Introducing: The Godmother

In the 1930s, Lucky Luciano, one of American history’s most notorious mobsters, was finally taken down by a rookie prosecutor. Eunice Carter was one of the first Black Women ever to become a prosecutor in America. She operated from the heart of the Harlem Renaissance to navigate the corrupt world of downtown Manhattan politics, and a deeply racist and sexist pre-civil rights American society. But her pioneering role in what became known as the “trial of the century” has been forgotten by popular history. Hers is the story of a writer, social worker, mother, teacher, sister, socialite, political candidate, community organizer and unheralded pioneer. This eight part immersive podcast is hosted by poet and writer, Nichole Perkins. It tells the story of Eunice Carter: a bad-ass anti-hero unafraid to bend the rules in pursuit of ambition, justice and legacy. Listen to The Godmother on the iHeartRadio App or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-godmother-141201920/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm Nicole Perkins, and in my new podcast, The Godmother,
I'm inviting you to nineteen thirty six New York to
a Manhattan courthouse.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
At the time, it was called the Trial of the Century.
They had snipers on the roofs in Foley Square. They
had police officers with riot guns in the hallway.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
On the stand was one of America's most notorious gangsters,
a man named Lucky Luciano.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
He is called sometimes the Boss of Bosses. The Good
Father was a great film based Paul on the Luciana legend.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
At this trial, on a crisp spring morning, in the
middle of the Great Depression, Lucky would finally be brought.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Down or Old Luciano said, Holy Toledo, you're giving me
a life sentence. Everybody generally agrees that that was the
nail in Lucky's coffin.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
But beneath the glitz, the glamour, the grime, and the
notoriety of this moment in American history, there's another story
that's being overshadowed, a name that's been left out of
the Hollywood retellings, Unice Carter.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
There's a better story to be told, a more complex story.
But for Unice Carter. I don't know that Lucciana wouldever
have been convicted.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Unice Carter was a black female lawyer in nineteen thirties
America who took down one of history's most notorious gangsters.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Unice Carter was the spark that started the fire.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
She was the one that said, this is how we
get it. So why hasn't she been remembered.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
I just want people to know what she did.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I've been doing some digging, and what I found paints
a picture of a complex, fascinating woman.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
This is a straight shooter who will say something and
mean it.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
She intimidated a lot of people in real life. She
was just kind of a fierce person.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
All around us. Today, Black American history is being erased,
especially the stories of black women.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
It's not even just that not everyone remembers Unice, but
that people don't even believe she could have existed. The
idea that she could have existed seems like a fantasy
to people.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Remembering Unice Carter feels more urgent than ever. This is
a story of ambition, justice, and legacy. This is the
story of Unice Carter.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
The influence that you have while you're alive matters, even
if after you're gone, everyone forgets about you. It doesn't
mean that it was all for nothing.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Listen to The Godmother with me Nicole Perkins on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.