What is duji in godfather of harlem?

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker stars as real-life Harlem mob boss Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, who has been portrayed in multiple films, most notably Ridley Scott’s 2007 American Gangster. Denzel Washington’s character in the movie, Frank Lucas, was a close associate of Johnson’s who took over after his friend’s death.

EPIX’s 10-episode series, which premieres Sept. 29, is inspired by Johnson’s incredible life and picks up in 1963, immediately after his 11-year sentence in Alcatraz on a drug conspiracy charge.

Upon his return, Johnson finds much has changed in Harlem during his time away. He jokes that the only thing that remains is the famous Apollo Theater.

In Godfather of Harlem, Johnson adjusts to life as a free man while simultaneously attempting to regain control of his turf, which has been overtaken by the Italian Genovese crime family—led by Vincente Gigante, played in the series by Vincent D’onofrio.

In addition to Gigante, the show depicts Johnson crossing paths with larger-than life figures from the time period, including Malcolm X (Nigél Thatch) and Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Giancarlo Esposito).

Also making appearances are a young Cassius Clay (Deric Augustine), who would later change his name to Muhammad Ali, and boxer Doug Jones (Haaron Hines).

Here is the true story behind Godfather of Harlem.

Ellsworth Raymond Johnson was born in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 31, 1905. He was given the nickname “Bumpy” as a young boy due to a bump on the back of his head.

Johnson’s family moved north when he was 10 to avoid a lynch mob when his older brother was accused of killing a white man. He went on to move in with his sister in Harlem when he was a teenager.

Johnson spent much of his 20s in and out of prison, but truly made a name for himself in the 1930s when he began working for the Harlem mob boss Stephanie St. Claire, known as “The Queen of Numbers.” He eventually become the main enforcer for St. Claire’s illegal gambling business. As St. Claire’s right-hand man, Johnson was at the forefront of the illegal numbers turf war against Jewish mobster Dutch Shultz.

After Shultz was killed in a hit by infamous gangster Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Johnson teamed up with the Italian mafia and formed an alliance that would last for decades. This alliance boosted Johnson’s profile as one of the first black gangsters to successfully work with the Italian mob. Over the years, Johnson expanded to the narcotics trade and was eventually crowned the kingpin of Harlem.

Although Johnson was known to be a brutal gangster, he still portrayed himself as a man of the people, often giving back to his community. He was also known to be well-read, and earned the nickname “The Professor” because of his love of books and philosophy. He was also known for his skills in chess.

In 1952, at the height of his reign, Johnson was arrested for selling heroin. Although he maintained that he was framed, Johnson was sentenced to 15 years in the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in California. Even while in prison, Johnson’s legend grew. There are rumors that he helped orchestrate the 1962 escape of three prisoners by arranging a boat to whisk the trio away, an especially impressive feat considering Alcatraz was known as America’s most secure prison.

In 1963, Johnson returned home to Harlem and was greeted by a parade. Picking up where he left off, he once again reigned until his death in 1968 at the age of 62, of heart failure while eating at the neighborhood’s Wells Restaurant.

While Godfather of Harlem does allude to Johnson’s storied exploits before his 10-year prison stint, it does not go into detail. On the show, when Johnson returns to Harlem, he is not greeted by a parade but instead his loyal wife Mayme (Ilfenesh Hadera) and dozens of black Harlemites who turn to Johnson for favors and help.

Finding his neighborhood in disarray, Johnson immediately steps back into mobster mode and must face up against Vincente “Chin” Gigante.

In Godfather of Harlem, Vincent “Chin” Gigante (Vincent D’onofrio) is Johnson’s main antagonist upon his return from prison—constantly undermining Johnson’s attempts to regain control of Harlem.

Gigante has long been considered one of New York City’s most infamous mobsters. Born in 1928 in Manhattan, Gigante got the nickname “Chin” from his mother, who would call him “Chinzeeno.” A former boxer, Gigante worked his way up from a driver to an enforcer/hitman to a top boss of the Genovese crime family.

Later in life, he was known as the “Odd Father” for his strange behavior, which included wandering the streets in a bathrobe. But it was all discovered to be a long con to avoid jail time, and in the 1990s he was sent to federal prison on racketeering and conspiracy charges. Gigante died in federal prison in 2005.

On the show, Gigante is portrayed as an eccentric figure who refuses to cooperate with Johnson. There is not much known about the real-life relationship between the two mobsters, but it’s very possible that the two, who both worked with the Genovese crime family in Harlem, crossed paths.

In Godfather of Harlem, when Johnson returns from Alcatraz, he is greeted by old friend “Detroit Red,” a.k.a. Malcolm X.

Malcolm X (Nigél Thatch) approaches Johnson to help him clean up the streets after the Italian mob has inundated Harlem with heroin. With Johnson’s guns and Malcolm X’s soldiers from the Nation of Islam, the pair take on the Genovese family to regain control of Harlem.

