Godfather of Harlem
Harlem is mine.
Loosely based on 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 attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.
Wokeness: 20%
Overall Score: 40%
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It's hard to rate this one.
I avoided this one because it looked like it was going to be typical Hollywood bias about the 1960's racial issues. That's not far off, but there's more to it. Michael Franzese, is a YouTuber, ex-mob-boss who reviews movies and television for accuracy to the Mafia culture. He rated this series as accurate, so I gave it a chance.
A woke approach would be "black good/ white bad." In this series, they're all bad. I don't think there's a good guy in the show. There are corrupt cops, rapist blacks, junkies of every ethnicity. At one point, George Wallace was on the TV giving his "segregation now" speech. He was a Democrat governor and presidential candidate. Malcolm X is portrayed as a violent idealist who is hostile to Christianity. Congressman Powell is portrayed as a self serving, philandering, corrupt politician. A woke agenda would've portrayed him as a civil rights hero. There's no "black hero" attitude in this series. If anything, they portray black culture in a very negative way.
I'm only 4 episodes in, so things may change. TV series tend to do that.
Judge this one for yourself. I don't find it particularly entertaining or woke. I do find it to be realistic.
Created: 08-03-2026
