RISE OF THE COMMISSION

FBI investigations point to the involvement of key figures

Within Boston organised crime but despite numerous leads

And circumstantial evidence, no charges have ever been filed

At the height of the Castellammarese War

A string of brutal murders and a power struggle led to

The demise of the two warring rival bosses of the families

By extension, the mob was organized in 1931

By Charles 'Lucky' Luciano

And he'd take over as head of what would soon be known

As the Genovese Family

Which then led to the establishment of 'The Commission'

An organized criminal enterprise governed by

The five families of New York

Seeing its rise during the prohibition era of the 1920's

Breeding sophisticated criminal enterprises through their success

In the illicit liquor trade and moved beyond the liquor business

To far elaborate illegal activities

For the purposes of maintaining order and secrecy

The Commission lived by a Southern Italian code of silence

Honour and conduct which stressed the significance of silence

In the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders

As well as non-corporation with authorities

This was known as omertà, tracing its origins to southern Italy

It governed the dealings between The Commission

Joseph Bonanno who ran the Bonanno family for over thirty years

Only to lose his power in 1960 when his plot to murder Carlo Gambino

And Tommy Lucchese reached the two bosses

He attributed his absence to being abducted which many believed was code

For being in hiding until the smoke cleared

The Lucchese family's first boss was Tommy Gagliano

Who let the towel loose due to health reasons

He was succeeded by Tommy 'Three Finger Brown' Lucchese

Who the family is named after

Lucchese was good friends with Carlo Gambino

Both of whom Bonanno wanted to bite the dust

Although the plot failed

In '78 the Lucchese family pulled one of its most infamous

And elaborate heists

Scoring five million US dollars

And an estimated eight hundred thousand in jewels

At the JFK International Airport

Vincent Mangano ruled from 1931

Until his mysterious disappearance in 1951

There's chatter about Albert Anastasia being responsible for his disappearance

In order to ascend to the throne

If the chatter on Anastasia being responsible for the disappearance

Of his predecessor is true

There's a karmic twist

His successor Carlo Gambino orchestrated Anastasia's brutal murder

In 1957 Albert Anastasia had settled into his barber chair

For a shave at the Park Sheraton hotel when

A five men hit squad shot him dead

John Gotti, nicknamed the Teflon Don was popular

For a number of things from murdering his predecessor Big Paul

To evading multiple convictions

Joseph Profaci, whom many know as 'The Olive Oil King'

Was the Colombo family's first boss

He ran the family until he met his demise at the hand of cancer

Evil eye succeeded Profaci as boss

However his reign was short-lived due to conspiracy

To murder Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese

With the aid of Joseph Bonanno, he flipped

Told Gambino about the plot

And was thus banned from The Commission.

ENTER: THE UNDERWORLD

The notion of family seems far-fetched

Until you realise you're surrounded by the truest and the livest

So, one keeps his word to his detriment

Because word binds all

Builds and sends worlds crumbling to rubble

At that point there's no prospects for rebuilding

So, what's to do when word is broken?

You get slain and dumped by the seas for sharks to feed on

As a reward for messing with those in vicious and unforgiving circles

See, it's a vicious cycle but such has been the way

Honour and integrity trump any and all

When locking horns with authorities, stick to your guns

What point is there in singing?

Getting time chipped at the expense of your compadres?

That doesn't cut it, not in the underworld

What's learned versus what's in your blood

And whether clean hands are a luxury everyone can afford

Many a times, it's been proven - silence is golden

So, we do our best to keep it.

FALL OF THE COMMISSION

He found himself in legal trouble on multiple occasions

Including a murder charge and was forced to live in different cities

Throughout Italy to escape prosecution

Regardless of where it was started

The painting ended up on the oratory of Saint Lorenz' in Palermo, Sicily

It is highly likely that this work was commissioned

By the conventional Franciscans who ran this oratory

Because it features the two saints most important to the group

In the early 1950's an assault on the mafia was launched

By a US Senator hailing from Tennessee

An investigation into organised crime was launched

And hearings were televised publicly

This was the first time any organisation of the federal government

Acknowledged the existence of the American mafia

Uhm, I don't think we're going to need that now

But when did you become a member of this organisation?

Nineteen thirty

Nineteen hundred and thirty

Owing to lack of evidence

The FBI and other agencies such as congress

Couldn't proceed with a considerable course of action

However, in 1957, police in the small town of

Apalachin, Upstate New York raided a gathering

With somewhat sixty members of the mob from all over the country

What is the name of it?

It is Cosa Nostra in Italian

Cosa Nostra in Italian

Our uh, Our thing and our family in English

Our thing and our family in English

We'll come back to that later

But that is an organisation is it? (Yes)

That requires absolute obedience

In the 1960's Robert Kennedy rose to the occasion

Of stepping up government efforts to fight the mafia and corruption

In labour unions

One of the people to fall prey to Kennedy's list

Of top targets was Jimmy Hoffa

Furthermore, Kennedy was on the heels of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

Who moved at the pace of a snail in pursuing the Mafia

Until the efforts were intensified through the electronic spying program

Which gave the Feds an abundance of information

To make things worse, the first to break omertà was Valachi

Who agreed to provide a televised testimony on tv to the US Senate

On mob activity, its inner workings, structure and customs

The war on the mob bore fruit when the Rico act was passed

Taking down criminals on a broad front

By stripping them away of their legitimate and illegitimate gains

In one enormous prosecution

It destroyed them

There are just many reasons that add up to the fact

You don't think that such an organisation should be permitted to operate

That's a fact

Is that correct?

That's correct

As the senator put it before, what did I get out of it?

What'd you get out of it?

Nothing but pure misery

As you all understand once you're in

You're in

You can't get out

Faced with long prosecutions

Some members and associates of the mob gave testimonies

In exchange for a place in the witness protection program

At the turn of the 21st century

Places such as Chicago and New York

That were the capitals of mob activity had that spark fizzled out

Whereas in other cities these clans faced imminent extinction