The Black Gangster Disciple Nation was formed on the South-side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by David Barksdale, leader of the Gonzanto Disciples, and Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Disciples. The two groups united to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN). David Barksdale became the leader of BGDN and Hoover became his second in command. Barksdale died in 1972 and Hoover took over the leadership position. After Barksdale's death, Jerome Freeman, who was loyal to Barksdale and never wanted the two groups to unite in the first place, established a parallel leadership position to Hoover. As a result of this split, two distinct groups emerged within the BGDN. Freeman formed a street gang which calls itself Black Disciples or BDs, while Hoover renamed his gang the Black Gangster Disciples or BGDs. These two gangs have at times been bitter rivals. The Black Disciples have remained relatively small in numbers, and have not branched out like the BGDs.The BGDs use the six-pointed star, (the "Star of David") as their symbol, which represents life, loyalty, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, and love. They also use the upward crossed pitchforks, and a heart with wings.Tattoos utilized by the BGD include: a devils tail; a top hat with a staff the top of the staff has a pitch fork with the numbers three, six, zero, and at the bottom is an upside down cross. Oakland Raider clothing is common and they often carry white, light grey or black bandanas. The BGD are presence throughout the United States. Chicago is the location of their leaders and they have a strong presence in most Midwest cities. The BDG is one of the country's largest criminal organizations.In the mid-1990s a federal task force was formed to investigate the BGD involvement in several murders and drug sales. The government found the gang was making over $100,000,000.00 a year in illegal drug sales. Several high ranking members were convicted and are serving life sentences. The gang has made several attempts to legitimize their image. Some members dropped the "B" and began to call themselves GDs or Gangster Disciples. In the 1990s the Gangster Disciples entered into politics through the formation of the "Growth and Development" movement. Gangster Disciples began blanketing the city of Chicago attempting to register voters from the inner city. They then "encouraged" the newly registered voters to vote for candidates loyal to their cause. While incarcerated, the Black Gangster Disciples will unite with allied gangs under the guise of the Brothers of Struggle (BOS). The gang continues to be involved in large scale drug trafficking, murders and white-collar crime.
The BGF is the most "politically" oriented of the major prison gangs. It was formed as a Marxist/Maoist/Leninist revolutionary organization with specific goals to eradicate racism, struggle to maintain dignity in prison, and overthrow the U.S. Government. All members must be Black. Though small in number, the BGF has a very strict death oath which requires a life pledge of loyalty to the gang. Prospective members must be nominated by an existing member. BGF commonly use different versions of a dragon surrounding a prison tower and holding a correctional officer in its clutches. They will also use a crossed rifle and machete or the letters "BGF." The BGF has members nationwide in both state and federal prisons. The gang is strongly organized on both the East and West coasts. Although the BGF experienced a decline in membership and strength in the 90s, it has recently reorganized and gained substantial power and growth due to its alignment with the 415s, Crips, Bloods, and Black Gangster Disciples. Several members of the Crips and Bloods have recently been found with documentation from "Dove Life" (Crips) and "Blood Line" (Bloods). Both groups are believed to have working alliances with the BGF under these aliases. Members of the 415 gang and BGF have been found with documentation suggesting membership in a group called the "Firm." The Firm is believed to be a working alliance between the 415 and BGF gangs. The BGF is currently experiencing internal conflict between old and new membership in federal custody. According to the 2002 California Department of Justice, younger members have created a new version of the gang known as the "New Man/New Woman," or the Northern Structure of the BGF. Members of the newly formed Northern Structure believe old BGF members are no longer concentrating on the correct group mission and are becoming extinct. The Northern Structure membership believes the alliances between the BGF, Crips, Bloods, and 415s will result in the Crips continuing to support the old BGF members or Southern Structure and the Bloods and 415s siding with the Northern Structure. Current intelligence suggests state BGF members continue to support the old BGF membership within federal custody. The BGF has also created what appears to be a political and paramilitary sub-group known as the "New Afrikan Revolutionary Nation," or "N.A.R.N." This group's purpose is to gather and analyze data to enhance BGF security practices and education.
The Black P-Stone Nation is a street gang which has operated in Chicago since the early 1960s. This group was originally known as the "Grass-roots Independent Voters of Illinois." During the 1960s they became known as the Blackstone Rangers under the lead of Jeff Fort. After Fort assumed control he applied for and received federal inner city grants for his organization claiming they would put the money to use for the education of inner city children and the expansion of jobs.In 1969, Fort received an invitation to President Nixon’s inauguration. At the same time, Fort consolidated approximately fifty south-side Chicago (Woodlawn District) street gangs into a supreme power, namely the Black P Stone Nation. The money Fort received from the federal government was utilized by this group for the purchase of weapons and drugs to strengthen his hold on the gang. In the early 1970s, Fort was discovered misappropriating the government funds, convicted, and sent to prison. The Black P-Stone Nation is a multi-racial, multi-gender gang. Common identifers include the five-point star, pyramids with 21 blocks (symbolizing the original 21 members), an eye, the initials "BPS" and other People Nation symbols. The gang has factions throughout the midwest and East coast.
