order the book Harlem Godfather: The Rap on My Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson
For years movies have been made to portray the original gangsters of American history like; Scarface, Harlem Nights, and Hoodlum. What a lot of people don’t know is that many of these movie characters are not fiction. These were real gagsters straight out of New York, California and Miami. But since the release of the Denzel Washington’s movie American Gangster everyone has been turning there heads to the interest of the black gangsters in America and really paying attention to the stories of the “Hood Heroes”. The story of Frank Lucus caught the attention of the media like you would expect any Denzel movie to achieve. And for months the real Frank Lucus was all over the air waves promoting his story and like any true black celebrity shouting out all of the people who road with him on his journey.
I was able to catch up with someone who did not directly get a shout out from Frank but was indirectly praised. On a bright sunny spring day in Harlem all the Harlemites came out to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated Harlem Godfather; The wrap on my husband Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson by Mayme Hatcher Johnson with Karen E. Quinones Miller. Mayme Johnson the widow of Bumpy Johnson was not singing the same praises to Frank as he would have allotted her. Mayme says that every thing Frank claims to be true are lies. Karen E. Quinones Miller a self made Harlem success story was personally touched by Mayme’s story and found it her duty to help her set the record straight. Mayme says Frank broke the number one rule that her husband would have never broken, and that was what Frank is mainly famous for…for being a Snitch!
Street Connfinement: I just wanted to say congratulations because I know it’s been a long time at work. So if you want to give us a little background about how you met and how this project started.
Karen Quinones: I knew Bumpy when I was a kid; I met him when I was nine or ten years old. But it didn’t register in my mind that this was the Bumpy Johnson. I knew he was Bumpy Johnson, but not like “The Bumpy Johnson”. And it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that Mayme and I connected. And we’ve been friends, close friends I say for about fifteen years. On and off we’ve been talking about doing the book, but sometimes we just never get a chance. So we’ve been talking on and off about doing the book for the last fifteen years, but just never seemed to get together, wouldn’t you say?
Mayme Johnson: I would say that we kept putting it off.
Karen Quinones: Mayme got really upset because American Gangster there was a lot of lies in there. In Hoodlum they made a lot of mistakes, but Mayme wasn’t upset because they made mistakes, they got it wrong. But in American Gangster there were a lot of lies, outright lies, and she got really upset about that and we’ve been talking about doing this book all this time, let’s go ahead and do it. So that’s how it came about.
Street Connfinement: So exactly how long did it take you to complete from beginning to finish the project?
Karen Quinones: I’ve been researching it actually for almost twenty years. That’s one of the reasons why I think it would be really good for anyone else to do an auto biography on him in Edgar’s Point because a lot of people have died. So there for instance I was able to speak to Junie Bird, Bumpy died in his arms. I was able to speak to Edgar. I was able to speak to Billy Hopkins, and Mayme’s memory is just tremendous. So the research been going on, I mean Mark Henry Perk died about eight years ago. I have him on the record before he died. Ralph Camerno was the best human known gangster, organized crime expert in the country. He died four years ago. I have him on the record talking about Bumpy. So on and on the research has been going on for about fifteen years. You know but it’s like it was never a rush. Eventually we were gonna get it done.
Street Connfinement: It seems like as soon as the movie dropped, the book came really quickly after, and I know that you are reputing a lot of things with American Gangster, so would that be the coincidence, or was it like once you say that you were like “Okay I gotta get this book out there?”
Mayme Johnson: May I just say one thing?
Street Connfinement: Yes.
Mayme Johnson: American Gangster was all lies. I didn’t see anything in there what I could see, what I’ve read to be. Frank Lucas did not know us. That was their way. And when they copied the life of black books I would say wouldn’t you?
Street Connfinement: So he really wasn’t a driver for Bumpy?
Mayme Johnson: No he never drove a day for us. And he was never ever in my home. He may have washed up his cars and shined his shoes, but he certainly did not drive his car. The only thing he ever did to that car was probably wash it, that’s all.
Street Connfinement: So you don’t know Frank Lucas very well at all?
Karen Quinones: What’s to know Frank? But I mean he was like a flunky. So it’s like if your boyfriend or your husband had a flunky you would know him, but he wouldn’t be invited to the house.
Mayme Johnson: He’d just come around to get to know Bumpy, and he just wanted to make a living, get out in the world, and he’d come around to make extra money. Bumpy really never shared his money. That’s why I can’t understand why he told so many lies. He made up all of that. And that’s when I thought he would have done that to my book.
Karen Quinones : And Judy Page, as a matter of fact she’s sitting right over there, she was at the movie theater when she told Mayme that she saw a trailer from American Gangster , and it was at that point that we found out that the movie was coming on and they had made some false remarks about Bumpy, so when she called her Mayme called me and she was like look we been talking about doing this book all this time and we have to do it because all their doing now is telling lies about my husband. And that’s how it came about.
Mayme Johnson: That’s right, that’s how we got started.
Street Connfinement: So they didn’t even grant you the courtesy to let you know they were putting a movie out?
Mayme Johnson: No but I understand now he said I was old and wasn’t able to talk about it anymore.
