level of cooperation between state and federal law enforcement, the Junior Black Mafia cannot ever rise to the heights of power enjoyed by their predecessors. But that's just as well. They no longer hold the hubris of thinking themselves untouchable. They're wise to the Fed's wire, and extra careful of whom they trust and for how long. They've opened their membership to independent drug dealers, expanding their market network, and remain a primary hub for heroin trafficking on the east coast, through their influence at the Port of Philadelphia, the nation's fifth largest deep water port.
Status in the Junior Black Mafia reflects your influence within your organization. The JBM is quite well organized, with members clustered around their various chiefs, holding court over varying regions and neighborhoods within the Philadelphia area. Order is kept through the strict observance of formal oaths of secrecy and loyalty. The cultural aversion to snitching already well ingrained in society helps with this, no doubt. As does the history of violence and murder when that aversion isn't upheld.
Status 1: Part One (Associates)
Status 2: Little Brothers (Members)
Status 3: Big Brothers (Ranking Members)
Status 4: Chief (Regional Leader)
Status 5: The Big Chief (Mafia Leader, Presently None)
Joining the Junior Black Mafia
As their name implies, the Junior Black Mafia tends to only attract members of African American ancestry. This is not a hard or fast rule, however, and in recent years they've opened their membership up to 'entrepreneurs' of whatever persuasion, so long as they're loyal to the JBM. The upshot of this is that status in the organization above Status 2 is limited to black characters, though membership in the rank and file doesn't require this.
With that said, if you're playing a member of the Junior Black Mob, you're not playing a Good Guy. You're playing a member of a ruthless organized crime syndicate. You can act like a boy scout. But you aren't one.
Being a member in the JBM requires the following stats:
Status (Crime: Junior Black Mafia): 1
Streetwise: 2
Gangs Specialty
Larceny: 2
Breaking & Entering or similar Specialties
The following stats are suggested, but not required.
Merits: Untouchable, Air of Menace, Contacts (Philly Mob), Allies (Philly Mob)
Theme and Society
The bad news is? Things aren't how they used to be. But the good news is that things aren't how they used to be. The RICO Act and the wire tap brought low the old heads, sure. But they've learned their lessons. Without the wire tap, or direct video evidence, that wall of silence holds. Sure, the days of big flamboyant heists and raiding local gambling halls are behind them. But that's only because of the rise of legitimate businesses, and the money to be made operating nonprofits for corrupt purposes. Drugs pour in through docks they control, protection money is paid on time, and a few paltry thousands paid to the right pockets in city hall ensure the eyes of the law are always looking elsewhere.
Things are much more businesslike these days. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the streets of Philadelphia, and drugs are the cash crop of choice. Heroin moves freely from the Port of Philadelphia, along with cocaine in its various forms. Ironically, their oversight has kept fentanyl out of the supply of heroin for large parts of Philadelphia. It's not altruism, of course. Dead junkies don't pay in cash for another hit, and in the end it's the dollar bills that are the motivator in all of this.
With no head of the organization, other mafias would be in a state of open warfare as the various factions vie for control. But that isn't happening here. In fact, it's never happened. It's not that beefs haven't arisen, or murders done to rivals in the organization. That's happened quite a bit, in fact. It's simply that those beefs tend to arise out of disloyalty or rumors of police cooperation. Warfare is bad for business. So much so that some of the original non profits combating gang violence in Philadelphia were fully owned and operated by the Junior Black Mafia!
Do you aspire to the heights of the good old days? Or do you envision your control of the streets extending as far as city hall? How much does it cost to have your own councilor in your pocket, anyway?
