Frank Lucas – Superfly – American Gangster

Last night I went to see American Gangster, and it was good. The movie is about a heroin kingpin named Frank Lucas, nick named Superfly, played by Denzel Washington, who is brought down by a truly honest cop New Jersey detective Richie Roberts played by Russell Crowe. Denzel deserves an Oscar. Towards the end of the movie some blacks walked out angrily saying Lucas was scum because he snitched on other criminals. I was surprised to see this behavior, but having seen so many interviews where blacks discourage telling the police who committed a crime, because they consider it a betrayal to other blacks, helped me understand where the negative sentiment came from. Lucas was however, without a doubt, a very important person in the history of the United States. He had a black market heroin empire that rivaled even the Mafia. I wanted to learn more about him, and I found an interesting article about him and his life written back in 2000. If you’d like to learn more too click here to read the article.