The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation often abbreviated as (BPS, BPSN, Black Peace Stones, Black P. Stones, Stones, or Moes) is an American
street gang founded in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. The gang was originally formed in the late 1950s as the Blackstone Rangers. The organization was co-founded by Eugene Hairston and
Jeff Fort
Jeff Fort (born February 20, 1947), . In later years, under Fort's leadership, an
Islamic faction of the gang emerged, naming themselves the "El Rukn tribe of the
Moorish Science Temple of America
The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American national and religious organization founded by Noble Drew Ali (born as Timothy Drew) in the early twentieth century. He based it on the premise that African Americans are descendants of the M ...
" (or simply El Rukn, Arabic for "the pillar" or "the foundation").
They eventually started describing themselves as Orthodox Sunni Muslims.
Jeff Fort
Jeff Fort (born February 20, 1947), changed their fort name from El Rukn Moorish Science Mosque, to El Rukn Sunni Masjid al-Malik.
Considered by law enforcement authorities to be Chicago's most powerful and sophisticated street gang,
the BPSN finances itself through a wide array of criminal activities and is part of the large Chicago gang alliance known as the
People Nation
People Nation is an alliance of street gangs generally associated with the Chicago area. They are rivals of the Folk Nation alliance of gangs.
Formation
The People Nation was formed in reaction to the creation of the Folk Nation alliance of gang ...
. Under Fort's command, the BPSN assumed an increasingly revolutionary outlook as it became associated with the
black nationalism
Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...
movement, eventually attracting the attention of the
Nation of Islam leader
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader, Black supremacy, black supremacist, Racism, anti-white and Antisemitism, antisemitic Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist, and former singer who hea ...
, who introduced them to Libyan leader
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
and Nicaragua's
Sandinistas
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
. In 1986 four of its members were indicted for conspiring to commit terrorist acts in the United States for the Libyan Government.
The verdict marked the first time American citizens had been found guilty of planning terrorist acts for a foreign government in return for money.
Territory
The BPSN originated, and is based, on the
South Side of Chicago in the
Woodlawn neighborhood. The BPSN had then advanced in the North-West Indiana communities of
Gary,
Merrillville
Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...
,
Crown Point,
Portage and
Elkhart. It has since emerged in other areas, particularly
Wheatley Place, South Dallas Texas in the United States and
Meadow Heights, North-West Victoria in Australia.
There is a set in the West-Side Black P Stones in the Los Angeles area called the
Jungles
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaá¹ ...
and the Bity another area called Crenshaw & Adams. They were founded by OG T Rodgers from Chicago after he moved to Los Angeles. When he was 13 years old he built his set, with 500 or more in membership. They also are affiliated with the
Bloods
The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includ ...
due to the Bloods and the
Piru Bloods protecting BPSN in Los Angeles from the Crips when they began in Los Angeles.
History
![22 121278 Dayton Currency Exchange Chicago](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/22_121278_Dayton_Currency_Exchange_Chicago.jpg)
The Blackstone Rangers were founded at the St. Charles Institution for Troubled Youth
by Jeff Fort and Eugene Hairston as a community organization for black youth in the Woodlawn area of South Chicago. Between 1961 and 1963, they evolved into one of the most dangerous and powerful gangs in Chicago.
Fort seized upon the gang's changed mission, renaming it the Black P.(Peace) Stone Nation. He transformed the BPSN into a
black nationalistic group, and continued to involve the gang in street crime and drug trafficking. BPSN co-founder Eugene Hairston was incarcerated on drug charges in June 1966 and was eventually murdered in 1988. Fort was arrested for mismanagement of government grants totaling $927,000 from the U.S.
Office of Economic Opportunity
The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an ...
in March 1972. Fort was released in 1976, but was later re-incarcerated on drug charges in the early 1980s. At the same time he was released from prison, Fort converted to
Islam and imbued the BPSN with Islamic overtones, and adopted the name Abdul Malik Ka'bah.
Following meetings during 1986 with Libyan operatives from Colonel
Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
's government, Fort was arrested. In 1987, Fort was tried and convicted for conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.
He was sentenced to 80 years imprisonment and transferred to the USP Marion, the federal supermax prison in Marion, Illinois.
In 1988, Fort was also convicted of ordering the 1981 murder of a rival gang leader and was sentenced to 75 years in prison to be served after the completion of his terror conspiracy sentence.
[Rossi, Rosalind (1988-11-15). "75 more years for Fort 4 other Rukns draw stiff terms". Chicago Sun-Times: pp. 3.] While Fort continues to exercise considerable influence over the BPS from prison, the various Black Stones splinter groups suffer from rampant infighting without a clear leader. There are two major groups that have split with the BPSN: The
Mickey Cobras
The Mickey Cobras are a large street gang affiliated with the nationwide gang alliance known as "People" and based in Chicago. The gang is considered very mobile, and its colors are green, black, and red. Factions of the gang are being establis ...
were supporters of Mickey Cogwell, a co-founder of BPSN killed by Jeff Fort. The Titanic Stones were supporters of Eugene Hairston who had a falling-out with Fort.
Notes
Further reading
* 2011 ''The Almighty Black P Stone Nation: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of an American Gang'' Natalie Y. Moore (Author), Lance Williams (Author)
*Cooley, Will. "'Stones Run It': Taking Back Control of Organized Crime in Black Chicago, 1940-1975," Journal of Urban History 37:6 (November, 2011), 911-932.
*Cooley, Will (2017). "Jim Crow Organized Crime: Black Chicago's Underground Economy in the Twentieth Century," in Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago, Robert Weems and Jason Chambers, eds. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 147-170. .
External links
FBI file on the El RuknBlack P Stones in Los Angelesby Streetgangs.com
{{Organized crime groups in Chicago
Almighty Black P. Stone Nation
African-American gangs
Gangs in Chicago
Gangs in Illinois
Gangs in the United States
Gangs in Australia
People Nation
Prison gangs in the United States
Terrorism in the United States
1958 establishments in Illinois