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00:00New York in the early 20th century.
00:09Some of the most notorious criminals in history would start their lives of crime here.
00:14But few would rise from real poverty to power.
00:18To take on not only the law, but the entire system.
00:22And even the mafia itself.
00:26A ruthless racketeer.
00:28This is why we got here.
00:30And one of the most feared and respected bosses.
00:35Who became a legend.
00:42In her own lifetime.
00:46Who's next?
00:58In the early 1900s, crime was very much a white man's game.
01:19But in her own backyard, the Queen of Harlem didn't just play it.
01:25She ran it.
01:26Bombings.
01:28Beatings.
01:30Bodies in alleyways.
01:33Harlem bled.
01:33But she never bent.
01:36A warlord in pearls.
01:39To her allies, she was a legend.
01:42To her enemies, she was lethal.
01:47But why don't we know the name?
01:51Stephanie St. Clair.
01:52She is from Guadalupe, and she was born in the 1890s.
02:06She was the daughter of two working class people.
02:11Her dad died when she was about 10 or 11 years old.
02:14And she was raised by a single mother.
02:16She was relatively well-educated for a child growing up in the French West Indies.
02:22Her mother died at a young age, meaning that she was left alone at maybe age 12 or 13.
02:27Perhaps that's what pushed her to migrate to the Northern Hemisphere.
02:32So much of her early years are shrouded in mystery.
02:36One account has it that after her mother died of TB,
02:40she was forced to become a housegirl at a sugar plantation,
02:43but ran away at 13 after having killed the owner's son,
02:49who had repeatedly raped her over the years.
02:52Another account has it that she didn't kill him,
02:55but that while he was passed out drunk from rum,
02:58she emptied his pockets, ran to the docks,
03:01and jumped on the first boat out, heading anywhere.
03:09Travelling virtually alone on a steamship for weeks
03:12left women or really a young girl open to theft,
03:17open to kidnapping, open to assault.
03:20It would not have been an easy journey
03:21and without a clear sense of what's waiting on the other side.
03:26All we know for certain is that
03:27she arrived in North America in 1911.
03:31There were few opportunities for immigrants,
03:37much less for a young black woman
03:39from a non-English-speaking island in the Caribbean.
03:45She migrates to New York City
03:47to work as a domestic worker.
03:50You are hired to scrub and clean
03:52and feed a white family
03:54and also care for their children.
03:56No woman wants to do domestic work
03:58just because of, you know,
04:00how abusive that job can be.
04:03Stephanie Sinclair hardly talks about that early life,
04:06and I think that's purposeful.
04:08There are differing accounts
04:12of how she would make her first entry
04:14into New York's criminal underworld.
04:18One says that she starts dating a drug dealer
04:20and is working for him
04:22until he gets shot
04:23and she flees.
04:25A pimp
04:25who tries to force her into prostitution
04:28until Sinclair buries a fork in his eye.
04:33Allegedly.
04:34So this is the world
04:38where Stephanie Sinclair finds herself.
04:42And New York is going through
04:43one of the biggest changes it's ever known.
04:49A lot of Southern African Americans
04:52had made the decision to go to the North
04:54and specifically New York
04:55for better business opportunities,
04:57but also to escape the racist tensions
05:00of the Jim Crow era in the South.
05:02And for a lot of these Black Americans,
05:04the journey in North ended in Harlem.
05:10Harlem was called the Black Mecca.
05:14African Americans from various parts of the world
05:17are bringing different customs,
05:19traditions,
05:21ways of knowing,
05:22ways of life,
05:23and bringing those things to Harlem.
05:25It's difficult to comprehend
05:29just how hard life would have been
05:31by then for Stephanie.
05:33We know all too well
05:34that Black Americans
05:35were being subjected
05:36to appalling racial discrimination.
05:40Slavery is still in living memory
05:41and sadly attitudes
05:43hadn't changed all that much.
05:46It was almost impossible
05:47for Black people
05:48to even open bank accounts
05:50or secure housing.
05:52And even when they were able to,
05:54the conditions were so poor
05:56they were almost unlivable.
05:58We even have evidence
06:01of Black folks
06:02in the early 1910s
06:03and early 1920s
06:04sleeping in shifts.
06:06So you might all be renting
06:08one bed in one room
06:10and somebody has it
06:12for the day shift,
06:13somebody has it
06:13for the night shift
06:14and you switch back and forth.
06:17Everybody was piled
06:18on top of each other
06:19which made for hard times
06:21but also a lot
06:22of community building.
06:24And then also
06:24police brutality is rampant.
06:27You would be walking
06:28down the street
06:29and you'd be stopped
06:31by a police officer.
06:32They would start
06:32to search you
06:33if you talked back,
06:34if you happened
06:35to have anything on you.
06:36You were in for a beating
06:38and being put in jail.
06:41What's incredible
06:42is that even amongst
06:44all this hardship
06:45and discrimination,
06:47the brutal police repression
06:49and segregation,
06:51creativity found a way.
06:57When we think about Harlem
06:59during the 1920s,
07:00we tend to think
07:01about the Harlem Renaissance,
07:03that cultural expression
07:04where artists, musicians,
07:06actors, painters, sculptors
07:08are using art as a vehicle
07:11to really challenge
07:12race, gender and class
07:13discrimination,
07:15racist caricatures,
07:16racist silent movies
07:17like the film
07:18Birth of a Nation
07:19which comes out in the 1910s.
