Miami Kingpins: Film Screening And Discussion About The City’s Cocaine Era

By Valentine Purcell 

South Florida gained notoriety as the cocaine and marijuana center of the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Barry audiences were transported to the era during a Feb. 12 screening of the documentary film “Miami Kingpins” — all thanks to the Barry University chapter of the NAACP in partnership with South Florida People of Color and the NAACP.

The event brought together history, community and conversation under one roof, beginning with a reception that featured traditional comfort foods before transitioning into a powerful film and panel discussion.

“Our intention of this event was to give students a look into the history of Miami and why places like Overtown and Liberty City are what they are today,” said Barry Chapter President of the NAACP Julien Regala.

The documentary focuses on the political, social and economic factors that influenced Black Miami during the peak of the crack epidemic in the 1960s. It places the development of the cocaine trade in a larger historical framework that incorporates redlining, segregation, restricted economic mobility and changing political environments.

Many residents are unaware that the communities all around Miami were transformed by the arrival of Colombian drug networks, the Cocaine Cowboys and proliferation of crack cocaine.

“Miami Kingpins” follows the rise and fall of some of the most infamous drug dealers in the city, such as Bo Dilley, Big Ike and Convertible Burt. It illustrates how rising levels of violence, federal crackdowns, lengthy prison sentences, extravagant lifestyles and celebrity connections coexisted with enormous profits.

Pictured from left to right: Peter Bailey, Director & Narrator, Richard “Converible Burt” Simmonds, Nathaniel “Bo Dilley” James and James “Bossman” Sawyer. Photo Credits: NiteCap Media

“This is arguably the first docuseries that’s told from the lenses of the Black drug dealers,” said film director and narrator Peter Bailey. “The drug dealers themselves are not on trial. The American judicial system and America as a society is on trial of how we have created a society where there’s a segment of population who are so desperate that they have to do such immoral things.”

The series also considers the escalation of the War on Drugs and the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, which led to widespread arrests and conspiracy accusations that changed entire communities. Long-term incarcerations brought about by operations targeting drug networks left families with absent fathers.

In the documentary, viewers learn of the difficult upbringing of Antwan “Convertible Burt Jr.” Simmons, after his father “Convertible Burt” was arrested and did 23 years in prison.

“It gave me a creative survival skill,” said Antwan. “How to survive and become a man at an early age, it just made me grow up a little faster.”

The film looks at the structural factors that shaped the decisions made by the people at the core of the drug trade and tries to humanize them rather than glorify it. In the post-screening discussion, panelists and guests considered how many young Black men and women were driven to the streets in the 1980s and 1990s due to the absence of legal routes to wealth. For them, the drug economy often seemed to be the only way to make money in areas faltering from a history of underinvestment, poor schools and limited job opportunities.

For Barry student and NAACP Chapter Senior Vice President Corey Sykes, he believes that direct victims of the drug trade were not reflected enough in the documentary’s subject matter.

“I always knew you were stuck in a certain situation, so you did what you did, but I think they missed a small part in the documentary of the hurting,” said Sykes. “I think we focused on the humanization of the dealers, but we also have to focus on the humanization of the people that they hurt.”

The influence of recent clemency rulings, political dynamics and law enforcement tactics were among the issues brought up during the panel, in which civic involvement was covered in detail, focusing on the value of voting and community organization as bringing about change. Guests were encouraged by the panelists to consider who benefits from policies and how they are formed.

Toward the end of the event, the panel concluded how “Miami Kingpins” invites the audience to consider the underlying truths that shaped a generation rather than just dramatic headlines. The screening is both a history lesson and a call to action for both students and community people, advocating for an understanding of Miami's past in order to create a just future.

“I especially loved the realness of the documentary,” said freshman and sociology major Olivia Mahabir. “I loved that it didn’t glorify or dramatize the show exactly.”