A Mob Boss Starts a Movement
HISTORY This Week
The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios
4.5 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2021
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
June 28, 1971. It’s the second annual “Unity Day” rally at Columbus Circle in New York City, organized by the Italian American Civil Rights League. Joe Colombo is the very public face of the League, a group that actively fights discrimination and ugly stereotypes against the Italian-American community, such as their association with organized crime and the Mafia. The problem? That same Joe Colombo is a leader of the Mafia, one of the heads of the “Five Families” in New York. It’s an open secret; many people across the city know who he really is, and the FBI is hot on his tail, trying to catch him in the act. On this day, Colombo’s dual life—as a media-facing advocate and as an underground criminal—will come crashing down in a violent display.
Special thanks to Don Capria, co-author of Colombo: The Unsolved Murder; Selwyn Raab, veteran Mafia reporter and author of Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires; and Geoff Schumacher, vice president of exhibits and programs for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The History Channel, original podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | History this week, June 28, 1971. |
| 0:11.0 | I'm Sally Helm. |
| 0:14.0 | It's hot and humid in New York City, a festive summer morning. |
| 0:19.0 | At Columbus Circle on the southwestern corner of Central Park, vendors are hawking |
| 0:24.0 | sandwiches and gelato and cold orange sodas to the gathering crowd. |
| 0:29.0 | 40-foot plastic banners in red, green, and white flutter beneath a statue of Christopher Columbus. |
| 0:36.0 | In fact, the colors of the Italian American flag are everywhere, on penance, on hats, on buttons |
| 0:45.0 | that read Kiss Me, I'm Italian. |
| 0:48.0 | The rally will begin at noon. |
| 0:51.0 | It's the second annual Unity Day celebration, sponsored by the Italian American Civil Rights League. |
| 0:58.0 | They're concerned with fighting discrimination against Italian Americans and combating stereotypes. |
| 1:05.0 | They say, not all Italian Americans are mafiosos. |
| 1:09.0 | For most of us, the godfather isn't real life. |
| 1:13.0 | And the thousands of people at this rally are here to make their voices heard as hardworking, law abiding citizens. |
| 1:22.0 | Discrimination against Italian Americans is a real problem and has long roots in the United States. |
| 1:29.0 | But it's nevertheless ironic that the head of the Italian American Civil Rights League, the guy who really is the league, |
| 1:38.0 | is a reputed mob boss himself, Joe Colombo. |
| 1:45.0 | Colombo is there at the rally on this summer morning, creating his supporters, taking photos with politicians, |
| 1:52.0 | people call out to him as he weaves through the crowd. |
| 1:55.0 | Joe, hi Joe! |
| 1:57.0 | At around 11.45 a.m., Colombo approaches the podium to speak. |
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