07:20So Harlem is this incredibly
07:23vibrant cultural epicentre,
07:25a real phenomenon.
07:27It's around this time
07:28that Stephanie St. Clair
07:29made her mind up
07:31that she wants more.
07:36But those economic hardships
07:38weren't going anywhere.
07:41How is someone like Stephanie
07:42supposed to change her lot?
07:44For Harlem's poorer population,
07:48there was really
07:49only one option
07:50to strike it rich.
07:54The numbers game
07:55was like a people's lottery
07:56in a time when black people
07:58weren't even allowed
07:59bank accounts.
08:00What you want?
08:00Give me 500, will you?
08:01More 500?
08:02309.
08:03309.
08:0478.
08:0578.
08:06591.
08:07Players would write
08:08their lucky three-digit numbers
08:09on slips of paper.
08:11And runners would run
08:12these slips
08:13in their bets
08:14between the gamblers
08:15and the bankers.
08:17The winning numbers
08:18were chosen
08:18from the last three digits
08:20of the daily trading totals
08:21of the New York Stock Exchange,
08:23which, crucially,
08:25made the game impossible
08:26to tamper with or fix.
08:29So the New York Clearinghouse
08:30is a financial institution
08:32and it handles
08:33millions of dollars every day.
08:35And then they publish
08:36in the paper,
08:36like yesterday we handled,
08:38you know,
08:38$57,982,431.91.
08:42And so the 431,
08:45those three digits
08:45before the decimal point,
08:47that becomes
08:48the New York number.
08:49Hitting the number
08:50is huge for anybody.
08:52That gives you
08:53the opportunity
08:53to take care of oneself
08:55and one's family.
08:56So if you hit the number,
08:58you know,
08:58your rent is paid
08:59for four months.
09:01The numbers game
09:02was something
09:02that everyone
09:03could get involved with.
09:05And Stephanie Sinclair
09:06wanted a piece
09:07of that pie.
09:09But the question is,
09:11how is it going to change
09:12Stephanie Sinclair,
09:13the house cleaner,
09:15into Stephanie Sinclair,
09:17the mob boss?
09:23Prohibition in 1920
09:24would change the course
09:26of the nation's history.
09:29The entire country
09:31would ban the sale
09:32and production of alcohol
09:33to try and curb
09:34the social ends.
09:36Prohibition lends itself
09:38to the creation
09:40of Harlem
09:40as a sort of
09:41vice district.
09:43The police funnel
09:44the illegal alcohol
09:45activity
09:46into this particular
09:48neighborhood.
09:49The police are willing
09:50to allow illegal activity
09:52to go on,
09:53provided that they
09:54themselves get a cut.
09:57An association emerges
09:58between Harlem
09:59and vice activity.
10:02You know,
10:02that's part of why
10:03you would see something
10:04as common as people
10:05taking bets
10:06on the street corner.
10:07The prohibition racket
10:08was controlled
10:09by the mafia,
10:10which meant dealing
10:11with legendary mob bosses
10:12like Lucky Luciano,
10:15Joe Maciara,
10:17and Arnold Rothstein,
10:19the gangster
10:20who allegedly rigged
10:21the 1919 World Series.
10:24The black community
10:25was cut out
10:27of prohibition entirely,
10:28so they created
10:29something of their own.
10:30So who was
10:34Stephanie St. Clair?
10:36Well, at this point in time,
10:38she wasn't really anybody.
10:39But all that
10:41was about to change.
10:46The numbers game
10:48is an illegal game
10:49anyone could play,
10:51which could change your life.
10:53A people's lottery,
10:55of sorts.
10:55Pretty much anybody
10:57can start taking bets
10:59as long as they've got
11:00either the cash
11:01to pay out winners
11:02or the moxie
11:03to chance their arm
11:04until they build up
11:05a big enough pot.
11:08With no start-up costs
11:10and few overheads,
11:11it's easier to see
11:12why it's so appealing
11:13to the city's
11:14working classes.
11:16Eventually,
11:16these central figures
11:17come to be called
11:18bankers, right?
11:19People with a large enough
11:20pool of money
11:21that they could pay out
11:22multiple wins
11:23on a given bet.
11:25It was a way
11:26for black people
11:26to enter the banking system,
11:28a way for money
11:29to be generated.
11:30The numbers game
11:31was something
11:31that everyone
11:32could get involved with,
11:34everyone could play,
11:35and there was
11:36the potential of winning.
11:37And Stephanie St. Clair
11:39wanted a piece
11:40of that pie.
11:44In 1922,
11:46Stephanie St. Clair's
11:47fortunes took
11:48a dramatic turn.
11:50She managed
11:51to accumulate
11:51$30,000,
11:53a huge sum
11:54for the era
11:54and more than enough
11:56to launch
11:56her own numbers operation.
12:00Ted Poston,
12:01a journalist at the time,
12:03did offer one theory.
12:04Stephanie herself
12:05was a numbers player.
12:07According to Poston's research,
12:10St. Clair hit the number
12:11and used her winnings
12:12to set up
12:13her own policy job.
12:16It's very unique
12:17for a woman
12:19and a black person
12:20to run
12:21an illegal operation
12:22because African Americans
12:24at this particular time
12:26are supposed
12:27to be confined
12:27to certain stations
12:28in life.
