The gang's genesis dates to 1960, with a South Side gang called the Devil's Disciples had become sufficiently large to warrant being given an outreach worker by the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago Youth Services (source: Chicago Historical Society). The Devil's Disciples were mostly male African-Americans, 15-18 years of age, frequenting the intersection of 53rd St. and Kimbark Ave., and operated from 53rd and Woodlawn to 49th St. and Dorchester Ave. In the early 1960s this gang known as the Devils Disciples became the "Black Disciples" (see Explosion of Chicago's Black Street Gangs: 1900 to Present, 1990, by Useni Perkins). The three major players in the Devils Disciples were David Barksdale, Shorty Freeman, and Don Derky.
Most accounts date the founding of the Black Disciples to the year 1966 as a southside gang. The founding leader of the Black Disciples was David Barksdale, referred to in gang materials as "King David." As a boy, Barksdale trained as a boxer at the Better Boys Foundation, later making an unsuccessful attempt to turn pro in New York City before returning to Chicago.
Even in the 1960's, the Black Disciples were enemies or rivals of the Black P. Stone Rangers led by Jeff Fort.
The center of their influence in the 1960's appeared to be in the Englewood community of Chicago, where "to raise money to fund their illegal enterprises Disciple leaders staged fundraising parties at the Maryland Theatre, located at 63rd and Maryland" (See Illinois Police and Sheriffs News, "Paying the Price of Our Neglect: Street Gangs are the New Organized Crime", Spring, 1994).
Barksdale, seriously wounded by gunfire from a rival gang member in 1969, died in 1974 of kidney failure related to those injuries.
Barksdale's arrests consisted mostly of disorderly conduct, weapons and drug possession (i.e., marijuana), with no actual convictions of drug pushing, according to one relative interviewed in July 1995.
Regardless of Barksdale's own arrest record, by the early 70's it was clear that his gang was involved in narcotics trafficking. And when he died, the narcotics territory and leadership of the Black Disciples was up for grabs.
Two men attempted to fill the power void: Jerome "Shorty" Freeman rose to become the leader of the existing Black Disciples; and Larry "King" Hoover created his own thing --- the Black Gangster Disciples.
Freeman tried to secure Barksdale's territory for the benefit of his gang, the Black Disciples or BD's (which continues today as a separate organization with its own unique by-laws and constitution.
When Kody Scott was 6 years old, the gang wars started in Los Angeles. It started out as a battle between the Crips and the Bloods, but by the late 70's and continuing today, the biggest killer of Crips is other Crips. The Crip Nation was divided into different divisions, which Monster compares to the U.S. Army. "For instance, one who is in the army may belong to the F...
They are a national gang. Of course, the gang is not as big here as where it originated in California. However, it is considered to be one of the largest gangs in the United States. That I do remember from gang class. Also, to be accepted into the gang, one must take a beating from members. This gang is known for violence and they do not hesitate to use extreme actions when protecting their turf against rivals or the police. They are big with the selling and distribution of crack cocaine, PCP along with other drugs. Other activities would be armed robberies, auto theft, assault and murder (Cruz, 2015).
The Gangster Disciples is a violent gang which began in the Chicago, Illinois area. In the 1970's, the leaders of two different Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, aligned their respective groups andcreated the Gangster Disciples. Once united, the Gangster Disciples recruited heavily in Chicago, within Illinois jails and prisons, and throughout the United States. The Gangster Disciples are active in criminal activity in approximately 24 states. The Gangster Disciples employ a highly structured organization. Members are organized into geographic groups; each called a "count" or a “deck." Members in good standing are considered to be ”on-count" or ”plugged in." A meeting of a particular count may be referred to
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
In the 1960's another group was being formed to rival the Black P-Stone Nation. The Black Gangster Disciple Nation was started by a man named David Barksdale. The Black Gangster Disciple Nation {BGDN} fought bloody wars ont he Chicago south side over turf and drug sales. King David Barksdale was assassinated in 1974. As a symbol of honor and remembrance the six-pointed Jewish star {Star of David} was adopted by the BGDN as well as crossed pitchforks pointing up. Following Barksdale's death, the leadership of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation was taken over by two men; King Larry Hoover and King Jerome 'Shorty' Freeman. They divided the Gangster Nation into the Black Gangster Disciples, led by King Larry Hoover, and the Black Gangsters, led by 'Shorty' Freeman. Both of these men were soon incarcerated but continued to run their groups from inside the penal system.