On the show, Malcolm X is a popular public figure in Harlem who preaches the self-sufficiency taught in Islam, motivated by the deterioration of a neighborhood that has succumbed to drug addiction. Malcolm X claims that Johnson was the person who set him towards the path of Islam before he went to jail when he was at his lowest point of addiction.

In real life, Johnson and Malcolm X had a friendship that went back to the 1940s when Malcolm X was a minor street hustler known as “Detroit Red” because of his relaxed red-tinted hair. Johnson also provided Malcolm X with protection when he parted ways with leaders of the Nation of Islam in 1964—but Malcolm X told Johnson it was not good for his image for the two to be associated with one another and Johnson removed his guards. Two weeks, later Malcolm X was assassinated by fellow members of the Nation of Islam.

Godfather of Harlem delves into Johnson’s complicated family life, particularly with his daughter Elise.

Elise (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) is portrayed as a shoplifting heroin addict and it is revealed that Johnson and his wife Mayme decide to raise Elise’s daughter, Margaret, as their own, keeping her true lineage a secret from her.

Elise’s addiction strengthens Johnson’s resolve to take over the narcotics trade in Harlem from the Italians. Under their control, the show depicts the trade as overrunning Harlem by the time Johnson gets out of prison.

According to Johnson’s granddaughter Margaret, Johnson did actually raise her as his own daughter—lavishing her with fancy gifts throughout her childhood.

One of the main storylines of the show is the star-crossed love story between Gigante’s 22-year-old daughter Stella (Lucy Fry) and local black musician Teddy Greene (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Greene’s mother reaches out to Johnson to separate the pair, due to the danger their relationship poses to Greene’s life.

The show does accurately portray the dangers of interracial dating in the early ’60s. Interracial marriage was illegal in the U.S. until the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision in 1967. But the love story is a fabrication—in real-life Gigante had five children with his wife Olympia, starting with his eldest son Andrew, born in 1956. All of his children, including two daughters born to his mistress, also named Olympia, would be too young to have been in their 20s during the timeframe of the show.

In Godfather of Harlem, a 21-year-old Muhammad Ali, still going by Cassius Clay, is in Harlem to promote his 1963 fight with Doug Jones. Clay meets with Malcolm X to discuss his decision to go public with his Islamic faith but is told by the activist to keep his religion secret until he is the heavyweight champ because he could be denied a boxing license.

On the show, the conversation is tapped by the FBI, and Gigante’s associates get their hands on the tape and blackmail Clay into throwing the fight, promising him they would get him a fight with Sonny Liston if he did. Clay declares himself the greatest and refuses, going on to win the fight. With the help of Johnson, he is ultimately able to destroy the tapes, one-upping Gigante.

While there is no proof that this meeting and subsequent blackmailing happened, the FBI did keep tabs on Malcolm X for years, and Clay did not publicly convert to Islam until 1964—months after he became the heavyweight champion of the world after defeating Sonny Liston.

There is also no proof that Clay and Johnson ever met, although it was more than likely the Harlem mob boss was had a front-row sear at the historic 1963 fight in Madison Square Garden to support the New York-born Jones.

Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. plays a major role in the show as one of Johnson’s more powerful allies. The pair initially team up when Powell needs Johnson to use his connections to Italian mobster Frank Costello to pull strings to aid his congressional re-election bid. Powell is portrayed as offering Johnson his federal law enforcement connections in return.

A celebrated civil rights activist, Baptist pastor and Democratic Congressman, Powell was the first African-American to represent New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and represented Harlem in Congress for 26 years. He fought for black rights in Harlem for decades, organizing protests and supporting legislation that supported civil rights, but he was also known for his shadier dealings and bombastic personality, which tarnished his reputation.

Powell’s legal troubles began following his 1962 European vacation with a beauty queen, his receptionist and a female counsel for Education and Labor. Powell was accused of misusing public funds to take trips abroad. Legal battles regarding slander ensued and Powell avoided court dates and spent more time living in Florida. In 1967 the House Democratic Caucus removed Powell as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

The most shocking thing about Harlem gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson is that he died like a schnook. Lauded as the Godfather of Harlem, he was the Golden Age cat with nine lives. He sidestepped some dozen shootings as if bids for his death were drops of rain.

Pimp, drug lord, numbers racketeer and peddler of protection, Johnson traveled with a straight razor and had no aversion to using it: He slashed those who crossed him and is said to have destroyed a guy’s eyeball with a spoon. Yet when it was his time to go, in 1968, he died of a heart attack. Johnson was eating a breakfast of fried chicken and eggs at Wells Restaurant in Harlem when cholesterol accomplished what his adversaries could not.