12:30She's really stepping
12:31out of the boundaries
12:32of race.
12:34She's entering
12:35into a male-dominated space.
12:37No one is doubting
12:39that men
12:40historically
12:41outnumber women
12:43in nearly all types
12:44of crime.
12:45So people like
12:45Stephanie St. Clair
12:46who climbed the ranks
12:47were rare.
12:51In the numbers racket,
12:53the collection
12:53and enforcement
12:54were essential
12:55in dangerous jobs.
12:57Runners carried
12:58large amounts of cash
12:59through city streets,
13:00making them prime targets
13:02for thieves.
13:02If you were a collector,
13:05this meant knocking
13:06on doors
13:07where you might
13:08not walk away.
13:09There were no courts
13:10to turn to,
13:11only street justice.
13:15One of the things
13:16that's really interesting
13:17is that it seems
13:18like she used
13:19other people,
13:21particularly men,
13:22to keep her hands clean.
13:24She is metting out
13:25punishment,
13:26she's putting down
13:27and making sure
13:28that you don't defy her,
13:29but she's not doing
13:30these acts themselves.
13:32One of the most
13:33significant people
13:34that would work
13:35with Stephanie
13:35was Bumpy Johnson.
13:39He would later
13:40become the godfather
13:41of Harlem,
13:42but right now
13:43he's the toughest
13:44enforcer.
13:46We can see here
13:46from civil records
13:48that he was born
13:49Ellsworth Johnson
13:51in Charleston,
13:52South Carolina
13:53in October 1905.
13:57He'd eventually
13:57become Stephanie's
13:58right-hand man.
13:59You know not
14:05to cross her
14:05because you hear
14:06stories of what
14:07happens when you
14:08take her money.
14:09You hear stories
14:10of what happens
14:11when you try
14:11to scam her
14:13or fudge the numbers
14:14or not pay up
14:15when it's your turn.
14:17And that includes
14:18her using her
14:19right-hand man,
14:20Bumpy,
14:20in order to be
14:21an enforcer.
14:23Men didn't work
14:23for women,
14:24but here you had
14:25Stephanie Sinclair
14:27who had men
14:28working for her,
14:29men answering to her.
14:32Bumpy apparently
14:32said Stephanie was
14:34one woman he would
14:35never cross.
14:40Bumpy met out
14:42punishment in the
14:42form of beatings,
14:44taking people's lives.
14:46Without Stephanie Sinclair,
14:48there'd be no
14:48Bumpy Johnson.
14:50And without Bumpy Johnson,
14:52you wouldn't get
14:53legendary gangster
14:54Frank Lucas.
14:55And so the Queen
14:58of Harlem gave
14:59birth to these
15:02demigods,
15:03these secular
15:04gangster gods.
15:07By 1928,
15:10Stephanie's reputation
15:11as a woman not to be
15:12crossed had spread
15:14through New York.
15:16Stephanie Sinclair,
15:17during the late 1920s,
15:21lived at 409 Edgecombe,
15:23which is in Sugar Hill
15:24in Harlem.
15:26And this is a
15:26neighborhood and a
15:27building where some
15:29of the most prominent
15:30Black elite folks
15:31lived.
15:33On the one hand,
15:34she is respected
15:35in her community,
15:36but a lot of people
15:37don't think that she's
15:38a respectable person
15:40because she was
15:41engaged in illicit
15:42trade.
15:43She certainly was
15:45a lady in a lot
15:46of ways,
15:47but she also was
15:48a criminal.
15:50Stephanie decided
15:52to get her own voice
15:53out there,
15:54to let the people
15:55of Harlem know
15:56who she really was
15:57and for whom
15:59she was fighting.
16:01Black newspapers
16:02become this sort
16:04of venue
16:05for Black people
16:07to learn about
16:08various things
16:08happening across
16:10the country.
16:11And in New York City,
16:13the New York Amsterdam
16:13News is the paper
16:15that Sinclair turns
16:16to to kind of air
16:18out her grievances
16:19about, you know,
16:20the state of Harlem,
16:21the state of Black
16:22New Yorkers,
16:22and also about
16:23the police.
16:25And her ad
16:25is particularly stunning
16:26because on this ad,
16:28Stephanie Sinclair
16:29always has an image
16:30of herself.
16:33Although very few
16:34photos of her survive,
16:36we can see the image
16:37was incredibly important
16:39to Stephanie.
16:40She never allowed
16:41herself to be photographed
16:42without her hair,
16:44her makeup,
16:45her clothes,
16:46so perfectly styled.
16:49Stephanie Sinclair
16:50loves the media.
16:51She's a really
16:52flamboyant person.
16:54It's not a mystery
16:55who she is.
16:56She wants people to know.
16:58She is dressed to the nines.
16:59Her hair is done.
17:01She always has
17:02a fur coat.
17:03She has, you know,
17:04jewelry.
17:05I mean, she's just
17:05looking like, you know,
17:06a 10.
17:08She liked to be seen
17:09and seen looking well.
17:12She commanded space.
17:14She was a queen.
17:15When she stepped out
17:17in Harlem,
17:18every picture that you see
17:19of her in the newspaper,
17:21she's dressed from head to toe.
17:22She's got fine jewels on.
