Gangsters and Outlaws: Black Gangster Disciples

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Gangsters and Outlaws: Black Gangster Disciples
Introduction
The entry date of gang groups in the United States has remained a debatable issue as different forms of definitions exist to describe such formations. However, in the context of outlaws and gangsters, the American Heritage Dictionary defines the term “gang” as a group of hoodlums or criminals banding together for-profit and mutual protection (American Heritage Dictionary). Contrary to a majority of people’s assumption that gangs are only made of teenagers and juveniles, FBI agent Kenneth E. New says that leaders of such groups such as the Black Gangster Disciple Nation are largely adults. For example, the agent identifies Larry Hoover as the leader of one such gang who is an adult (Gibeaut 64). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that members of the Black Gangster Disciples (BGD), which is one of the outlaws that has been around since 1968, are often involved in robberies, burglaries, and auto theft (FBI 3). The definition presented by the American Heritage Dictionary points to the groups such as the Aryan Nation, the Klan, Hells Angels, El Rukns, the Black Gangster Disciples Nation, and the Crips and Bloods (Vrgora 1). Members of gang groups often work together in attaching innocent victims and rival groups or members. The motivation to join outlaws is diverse and is not limited to profits and security. For instance, artists and celebrities in the United States have had a close connection with gangs. This association has been mythologized through movies, talk show interviews, newspapers, books, and tabloid chronicles, which depict the negative and positive endings of their actions (Paschke). Drawing from original archives on the FBI website, this paper explores the Black Gangster Disciples. It compares the group's coverage in popular journalistic accounts to official documents and later representations on film.
The Black Gangster Disciples Nation (BGDN), also known as the Gangster Disciple (GD), was later formed in 1969 after leaders from the High Supreme Gangsters (HSG) and the GD met to discuss their fate as gang organizations (Unitedgangs.com). After their deliberations, Larry Hoover became the leader of the GD after his discontent about the unending violence against the black community. The young African American had amassed significant experience as a gangster at the time and allied with the HSG and GD to strengthen their presence in Southern Chicago. During this time, the GD had a strong collaboration with several gang groups, and the newly formed alliance enjoyed the environment that encouraged growth and spread to several communities through outreach programs. During their infancy, the group was involved in legitimate businesses such as restaurants and hangout places. However, internal struggles were witnessed among the members, and these led to several wrangles and wars (Unitedgangs). In the 1970s, the city of Chicago experienced a flood of drugs, and the BGDN fully participated in the drug trade through their communities as manpower and staging points. Issues such as income disparity and addiction began to emerge, and Larry Hoover was imprisoned alongside Andrew Young for murder-elated cases. The alliances that Hoover created would be long-lasting even after being imprisoned. He has appealed to have his life sentence reduced (Seidel and Main). The influential man behind the GD has continued to be celebrated among the gang members in the United States.
The FBI website contains records about the Black Gangster Disciples (BGD) and describes the group as a “loosely organized” gang whose members are involved in auto theft, robberies, and burglaries. BGD has also been actively involved in drug trafficking as the main profit-making activity since the mid-1980s. During this time, the Memphis Police Department formed a "Youth Gang Task Force" to deal with the criminal activities advanced by the street gangs. Their findings showed rising recruitments in gang membership and activities at the time (FBI 3). At Memphis, members of the gang group drew influence from the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords based in Chicago. According to the investigations at the time, the FBI found that the BGD in Memphis had aligned themselves with the Crips gang based in Los Angeles. As the norms of a "Folk Nation," the FBI noted that while the BGD retains its own identity, recruits are trained to think of the Crips as "Cuzzins" as the Crips refer to their gang members as "Cuzz." In their territories and neighborhoods, BGDs and CRIP graffiti can be spotted. At the time of writing the official document in 1993, the FBI reports that the group’s membership in Memphis is between 900 and 1000 (FBI 3). As a trick that works to their advantage, the group changes their organizational structure as well as their graffiti, hand symbols, and other affiliation symbols. Sources from the 1995 National Youth Gang Survey provided details of the top 10 cities where gang activities are most profound, with Los Angeles County ben the leading with 60,000 members and East St. Louis, III in the last position with 6,500 members (Gibeaut 67). The active recruitment of new members into the gang groups has helped increase membership, and their actual numbers are constantly reviewed.
In terms of organization, the FBI reports that the group is the most prominent and violent of all street gangs in Memphis. With their geographical location in South and Southwest Memphis, the group conducts its heavy recruitment in both the middle and high schools. BGD is complimented by other subgroups that include Gangster Disciples (GDs), Maniac Disciples (MDs), Gangster Disciples Queens (GDQs), Female Gangs, and the Insane Disciples (IDs). The four sub-group gangs are also further divided into sub-sets whose members are aged between 12 and 19 (FB 4). According to the FBI’s investigations, the GDs long to attain full membership of the BGDs. Popular journalistic sources identify key dominant figures of the BGDs, but the FBI original document has intentionally omitted the names of the leaders. According to the Chicago Suntimes, Larry Hoover is reported to be the leader of the GDs, and several other newspapers have mentioned his name as the founder of the gang group (Main and Seidel). Information appearing in the FBI’s archives is classified and does not disclose the names of the leaders and members of the group. However,...