That he lived 62 years without quitting his life of crime — he was out on $50,000 bail, stemming from a narcotics rap as he ate his last meal — speaks volumes of his wits and resiliency.

“Guys who survived the crime scene in Harlem were special, powerful, strong-willed people,” Paul Eckstein, co-creator and co-writer of “Godfather of Harlem,” the Johnson bio-series starring Forest Whitaker and dropping Sunday on Epix, told The Post. Said to be one of Harlem’s best chess players, “he thought strategically and often predicted what the Mafia would do” — Johnson and the syndicate often tangled — “before they did it.”

What made him stand out in a neighborhood full of toughs is that he backed down to no one.

“Bumpy would be the first black guy to stand up to the white criminals,” said Chris Brancato, Eckstein’s partner on the series. “For that, the citizens of Harlem loved him and feared him.”

Born in Charleston, SC, in 1905, Bumpy (the nickname either stems from a bump on his head or his habit of bumping people off) was sent by his banker father to Harlem in 1919, with the hope that he would have a better life there. According to Brancato, “There was a fear that his inability to be subservient would eventually get him lynched.”

Johnson himself told a reporter that in South Carolina, he fought “daily running battles with hostile white kids in order to attend school or venture into the streets.”

But the life envisioned by Johnson’s father was not to be. By age 15, Johnson was already a prolific second-story man. One year later, Johnson and a ragtag gang were committing armed robberies, extorting and selling protection. By his 17th birthday, Bumpy was doing time at the Elmira Reformatory.

He spent his 20s in and out of jail, establishing himself as a ruthless criminal. Squaring off against an enforcer by the name of Ulysses Rollins, Bumpy slashed the man 36 times. But it was not until 1932, after 2¹/₂ years in Sing Sing on a grand-larceny conviction, that Johnson would earn his Godfather of Harlem sobriquet.

He capitalized on the fact that the numbers game was big business in the ’30s. It was essentially an illegal lottery in which thousands of locals bet from a nickel to a dollar on a three-digit number from 000 to 999. It was such a major moneymaker that the Bronx mobster Dutch Schultz wanted his piece of the $50 million-per-year industry. To get it, he ran roughshod over the numbers bosses of Harlem, giving them the option of working for him or losing their businesses altogether. Most accepted the former and took $200-per-week salaries, forsaking the thousands they earned on their own.

One who refused to buckle was Madame Stephanie St. Clair, the only female numbers runner in Harlem. A femme fatale from Martinique, she enlisted the freshly sprung Bumpy to provide protection and keep Schultz out of her coffers — even as Schultz’s gunmen shot up her spots.

Bumpy harnessed firepower of his own and operated strategically. “Bumpy kept the war in Harlem,” said Karen E. Quinones Miller, who co-wrote the book “Harlem Godfather” (no relation to the series) with Bumpy’s wife of 20 years, Mayme Johnson. “Because white men in Harlem were easily identified, he was able to go after Dutch’s gang. Bumpy’s men, on the other hand, blended in and could have been anywhere.”

The war lasted nearly three years. By the time Schultz got rubbed out in 1935 — he was shot in the men’s room of a Newark, NJ, chophouse by made men who caught wind he was plotting to kill a fed and feared the blowback — Bumpy was thriving in Harlem.

In the throes of a torrid love affair with sultry Vanity Fair editor Helen Lawrenson, the almond-eyed 5-foot-7 Bumpy looked every part the crime boss. At her direction, he had suits custom made while purchasing shirts and ties from elite haberdasher Sulka. In her book, “Stranger at the Party,” Lawrenson writes about the time he left a steak dinner for a shootout on the street. She sat nervously while hearing gunshots. Two minutes later, Bumpy returned and Lawrenson, a nervous wreck, asked what had happened. “Nothin’,” replied Bumpy. “We both missed. Now I’m gonna have a banana split. How about you?”

He controlled much of Harlem and maintained a strong relationship with mob kingpin Charles “Lucky” Luciano. “My grandfather and Lucky had respect for each other,” Raymond Anthony Hatcher Johnson, a musician and Bumpy’s great-grandson, told The Post. “They played chess together in public, outside of the old YMCA on 135th Street.”

Bumpy’s goddaughter Verna Williams told The Post that she remembered seeing him mulling over a chessboard before looking up to tell her, “If you master the game of chess, you master the game of life.”

While Bumpy curried favor with the community — he is said to have paid rent for the down and out, bought school clothes for financially struggling children (including author Miller, who grew up in Harlem) and put them through college (as he did for Eckstein’s grandmother) — he couldn’t hide his dark side. Miller recounted a shootout on Lenox Avenue in which Bumpy chased the other guy as he drove away: “Bumpy’s car got disabled. So he jumped out and ran in the street, shooting his gun as he went.”