17:24She's walking slowly
17:26to make sure
17:26that you know
17:27who she is.
17:29It certainly is something
17:31that all people
17:32who do what she does
17:33typically engage in,
17:35which is this costume.
17:36And I think that shows
17:37status and power.
17:38And she needed to show
17:39that to people
17:40to maintain her position.
17:42She wanted to wear
17:43nice clothes,
17:43and she enjoyed that.
17:44It also is very much
17:46a part, though,
17:46of that uniform,
17:48that sense of power
17:49and control.
17:50I'm in control.
17:51Take me seriously.
17:53I'm playing the same game
17:54that you guys are playing.
17:55So whereas it was mostly
17:57men playing that game,
17:59I think her costume
18:00was needed
18:01to help her
18:02have that armor
18:03to step into the arena
18:04and do what they were doing
18:05and kind of match them as well.
18:07A few miles north of Harlem,
18:09in the back streets
18:10of the Bronx,
18:11an ambitious young gangster
18:13was casting an envious eye
18:14towards Stephanie's grip
18:16on the Harlem numbers racket.
18:18And his name
18:19was Dutch Schultz.
18:23He was described by Edgar Hoover
18:25as public enemy number one.
18:27The mob couldn't even handle him.
18:29He was a loose cannon.
18:30In time,
18:31their rivalry
18:32would become one
18:32of the fiercest
18:33and bloodiest
18:34in New York gangland history.
18:37Stephanie wasn't just
18:38fighting for herself.
18:39She was fighting
18:40for her whole community.
18:43She was a boss
18:44who made a fortune
18:45but gave back.
18:46Gave back to the community.
18:48If someone needed
18:48a hospital bill paid,
18:50she would do it.
18:51She wanted to keep
18:53the money within Harlem.
18:54The public viewed
18:56Stephanie St. Clair
18:57as a very shrewd woman
18:58who had a very nasty temper.
19:00But she also had
19:01a nurturing side.
19:02She was a huge champion
19:03of her community,
19:05which is shown
19:06by the number of people
19:07that she employed
19:08into the business.
19:09She was an activist
19:10for Black Advancement.
19:12She educated her community
19:13about their rights.
19:14She would speak out
19:15about discrimination.
19:17And the fact that
19:18she was so loyal
19:19to her community
19:20meant that this was
19:21returned to her.
19:22So it was a sound strategy
19:24that paid dividends
19:24to her business.
19:26And I think that's largely
19:27the reason that
19:29she was able to run
19:30such a successful operation
19:32that was at the height
19:33able to bring in
19:34$200,000 a year.
19:36$200,000 a year in 1928
19:40would be worth
19:42over $3 million today.
19:45As the money starts rolling in,
19:47so too do the corrupt cops
19:49who all want a cut.
19:53At this particular time,
19:54the NYPD is very corrupt.
19:57You have officers
19:58who are involved
19:59in various vice rackets,
20:01the numbers rackets,
20:03the paid enforcement rackets.
20:06Police officers are involved
20:08in the sex trade.
20:10Some officers are known
20:11to assault, harass physically,
20:15sexually Black New Yorkers,
20:17especially African-American women.
20:19Anyone who wanted to be a criminal
20:23and had any sentence
20:24was going to pay off the police
20:26so that they could go about
20:27their business in a relatively
20:29inconspicuous fashion.
20:31St. Clair did this.
20:32However, she also spoke out
20:35about the police
20:36and especially how much
20:37they were harassing
20:38her employees and herself.
20:40And therefore,
20:41her actions were very closely
20:42followed all throughout her reign.
20:44In 1929,
20:46she was arrested
20:48for possessing policy slips,
20:49which is considered
20:51to be a very trumped-up charge.
20:55She does not hide
20:56that she is a banker.
20:58She actually testifies
20:59that she's a banker.
21:00And she only does that
21:02because she wants
21:02to expose the police.
21:04So as early as 1929,
21:06you know,
21:07she's talking about,
21:08I'm a banker,
21:09but at the same time,
21:10I was not supposed
21:10to be arrested
21:11because I paid for protection
21:14from the NYPD.
21:15She wrote these open letters
21:17saying,
21:18I've paid my ICE.
21:20You know,
21:20now ICE was the kickbacks
21:22which you gave to the police.
21:24So for her,
21:26it's exposing herself,
21:27but she's definitely
21:28going to put it on the record
21:29that the NYPD is corrupt.
21:31In 1930,
21:37police corruption in New York
21:39was so widespread
21:40that President Roosevelt
21:42ordered Judge Samuel Seabree
21:44to lead a public investigation.
21:49During that investigation,
21:51I proved that corruption
21:53existed in many
21:54of the departments
21:55of the city government.
21:57And all of those departments
21:59were honeycombed
22:00with political appointees.
22:04Stephanie Sinclair
22:06got before the Seabree Commission
22:07to testify about
22:09ICE rackets
22:10and the participation
22:12of the NYPD in them.
22:16Due to her testimony,
22:18over a dozen police officers,
22:20including a lieutenant,
22:21were then suspended
22:21from the NYPD.
22:23She was definitely fearless.
22:26She stood up
22:27to corrupt NYPD blue.
22:29I mean, for anyone,
22:30let alone a black woman
22:32at that time,
22:34to literally be pointing out
22:36corrupt police officers
22:37in court,
22:38naming and shaming them.