As more and more immigrants began to spread throughout the US, more and more gangs of people began to emerge. Gangs were usually made up of people of a common ethnicity, whether it be Irish, Italian, or Hispanic. These gangs were usually victims of anti-immigrant policies and looked for strength in numbers. As gangs became more and more sophisticated they realized they could make profits from the power they were accumulating. One of the most recognizable examples is the bootlegging of alcohol during the Prohibition. When federal officials attempted to enforce legislation such as the Volstead Act, there was a surge of illegal sales and profits. In 1927, Al Capone and his gang racked up over $60 million from bootlegged alcohol. With all of this money came tons of violence, people were getting murdered in broad daylight just so others could have a sum of all of this wealth. Soon Mob families would own clubs or casinos to increase their wealth. The attendees weren’t only made up of rich mob bosses, the alcohol, dancing, and gambling attracted many ordinary
A vigilante confederacy group who began in Taney County and swept into Christian, Douglas, Greene and Webster Counties. Dave Walker was the Christian County chapter leader.
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
They use the traditional blue color associated with the Crips. The gang is identified by the numbers 7714 which is hill upside down in numbers.They are primarily involved in low level drug dealing, property crime, and prostitution. There have been a handful of shootings involving known members of the gang. The Hilltop Crips have exchanged gunfire with the VNOT gang resulting in the death of a civilian. However, they are not known to be at ‘war’ with other gangs.
This book was about a street gang called the Mighty Vice Lords. They were the second largest gang in Chicago with about 30,000 members. The Vice Lords started in the Illinois Training center (Juvenile Correctional Facility) for boys in St. Charles Illinois during 1958 and was led by Edward “Pepalo” Perry and Alfonso Alfred. This group was known to be brutal and violent. It discussed how a violent gang can become a community organization and change the way things were done for the betterment of the community. This information is important because it showed that gangs can become a positive force.
King and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP) -. The NAACP was founded in 1909, with King becoming the “face”. of the society in 1955 during the bus boycott. The NAACP wanted integration between the black and white communities. Black power is a term usually linked with Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam (NOI).
The Bloods and the Crips are the two well-known gang families that started in the 1940’s in Los Angeles as a defense approach by the blacks against the whites (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8). Gangs are most often visible in specific areas such as restaurants, bars, metro stations, etc.: “The appearance of street gangs in Quebec and Canada dates from the 1980’s, when these groups started to become larger, more visible, and more disruptive to authorities and residents (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8-9). There are six definable features that can be used to identify the presents of a gang: “ a structured or degree of organization, an identifiab...
The Slauson gang emerged in a African American community in Southern Los Angeles. The gang was originally just a club for young African American men and it served as a way of creating a sense of belonging. These young men were rejected from well-known organizations like the boy scouts, the cub scouts, and the explorer scouts simply because they were black. These young men in a show of defiance formed the Slauson club, which was at least one group that they were able to get into. The club provided them with meaning, purpose, and a sense of belonging that they had been missing in their lives. The Slauson gang was similar to other organizations in that it served the same purpose, it brought people together in what could almost be seen as an act
Stanley Tookie Williams, generally acknowledged as co-founder of the Crips, [2] started his own gang called the Westside Crips. The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs joined it; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-Crip gangs including the L.A. Brims, Athens Park Boys, the Bishops and the Denver Lanes. The Crips eventually became the most powerful gang in California. In response, all of the other besieged gangs, including the Pirus, formed an alliance that later became the Bloods.
Many, such as Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, who is regarded as “the apostle of Black Theology” in the United States, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King all contributed to the cause of Black liberation and theology throughout black history. Due to these men, Black Theology emerged as a formal discipline. Many black clergy were apart of the “Black Power” movement in 1966. Black Theology began to originate when it was realized that a new starting point was needed in theology. It was realized that just as everything else had been taught incorrectly, so had Biblical history.