Street Connfinement: Do you feel like Frank Lucas created his legacy off of your husband’s legacy?
Mayme Johnson: Yes, oh yes. The only person that ever drove Bumpy around was Randy Carson and JJ, JJ Johnson.
Karen Quinones: And Bobby Jones. He was one of the pall bearers.
Mayme Johnson: Yes, right.
Karen Quinones: But the thing is Frank Lucas knew Bumpy, Frank Lucas was a person. I mean I don’t know how else to put it. And Frank is as famous for his listening as he is for his dope dealing. And it makes sense to increase your street credibility to go ahead and hitch your wagon to a man who was known to never have snitched. You know cause no matter what you may say about Bumpy Johnson the man did his time and to anybody else he had to before he snitched. So that gave Frank a little bit of credibility. In his mind that’s what he was doing. And that’s what Mayme and I talked about. It’s like a grab for street credibility. I mean but it was so obvious, I mean because even in the documentary that they filmed for BET, if you look at the documentary their rolling around the street, Frank’s in the back of the car, you see on the street lamps on the street signs that say 121th street and 5th avenue and then he points to a brownstone and he says “My boss lives here, that’s where my boss lives.” But they never lived on 121st street and 5th avenue. They lived on the corner of 120th street and 5th avenue. They lived at 2 west 120th street in an apartment building. And as a matter of fact Willa Mae Park was just here, she lived upstairs from them. He didn’t even know where Bumpy lived, but he’s gone say that he lived six months with them.
Mayme Johnson: He was never in our home.
Karen Quinones: He never even knew them when they were there. He said that he rode Bumpy around for fifteen years. Bumpy was never on the streets for fifteen years straight since turning eighteen. He met Bumpy in 1963, Bumpy died in 1968. Do the math. Unless he was driving him around in Alvarcaz, you think? And since the movie’s come out there’s lawsuits going around, and now Frank is saying all those statements about “yeah we put all the dope in the coffin and this shipment to this plane and did he do it by himself”, and now he’s coming out and saying well you know 99 percent of this movie was a lie. See what happens when you’re threatened with a lawsuit, or see what happens when someone is alive who knows the truth? But I really believe that he didn’t know Mayme was still around. Because he didn’t say all that stuff until Junie was dead because he said that Bumpy died in his arms. Bumpy died in Junie Bird’s arms right at Well’s Restaurant. He would never have said anything like that when Junie was alive. He was old and encrypted when that story came out, and I believe he thought Mayme was dead. Because what he did was, the relationship that Bumpy had with Flash Walker, he made it up for himself. Flash was the one that met Bumpy in the pool hall, Flash was the one that when he got sick Bumpy and Mayme left the back of the house, and let him stay in his house. You know Flash was the one that Bumpy took shopping and bought clothes. Flash was the one that Bumpy treated like a son. But you know what, Flash Walker is dead and it’s so easy because who knew about Flash Walker before we wrote about it? And that’s what Frank Lucas was pouncing on, don’t you think?
Mayme Johnson: That’s right.
Street Connfinement: So he just completely took someone’s life basically?
Mayme Johnson: Well he wanted to make some money. He was broke and didn’t have any money. And I know he didn’t because he was rambling off the lotto.
Street Connfinement: So you’re not getting any rights from that movie at all? From American Gangster?
Mayme Johnson: I have nothing to do with it because it’s lies.
Street Connfinement: So have you heard anything about getting any movie rights for this book you have out here?
Karen Quinones: Well we would love; we would be willing to listen okay. We would certainly consider any offers for options okay. And as I say from your lips to God’s ears.
Street Connfinement: Is there anything that you’d like everybody to know? If you had one thing to tell the public what would you let them know about your husband?
Mayme Johnson: Well to me he was the greatest guy ever lived. He was a gangster, but he was no dope dealer. And to me, I think if he could have just the other day walked in he would have been very grateful to see all the people, my old friends and so many young friends, so many young men. I think he would have been very happy today. He was a great guy. A lot of people really didn’t know him, just knew of his name. To me he was the greatest guy ever lived.
Street Connfinement: Do you feel like his contributions to Harlem, because he’s known as “The Godfather of Harlem” like what major contributions did he make to Harlem?
Karen Quinones: Well if I could help with that.
Mayme Johnson: Please go right ahead.
Karen Quinones: I would say one of the major contributions is he let know people know that they can stand up no matter what position and what economic, what social position they were born in they could stand up to the white man. That they did not have to bow down. Cause you have to remember Bumpy came up at a time where there were still whites through Harlem, the Italians on the East side, and I mean that’s why Bumpy was a legend. Because he was the only black man in New York City, in New York State, in the United States that said, your not gonna do it. And to me one of the positive influences that I see from his life is that he let people know no matter who you are you don’t have to be treated like dirt. And I mean maybe his way wasn’t the best way but like Reverend Johnson said at his eulogy, “Maybe his way wasn’t the best way but he did what he had to do, and he did it well.”
Street Connfinement: Well thank you so much.
Karen Quinones: Thank you.
Mayme Johnson: Thank you.
BY- SHIREAL RENEE