22:40In a lifetime,
22:41a bold moose.
22:44That one might have been
22:45the boldest.
22:46Although Sinclair had managed
22:51to get the NYPD
22:52off her back,
22:54she still had the problem
22:55of an ambitious
22:56and aggressive gang
22:57from the Bronx
22:58trying to muscle in
23:01on her turf.
23:04Prohibition
23:04is repealed,
23:07leaving boatleggers
23:08like Dutch Schultz
23:10looking for new ways
23:11to make money.
23:11And what could be
23:13more appealing
23:14than muscling in
23:15on the lucrative
23:17numbers game?
23:19Dutch Schultz especially
23:19was known for
23:21making bold moves
23:22to take over
23:23the bootlegging game
23:24in the Bronx.
23:25And he was using
23:26those same tactics
23:27to take over
23:28numbers game operations
23:29in Harlem.
23:30But Stephanie Sinclair
23:31said no.
23:33And Harlem
23:34was about to become
23:36a war zone.
23:43New York, 1933.
23:47Prohibition is repealed
23:49and America celebrates.
23:51But as the liquor
23:51flowed,
23:52so too did the blood.
23:55Among the many
23:55gangsters Stephanie
23:56had to deal with,
23:58none were more vicious,
23:59more ruthless
24:00than one of the city's
24:01biggest bootleggers.
24:03Notorious
24:04for torture and murder.
24:06Dutch Schultz.
24:11Dutch Schultz was not
24:13known for his gentle
24:14ways with the opposition.
24:15He and his mob
24:16kept New York City
24:17in a constant state
24:18of violence
24:18and bloody gunplay.
24:20This was the face
24:21that struck terror
24:21in rival mobsters.
24:24His real name
24:25is Arthur Flegenheimer.
24:27He was born
24:27in the Bronx.
24:29Eventually becomes
24:30a bootlegger
24:31for several crime families
24:32in New York City.
24:34He was so successful
24:35at that that he's known
24:36as the beer baron
24:37of the Bronx.
24:39And he also made money
24:41through paid protection.
24:44Dutch Schultz was a
24:46notorious, ruthless mobster
24:49who made his fortune
24:51during Prohibition.
24:54Schultz had made a name
24:55for himself
24:55by removing obstacles
24:58in his way
24:59and those obstacles
25:00were people.
25:02He would torture people,
25:04he'd have people killed.
25:06Dutch Schultz is estimated
25:08that at the height
25:09of his success
25:10was bringing in
25:11about $20 million
25:12a year,
25:13which for that time
25:14is a huge, huge sum of money.
25:16So when Prohibition ended,
25:20obviously gangsters
25:21then were looking
25:22at other ventures
25:23to make up
25:24for these lost profits,
25:25which were ginormous.
25:29During the early 1930s,
25:31we see many
25:32white racketeers
25:33whose funds
25:34have dried up
25:35because Prohibition
25:36is over
25:36look for new avenues
25:38of income
25:38and the numbers game,
25:41at one point
25:41it was seen as
25:42the welfare clients,
25:44Wall Street,
25:45it was called,
25:46you know,
25:46the N-word pool.
25:48You know,
25:48this is a game
25:49that only blacks play,
25:51this is a game
25:51that's not profitable.
25:53But once many
25:54of the black racketeers
25:55started getting arrested
25:56and some of their revenue
25:58was printed
25:58in newspapers,
26:00white racketeers
26:01like Schultz
26:02wanted to get
26:02into that game
26:03and many of them
26:05started to force people
26:06out of the business.
26:08Dutch Schultz
26:09had power
26:10and he had the support
26:11of people like
26:12Jimmy Hines
26:13who was at Tammany Hall
26:15political machine
26:16democratic boss.
26:17He was a huge,
26:18huge threat
26:19and that's why
26:19so many people
26:20rather than
26:21try and fight him
26:23just succumb
26:24to his wishes
26:25whether that be
26:26paying him
26:27a portion
26:27of their business
26:28or handing it over
26:29entirely.
26:31And Stephanie Sinclair
26:32was one of his targets
26:33and she was like,
26:35no.
26:36and with that
26:40all hell broke loose.
26:43Harlem
26:44was a war.
26:46You can go anywhere
26:47in America
26:47but you're not
26:48coming into Harlem.
26:50Harlem is ours.
26:51Harlem
26:51is for black people.
26:53Stephanie said
26:53she'd resist
26:54any attempt
26:55by Schultz
26:56to breach
26:57her borders
26:57and she did.
27:00Schultz
27:00sent in his soldiers
27:01armed enforcers
27:05who used intimidation
27:06beatings
27:09bombings
27:11and murder
27:11to muscle in
27:13on St. Clair's territory.
27:16But as well as
27:17fighting back
27:17with her own
27:18network of gangsters
27:19she was well ahead
27:21of her time
27:21when it came
27:22to the weaponization
27:23of public opinion.
27:25The beef
27:26between those two
27:28really on St. Clair's
27:29part is a public beef.
27:32Both of them
27:33make this about
27:34saying things
27:35about one another
27:36in the newspaper.
27:38Stephanie Sinclair
27:39is quick to go
27:40to the New York
27:41Amsterdam News
27:42which is a black
27:43newspaper
27:43and talk about Schultz
27:45and other white
27:46racketeers
27:47coming into Harlem
27:48and taking over
27:49this game.