Another time, during an altercation with a pimp named New York Charlie — “He tried to ­gorilla one of the prostitutes under Bumpy’s protection,” said Miller — Bumpy sliced him up with his straight razor. After the incident, Johnson took his victim to a hospital emergency room where Charlie was put on a stretcher.

“He said, ‘That’s the n- - - -r who did it,’ ” said Miller. “Bumpy jumped on the gurney and started punching New York Charlie in the face. The police came, knocked Bumpy out and arrested him. But by the time Bumpy went to trial , Charlie said he had no idea what the police were talking about.”

It’s not for nothing that an assistant US attorney described Bumpy as “the most vicious and dangerous criminal in Harlem.”

Bumpy Johnson’s final stint in jail was a 10-year stretch, for conspiracy and sale of narcotics, which eventually landed him in Alcatraz. He got out in 1963 at age 56. That was when goddaughter Verna saw him for the first time. “Everybody loved Uncle Bumpy — unless you did something to him,” she told The Post. “Then he went crazy on you. He could beat you up and beat you down. My mother said that he should have been a boxer.”

On the streets of Harlem, Bumpy came home to a world where the Italian mob had cut him out of his illegal enterprises. In a canny move, he aligned himself with Malcolm X and muscled back his power base, which included an extermination company called Palmetto Chemical.

“It was likely a front — even though he had legitimate customers,” said Epstein. “I heard from one of his guys that he distributed heroin in the spray containers.”

Friends and relatives maintained that Bumpy profited from sales of heroin in Harlem but that he personally did not handle the drugs.

Before dying, he and the NYPD had a final run-in. It ended with a “French Connection”-worthy car chase that began at his Harlem apartment and ended on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens. Police charged him with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and believed he was poised to catch a flight to the Caribbean. No drugs were found and Bumpy was cut loose on the $50,000 bail. He died before the case went to trial.

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker stars as real-life Harlem mob boss Ellsworth “ Bumpy” Johnson, who has been portrayed in multiple films, most. Godfather of Harlem is an American crime drama television series which premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. Oscar Winning actor Forest Whitaker transforms himself into Ellsworth Raymond Johnson, otherwise known as Bumpy Johnson, for his leading. Rating 8/10 (5,006) Ilfenesh Hadera and Haaron Hines in Godfather of Harlem (2019) Giancarlo Esposito and Nigel Thatch in Godfather of Harlem. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker becomes gangster Bumpy Johnson in the new Epix. Johnson would go on to mentor Frank Lucas, who would take over Harlem's operations and turn it into a haven for drug trafficking.

Godfather of Harlem is an American crime drama television series which premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johnson. Whitaker is also executive producer alongside Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, John Ridley and Markuann Smith. Chris Brancato acts as showrunner. On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on the renamed MGM+ on January 15, 2023.

A docu-series based on the series titled By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem premiered on November 8, 2020.

Godfather of Harlem tells the "true story of infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy must take on the Genovese crime family to regain control. During the battle, he forms an alliance with Muslim minister Malcolm X – catching Malcolm's political rise in the crosshairs of social upheaval and a mob war that threatens to tear the city apart."

On April 25, 2018, it was announced that Epix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes set to premiere in 2019. The series will be written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein who will also executive produce alongside Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, and Markuann Smith. Brancato will also act as showrunner. Production companies involved with the series include ABC Signature Studios and Significant Productions.

On June 19, 2018, it was reported that John Ridley would direct the first episode of the series.

On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 18, 2021.

On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on January 15, 2023.

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Forest Whitaker would star in the series as Bumpy Johnson. In September 2018, it was announced that Vincent D'Onofrio, Ilfenesh Hadera, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Nigél Thatch, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Fry and Paul Sorvino had been cast in starring roles. In October 2018, it was reported that Giancarlo Esposito and Rafi Gavron had joined the cast in a series regular capacity. On January 8, 2019, it was announced that Kathrine Narducci had been cast in a recurring role.

For the second season in 2021, Justin Bartha, Annabella Sciorra, Ronald Guttman, Isaach de Bankolé, Method Man, Michael Rispoli and Grace Porter were added to the cast. In May 2021, it was announced that actress Whoopi Goldberg will appear in a guest role. On July 25, Paul Sorvino died shortly before starting filming began third season, prior to recast of Frank Costello.

Principal photography for the series reportedly began in September 2018 in New York City.

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.50/10, based on 25 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "As sharply dressed as it is smartly written, Godfather of Harlem walks familiar blocks to its own beat and makes a strong first impression." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 72 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Cheryl Kahla of The South African said: "The Godfather of Harlem is an excellent example of what modern television is capable of today. Whitaker’s character Bumpy is a drug kingpin but also just a man trying to make sense of the world and connect with his family".