Ebony Article - Gangster Culture by William Jelani Cobb - On The Other SIde Of The Game

Very interesting article on American Gangster and Mr. Untouchable By William Jelani Cobb in the latest Ebony.
~LT

Full Article link: ebonyjet.com
The Other Side of the Game
will the real murderous hustlers please stand up
November 9, 2007
By William Jelani Cobb
In America history repeats itself but with any luck it gets better lighting and a soundtrack the second time around. In the case of New York and the heroin hustle that nearly pushed it to municipal collapse in the 1970s history has stuttered, delivering American Gangster and Mr. Untouchable to the big screen within a week of each other. Before we get to the neon, the whitewalls and the velvet-lined glory, we need a statement of the semi-obvious: Lucas and Barnes were parasitic gamesmen who pushed counterfeit bliss and real heroin to their own people by the syringeful. Whatever their business acumen and their insights into that unlit corner of American life, there is no index to properly measure the misery they midwifed.

William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D. is an associate professor of history at Spelman College. His third book, now available from NYU Press: To The Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic

Read dream hampton on American Gangster
Read a review of American Gangster
Illustration of 1984 sentencing trial of four members of Nicky Barnes' Counsel: AP/Ida Libby Dengrove