27:50And of course
27:50wanting to project
27:51a sense of toughness
27:53and wanting to
27:54really keep
27:54what she's grown
27:56she's like
27:57no.
27:59Stephanie said
27:59I'm not afraid
28:00of Dutch Schultz
28:01or any other man living.
28:03He'll never touch me.
28:04I am sane
28:05and smart
28:05and fearless.
28:07She went to the newspapers
28:09and wrote articles
28:10calling for anyone
28:12who is buying
28:13a numbers ticket
28:14to buy black.
28:16This in many ways
28:18is a form
28:18of economic nationalism.
28:20If whites are treating
28:21you in particular
28:22types of ways
28:23you should not
28:24do business
28:24with these people.
28:26So challenging Schultz
28:28in the newspaper
28:29is just one
28:30of a variety
28:31of ways
28:31that Sinclair
28:32speaks out
28:33against white
28:34encroachment.
28:37The rivalry
28:38between Dutch
28:39and Stephanie
28:40would escalate.
28:43Dutch
28:43once sent
28:44an underling
28:45to intimidate her.
28:46Sinclair
28:47pushed him
28:47in the closet
28:48and told her bodyguards
28:50to quote
28:50get rid of him.
28:53She dramatically
28:55walks through Harlem
28:57and goes to white businesses
28:59which serve as numbers
29:01drops for white racketeers.
29:04And she goes
29:04into those businesses
29:05she trashes the place
29:07and essentially tells
29:09the white business owners
29:10to get out of Harlem.
29:12You know,
29:12this is a black game.
29:13This really causes
29:14a spectacle
29:15in some of these stores.
29:17Legend has it
29:18that at some point
29:19she even had to go
29:20into hiding
29:20because he had put
29:21a hit out on her
29:23and she retaliated
29:24in kind
29:25both in print
29:26and on the streets.
29:28She refused
29:29to let this man
29:31walk over her
29:32and take her business
29:33that she'd worked
29:34so hard for
29:35and that was
29:35so successful for her.
29:38She waged
29:39an all-out war.
29:41It's estimated
29:42that it's responsible
29:43for about 40 murders.
29:46She fed information
29:48to the police
29:48about Schultz's operations
29:50and due to this
29:51they were able
29:52to infiltrate his house
29:54and seize $12 million
29:56of his money
29:57and arrest
29:58a lot of his employees.
30:01She went toe-to-toe
30:02and I know
30:02so much of the violence
30:04is vilified.
30:06I think we've got
30:07to remember
30:08that we're talking gangsters.
30:10You couldn't go
30:11to small claims court.
30:12This wasn't a civil matter.
30:14People had to
30:16work out their grievances
30:17on the street
30:18and we're talking
30:19millions of dollars.
30:21I think it's great
30:22that she stood up to him.
30:24But Dutch Schultz
30:25was soon to get
30:26his comeuppance
30:27for defying the commission,
30:28the governing body
30:29of organized crime
30:30in New York.
30:32Dutch Schultz
30:33was being prosecuted
30:34for tax evasion
30:36by district attorney
30:37Thomas Dewey.
30:39Bracketeers succeed
30:40only so long
30:41as they can prey
30:42upon the fear
30:43or weakness
30:44of disorganized
30:46or timid victims.
30:49He'd asked
30:49the organized crime commission
30:50if he could kill Dewey.
30:53They unanimously
30:54denied the request
30:55for fear
30:56of bringing
30:57the full weight
30:57of the government
30:58down on all of them.
31:00But Schultz
31:02put the hit out
31:03on Dewey
31:03regardless.
31:06Here was
31:06the loose cannon
31:07of Dutch
31:08doing what he wanted
31:10again.
31:12So the commission
31:12hired
31:13Murder Inc.
31:14to take Schultz
31:16out.
31:20Murder Inc.
31:22or the syndicate
31:22was an organized
31:23crime group
31:24that acted
31:24as the enforcement
31:25arm of the commission.
31:27Led by Charles
31:28Lucky Luciano
31:29Mayor Lansky
31:32and Bugsy Siegel.
31:35Incredibly,
31:36they were responsible
31:37for between
31:38400 and 1,000
31:40contract killings
31:41in that period alone.
31:47It's 10.15pm
31:49on October 23rd,
31:501935.
31:52Dutch Schultz
31:53is in the restroom
31:54of one of his
31:55favorite restaurants,
31:57the Palace Chop House
31:58in Newark.
31:58New Jersey.
32:01Two gunmen,
32:02Charles Workman
32:03and Mendy Weiss,
32:05burst through the door
32:06and opened fire.
32:09The commission
32:10took no chances.
32:12They needed
32:13Dutch dead.
32:14The gunmen
32:15intentionally used
32:16rusty bullets
32:18to increase the chances
32:19to increase the chances
32:19of sepsis
32:20and infection
32:21in case the gunshots
32:23themselves
32:23were not fatal.
32:25Wanting to have
32:26the final word,
32:28Stephanie
32:29immediately sent
32:30a telegram
32:31to her enemy
32:32on his deathbed.
32:34Signed,
32:35Madam Queen
32:35of Policy.
32:37It read,
32:37as you sow,
32:39so shall you reap.