As the Crips grew in South Central Los Angeles in the early 1970s they began targeting other gangs. It was during this time of conflict that several gangs joined forces to combat the growing Crip threat. The most well known gang within this group was the Piru Street Boys. They lead the revolt against the Crips and were instrumental in creating the Bloods gang in 1972.During the next 10-years the Bloods continued to operate and grow in a fragmented manner. Conflict with the Crips continued and the Bloods found themselves heavily outnumbered.Between 1982 – 1984 the violence between the two groups skyrocketed. It was during this time crack hit Los Angeles. Crackm or more properly called rock cocainem was cheaper and much more addictive than the powder form of the drug. Gang territories became more important as the many Blood and Crip sets fought over drug sales locations. Some Blood members moved to several large cities throughout the West Coast to expand their drug market. To minimize attention from law enforcement, many Blood gang members abandon wearing obvious identifiers of gang affiliation so they could continue illegal activity with little fear of apprehension.It was during the late 1980s that the Bloods became a household name.The movie Colors, staring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall was released which focused on the gang problem in Los Angeles. It has been rumored that some movie theaters actually promoted the movie by offering a bandana to movie attendees. It was after this movie that many teens with no connection to the Los Angeles based gang began creating their own Blood gangs. Although many of these groups were nothing more than childish groups mimicking dress and slang they saw in a movie, some soon became involved in violent activity and drug sales comparable to gang activity committed by original Blood gang members in California.In 1993, a group on the East Coast created a gang known as the United Blood Nation. Born in the Rikers Island New York jail, African American inmates created the group as a way to protect themselves from the Latin Kings, which was the most prevalent group in the jail system at that time. Although the United Blood Nation (UBN) was born in the prison system, as members were paroled to the streets, they formed street gangs on the East Coast under the same name, while emulating the Los Angeles Blood lifestyle. Although the majority of Blood gangs identify with the color red, members may not always wear gang identifiers when engaging in criminal activity. On the West Coast members are more likely to use a bandana for identification, while some Blood sets on the East Coast will use a colored beaded necklace.Although Blood gangs share the same name, there is no formal leadership structure that controls all Blood gangs. A Blood gang member in Springville, Utah may be very active in the gangster lifestyle, yet will have no connection to Blood gangs in the West or East Coast.Bloods will align themselves with other gangs to engage in criminal activity, including their rivals the Crips, although most alliances quickly fade away. The Bloods are known to be involved in all forms of criminal activity, but are mostly known for drug sales.
The Crips is a street gang which originated in Los Angeles, California in the late 1960s. During the early 1970s, the gang grew and branched out to other parts of Los Angeles County. These new subsidiary or realigned existing gangs were known as sets, and they used the term Crips in their individual gang name. Originally, most Crips activity took place on or around school campuses, and these gangs created a reputation for violence and extortion. Although a predominately Black gangs in most areas across the nation, many other ethnic groups have adopted the Crip name because of the on-going notoriety of the Crips and their rivals, the Bloods. Crips usually identify with the color blue in several different shades and usually wear a blue rag or handkerchief as an identity item. They often wear jogging suits and tennis shoes, professional sports team jackets and caps bearing the names of Los Angeles teams, and sometimes Adidas sweatshirts. They also may wear Dickey brand cotton work pants or bib-style overalls. Nike and British Knights shoes are also popular. Crips refer to each other as "Cuzz" and use the letter C to replace the letter B in their conversations and writings. They have an intricate communication system which involves not only graffiti on walls which mark their particular territorial boundaries, but also the use of hand signals (flashing), displaying their colors, and wearing selected athletic clothing. The initials BK represent their status as "Blood Killers." Crips seldom wear tattoos, and their graffiti represents past or future gang activity.Crips gangs are found in nearly every city in the United States and have been identified in several foreign countries.The most prominent traits of Crips are individualism and maintaining a commitment to foster violence upon other gangs. The Crips rivalry with the Bloods gang presents a likelihood of violent encounters between members. Should the Crips ever become more structured, they could present even more serious problems than created by other recognized gangs in prison. For a short time, a small group of gang members claimed the word Crip was an acronym for "Community Revolution In Progress." This was an attempt to gain public sympathy as they mimicked the many other gangs who attempted to make similar false claims. Despite their temporary claim of being a peaceful organization, the gang is still heavily involved in urban warfare, drug sales and recently violent take-over robberies and warehouse burglaries.
