IAP 194: Joe Colombo & The Italian American Civil Rights League: Crime, Conspiracy, and Community Leadership (Part 2)

It’s Part 2 of our two-part episode exploring one of the most unique chapters in Italian American history as we sit down with author Don Capria to explore the life and times of Mafia boss and Italian American community leader Joseph Colombo, founder of the Italian American Civil Rights League.

Picking up right where we left off, Capria will take us into the personal life and private psychology of Joe Colombo, and share his thoughts on what singular event might have lead this clearly dynamic and talented man into a life of criminality.

We’ll explore the complex and sensitive relationship between organized crime and Italian American identity, and how its place in American popular consciousness still impacts our sense of self, generations after its peak of activity.

And, in light of the 50 years that have passed since Colombo’s assassination at the second-annual Italian American Unity Day in 1971, Capria will walk us through the events of that fateful afternoon, and share his own theory as to why what many observers simply accept as a Mafia murder, might actually have been something much more sinister, with implications that reach to a national level!

Join us as we conclude this incredible conversation on crime, conspiracy, community leadership… and the fascinating man at the center of it all.

This episode is sponsored by Mediaset Italia.

2356 232