32:43This is Galatians 6-7.
32:46All the evil
32:46that you have sowed
32:48and placed upon
32:49myself and others,
32:51you're reaping that now.
32:52I think when Stephanie
32:55sent the telegram,
32:57it shows
32:58really that she's
33:01going back
33:01to her true values.
33:03This is someone
33:04who is always fighting
33:05for the underdog.
33:06This is someone
33:06who has that strong
33:08moral sense
33:09of what is right
33:09and what is wrong.
33:11And she's just
33:12reminding that person
33:13of his wrongdoing
33:14as her final word
33:16to him
33:16so that he is
33:18reminded
33:18of really
33:21where he's going
33:21to go after
33:22the moment
33:23he takes his
33:23last breath.
33:26As you sow,
33:28so shall you reap.
33:31It's poetic justice.
33:34And with no more
33:36battles left to fight,
33:38Stephanie St. Clair
33:39got out of the game,
33:41passing her empire
33:41on to her trusted
33:43enforcer,
33:44Bumpy Johnson.
33:46And you might think
33:48her story ended there,
33:49but she would soon
33:50cross paths
33:51with a man
33:52known on the streets
33:54as Black Hitler.
33:55And this time,
33:57things would get personal.
34:01It's 1935
34:03and Stephanie St. Clair's
34:04main rival,
34:06Dutch Schultz,
34:07is six feet under.
34:08With the turf wars over,
34:10Stephanie would step back
34:11from the numbers game,
34:13ready to enjoy her fortune
34:14and live a quiet life.
34:16But her peace
34:18wouldn't last long.
34:20She would fall
34:20straight into the arms
34:22of Sufi Abdul Hamid,
34:24a man the press
34:24would later call
34:25Black Hitler.
34:28Sufi Hamid,
34:29whose real name
34:30is Eugene Brown.
34:31And Eugene Brown
34:32was a Chicago
34:33political activist
34:35who migrates
34:36to New York City.
34:37He was a religious leader
34:40and a union leader
34:41and he had a preference
34:42for Nazi-style military dress
34:45and also he was
34:47very anti-Semitic
34:48and thus he earned
34:49the nickname Black Hitler.
34:53Like St. Clair,
34:54he was trying to advocate
34:57for black advancement.
34:59So he organized
35:01a lot of boycotts
35:02of white shops,
35:03a lot of white Jewish shops.
35:05He was a very flamboyant,
35:07a very controversial figure.
35:08His persona
35:09is very large in life.
35:11This is someone
35:11who preaches
35:12from the corner
35:14of 135th Street
35:15and Lenox Avenue
35:16with black riding boots,
35:19you know,
35:19colorful pants,
35:21a white shirt,
35:22a really long cape,
35:24a really big turban,
35:26and he has a really
35:27massive beard.
35:28This would be a person
35:29that you would stop
35:30and actually listen to,
35:32right,
35:32just not based upon
35:34necessarily what he's saying
35:35but just based upon
35:36the way he looks.
35:38They were a power couple,
35:39you know,
35:40they were a power couple
35:41stomping around Harlem
35:42and I think this was
35:43really good
35:44for her mythology
35:46and her brand.
35:47Here was someone else
35:48who was speaking out
35:50as vociferously
35:51as she did
35:51but it seems like
35:53Sufi was only with her
35:54for the money.
35:56And whilst he may have been
35:57flamboyant
35:58and eye-catching,
36:00his anti-Semitism
36:01was toxic
36:02and stirred up
36:04ill-feeling intentions
36:05with nearby Jewish districts.
36:08The marriage lasts
36:10for about two to three years.
36:13There is an alleged affair
36:14between Stephanie Sinclair's friend,
36:17Dorothy Matthews,
36:18who is a famous
36:19Harlem occult leader.
36:22So Stephanie Sinclair
36:24wants to confront him
36:25She waited for him
36:29when he was going
36:30to meet his lawyer one day,
36:32stood in the hallway
36:33and shot him three times.
36:36The first shot,
36:38he's hit in the mouth,
36:40cracked tooth.
36:41The second shot
36:42goes through his coat jacket
36:44and the third shot
36:46goes over his head.
36:47In a subsequent trial,
36:49Sinclair said that he had been
36:51treating her very poorly
36:52and that he'd been
36:53having the affair,
36:55but that also,
36:56her handling the gun,
36:57which she claimed was his,
36:58was only meant to scare him
37:00rather than actually
37:01meant to shoot him.
37:02She's arrested,
37:03she's indicted,
37:04and she's prosecuted,
37:06and she's given
37:06two to ten years
37:07at the Westfield State Farm
37:10in upstate New York.
37:11As Stephanie starts
37:14her second stint
37:16behind bars,
37:17Hamid,
37:18who survived the shooting,
37:20tries to make a comeback,
37:22but news of the affair
37:23did major damage
37:25to his messianic image.
37:27What a character Hamid was.
37:30He ends up trying to prove
37:31to his followers
37:32that he's not leading
37:33a life of excess,
37:35and the way he chooses
37:36to do that
37:37is to publicly
37:38fill up the fuel
37:40for his private airplane himself.
37:43He ends up crashing the plane
37:44and dying
37:45because he hadn't put
37:47enough fuel in it.
