First Lady of BMF: Tonesa Welch and the Rise and Fall of the Black Mafia Family

Date: February 25, 2025
Time:
7 to 8 p.m.
Cost:
Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission
Tonesa Welch stood at the heart of a drug trafficking empire that spanned 11 states and had ties to Mexican drug cartels. In a rare public speaking appearance, she joins The Mob Museum to discuss her evolution as a teen mom from a middle-class family of automotive workers on Detroit’s westside to the queenpin of the Black Mafia Family, alongside the Flenory brothers. Twenty years in the game taught her power. Prison taught her purpose. Today, she channels what she learned into breaking cycles of domestic abuse and incarceration in Black communities.