Black P. Stones

The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation (often abbreviated BPSN or BPS) is a Chicago-based street gang estimated to have more than 23,000 gang members.^[1] The gang was originally formed in the late 1950s as the Blackstone Rangers. In later years, a quasi-Islamic faction of the gang emerged, naming themselves the El Rukn tribe of the Moorish Science Temple in America (or simply El Rukns), under their 'religious leader' and Blackstone Rangers founder Abdullah-Malik (born Jeff Fort). The BPSN has managed to finance itself through a wide array of criminal activities and are also part of the large Chicago-based gang alliance known as the People Nation.^[2] The Black P. Stones originated, and is based, in the South Side of Chicago. Their main rivals are the Gangster Disciples, and to a lesser degree, the Black Disciples. They are rivals to all Folk Nation gangs and White Supremacist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi skinheads. Their allies are the Vice Lords, Latin Kings and other People Nation Gangs and Black Separatist Groups.

Locations

Black P Stones have a heavy presence and strongholds throughout many American urban areas such as Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Moreno Valley, New York, Sacramento, Springfield, Albany, Jackson, Houston, Atlanta, Miami,Maryland, Birmingham, New Orleans, Memphis, Newark, Oakland, Denver, Fargo, Biloxi, Mobile, Phoenix, Boston, and Little Rock. They can be found in almost every state in America.

History

Founded at the St. Charles Juvenile Correctional Facility in 1960 by Jeff Fort and Eugene Hairston, the Almighty Black Peace/Power/People Stone Nation was originally known as the Blackstone Rangers, because they were based on Blackstone Avenue in the impoverished Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. The gangs formative years coincided with the rise of the Black Power movement and severe repression from US domestic security agencies. The Chicago field office of the FBI became extremely concerned about a proposed alliance between the Black Panther Party, under the leadership of Fred Hampton, and the Blackstone Rangers. The Panthers had hoped to politicize the Rangers away from street crime and towards constructive community action. It appears that tension was later induced between the Rangers and the Black Panthers, with evidence suggesting that Jeff Fort's gang were in fact paid by the FBI to engage in conflict with the Panthers, thus preventing the Panthers from effectively operating. No evidence has yet been reported on who exactly provided such funding to the BPSN to covertly suppress the Black Panther operations in Chicago^[3] It was not until the Church Committee report on the abuses of the FBI's Counterintelligence Program, or COINTELPRO, was released nearly a decade later that the evidence came out that the FBI's Chicago field office - and J. Edgar Hoover personally - had stoked the tension between the two groups, hoping that the hair-trigger Fort would embroil the Panthers in an endless blood feud of retaliatory killings. Around this period also, Chicago-area financier and philanthropist W. Clement Stone admitted funding the Rangers' community work, at the same time he was contributing to the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon. BPSN founding member Eugene Hairston was incarcerated on drug charges on June 6, 1966,^[4] and Fort was arrested for mismanagement of government grants which totaled $927,000 from the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity in March 1972. Fort was released in the early 1980s, but was later re-incarcerated on drug charges. Following meetings during 1986 with Libyan operatives from Colonel Moammar Qadhafi, Fort was charged with buying weapons to commit terrorist acts on behalf of the Libyan government after he converted to Islam and gave the gang an Islamic doctrine.^[5] This was not the earliest charge of Islamic terrorism in the United States coming 9 years after the Hanafi Muslim takeover of the Bnai Brith offices in Washington D.C. on March 9, 1977. Today, although Fort (referred to as Caliph Abdul-Malik) continues to have considerable influence over the BPSN from prison, the various Black Stones splinter groups suffer from rampant infighting, as there is no longer a clear leader.There are also two groups who have separated from the BPSN:Mickey Cobras who were supporters of Mickey Cogwell who was a co-founder of BPS but was killed by Jeff Fort and the Titanic Stones who were supporters of Eugene Hairston who was also a BPS founder but was starting to have problems with Jeff Fort. Both men are deceased.

Colors and symbols

They generally wear red and black to identify themselves, although in places on the East Coast the Black Stone East additionally wear maroon and brown. Black Stone West mainly wears red and black to identify with the Bloods. The crescent moon and the five pointed star (the five points represent (clockwise from top): Love, Truth, Freedom, Peace and Justice) are today important symbols used by the BPSN because of the strong Islamic influence in this gang. The pyramid with one side showing twenty-one small rectangles that could be "bricks" is another important symbol that also refers to the "Main 21" - the 21 leaders of gangs who had agreed to merge, to a greater or lesser extent, with the Blackstone Rangers. Most of the other original "main 21" are dead. The "main 21" was like a quasi commission for organized crime and still functions today. Other symbols associated with the BPSN include their code words, such as "C.S.A." which stands for "Cold Soldier Army". The name of their "set" is also commonly used in their graffiti: an example would be "Terror Town", which refers to Chicago's southeast side. In this area of southeast Chicago, you cannot miss the clear language when you enter the neighborhood, and this gang graffiti has existed in this fashion for many years. An expression of solidarity for this gang is also commonly used: "Stones Run It", meaning the BPSN are "in control" or are "very powerful".^[6]

Islamic identification

There is a strong Islamic foundation within the Black P. Stone Nation which can be attributed to the Moorish Science Temple of America and its teachings.

Pictures

• Black P. Stones Pictures and Drawings
• Black P. Stones Tattoos

Notes

External links

• Black P Stones on Chicago Gangs
• Street Gangs
• Extensive People Nation Knowledge Database including Black P Stones