37:51After Stephanie Sinclair
37:53comes out of prison
37:54in the early 1940s,
37:57we really don't know
37:59a lot about her.
38:02The New York Amsterdam News
38:04suggests that she lived
38:05in seclusion
38:06and traveled
38:08to the Caribbean.
38:10There's another ad
38:11that suggests
38:12Stephanie Sinclair
38:12was hospitalized
38:13at a mental institution
38:16in central Islip,
38:18Long Island.
38:20She also appears
38:22in the late 60s,
38:24when she would have been
38:25about 77,
38:27in a court document
38:29where she accuses
38:31a van driver
38:32of knocking her down.
38:34She got $2,000,
38:35which is equivalent
38:36to about $15,000 today.
38:39And I think
38:40why I like that story
38:42is because she had also
38:44bought a house,
38:45but in terms of the records,
38:49she wasn't really able
38:50to keep up payments.
38:51And so it seems like
38:53even at 77,
38:56she'd do what it takes
38:58to get that money.
39:00When the money
39:00is issued to her lawyer,
39:02all of these creditors
39:03come after the money.
39:05This is a person
39:06who has a rags-to-riches story
39:09and seemingly,
39:11towards the end
39:11of her life,
39:12has a riches-to-rags story.
39:16Stephanie Sinclair
39:17is an extraordinary story.
39:21From being a maid
39:23to a crime boss
39:24to an activist.
39:27Stephanie was someone
39:28who really fought
39:29to see change
39:30actually happen.
39:32And not only that,
39:33but she fought for that
39:35at a time
39:36where she would have been
39:37bearing the brunt
39:39of a lot of force
39:40against her
39:41to stop her
39:42from doing that.
39:43So it wasn't something
39:44that she was able
39:44to speak really openly
39:45and freely about.
39:46She was never one
39:48to resist writing
39:49an editorial
39:50and placing it
39:51in a magazine
39:51or in the local newspaper
39:53where she decried
39:55the police ignoring
39:56the civil rights
39:57and the legal rights
39:58of black people
39:58in the community.
39:59She talked openly
40:00and often
40:01about the ways
40:02in which black women
40:03endured assault
40:04at the hands of the police.
40:05She rallied black people.
40:07They were talking
40:08about what it meant
40:09to be black in America
40:11at a time
40:12when black people
40:12were finding their voice
40:14and not only
40:14did she find her voice,
40:16she lived her voice.
40:18What started as
40:19a desire
40:20to grow her own empire
40:23became a way
40:24to give back.
40:26A genuine desire
40:27to see black Americans
40:29lifted up.
40:30Now that to me,
40:31that says something
40:32fascinating
40:33about human nature,
40:35about solidarity.
40:38You practice it,
40:39you know,
40:40no matter what the reason,
40:42it becomes who you are.
40:44I think one of the reasons
40:46that Stephanie St. Clair
40:47is not remembered
40:49and ensconced in history
40:51the way others are
40:52is first and foremost
40:53because she was a woman.
40:55We often don't preserve
40:56the histories
40:57and contributions
40:58of women in general
40:59at the same rate
41:00that we do with men
41:01and certainly not black women.
41:05Folks like Stephanie St. Clair
41:07have been marginalized
41:08or excluded
41:09from history books
41:12because there's a tendency
41:13to kind of spotlight
41:14and become really preoccupied
41:16with those who
41:17were doing the striving,
41:19like those who were
41:20what we would call
41:21a credit to the race.
41:23But even within that,
41:24more and more scholars
41:25are looking at
41:26the complex lives
41:27of working class,
41:28ordinary black people.
41:29I think there's a tendency
41:32now to explore
41:33those people
41:34who've lived
41:35more complicated
41:36and more layered lives.
41:41Perhaps the legacy
41:42that Stephanie leaves behind
41:44is that
41:44despite all of the discrimination,
41:49there's something unyielding
41:51in the human spirit,
41:53a refusal to accept
41:55the hand you've been dealt.
41:56I think part of her legacy
41:59is persevering
42:01over really tough obstacles,
42:04especially when
42:05you're kind of born
42:06into a world
42:07where you're not supposed
42:09to thrive,
42:11let alone survive.
42:13Why isn't Stephanie St. Clair
42:15better known today?
42:17Would she be
42:18more widely remembered
42:20if she'd been white
42:22or a man?
42:24Or is it because
42:25she knew when to quit?
42:26I will never know for sure,
42:30but perhaps
42:31we should let her
42:34have the last word.
42:36Many persons
42:37have said that
42:37they're afraid for me
42:38and that I should be careful.
42:41I'm not going to be
42:42any more careful
42:43than I have been.
42:44Please have no fear for me.
42:46I have no fear of anybody.
42:48I'm going to continue
42:49to fight
42:50until the members of the race
42:52get their just
42:53and legal rights.
42:54she was the O.G.,
42:57the original gangster,
43:00black queen,
43:02badass.
43:04they've got so much things
43:15to say right now.
43:17they've got so much things
43:29to say right now.
43:32They've got so much things
43:34to say.
43:38They've got so much things
43:40to say right now.
43:42they've got so much things
43:43to say right now.
43:44They've got so much things
43:45to say right now.
43:46They've got so much things
43:47to say right now.
43:48I'll never forget to know
43:50where they crucified Jesus Christ.
43:52Are they crucified Jesus Christ?
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