The Black Guerrilla Family (BGF, also known as the Black Family,
the Black Vanguard, and Jamaa
) is an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
black power prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
and
street gang founded in 1966 by
George Jackson, George "Big Jake" Lewis, and W. L. Nolen while they were incarcerated at
San Quentin State Prison in
Marin County, California.
Philosophy and goals
Inspired by
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
, the Black Guerilla Family (BGF) characterizes itself as an ideological African-American
MarxistLeninist revolutionary organization composed of prisoners. It was founded with the stated goals of promoting black power, maintaining dignity in prison, and overthrowing the
United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
. The BGF's ideological and economic aims, collectively known as "Jamaanomics", are laid out in the group's ''Black Book''.
Contemporarily, the group engages in primarily criminal activity with rival gangs rather than political activity.
History
The Black Guerrilla Family was founded by George Jackson in San Quentin State Prison during the
Black Power movement.
Fay Stender attempted murder
In 1979, former BGF lawyer
Fay Stender
Fay Abrahams Stender (March 29, 1932 – May 19, 1980) was an American lawyer from the San Francisco Bay Area, and a prisoner rights activist. Some of her better-known clients included Black Panther leader Huey Newton, and the Soledad Brothers, ...
was shot five times by recently paroled Black Guerilla Family member Edward Glenn Brooks for Stender's alleged betrayal of George Jackson. Brooks forced Stender to state: "I, Fay Stender, admit I betrayed George Jackson and the prison movement when they needed me most" just before he shot her. Stender was left paralyzed below the waist by the assault and in constant pain. She committed suicide in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
shortly after she testified against Brooks.
Huey P. Newton murder
On August 22, 1989, co-founder and leader of the
Black Panther Party for Self Defense
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Calif ...
,
Huey P. Newton was fatally shot outside 1456 9th St. in
West Oakland
West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the P ...
by 25-year-old Black Guerilla Family member Tyrone Robinson. Relations between Newton and factions within the Black Guerilla Family had been strained for nearly two decades. Many former Black Panthers who became BGF members in jail were disenchanted with Newton for his perceived abandonment of imprisoned Black Panther Party members. In his book, ''Shadow of the Panther'', Hugh Pearson alleges that Newton was addicted to crack cocaine, and his extortion of local BGF drug dealers to obtain free drugs added to their animosity.
Robinson was convicted of the murder in August 1991 and sentenced to 32 years for the crime.
Baltimore unrest
In 2015 Baltimore police stated that the Black Guerrilla Family, 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 ...
, and the
Crips
The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...
were "teaming up" to target police officers. Later, however, leaders of both the Bloods and the Crips denied the allegations, released a video statement asking for calm and peaceful protest in the area, and joined with police and clergy to enforce the curfew. At one occasion, gang members helped to prevent a riot at the
Security Square Mall by dispersing attempted rioters. On other occasions, rival gang members helped each other to protect black-owned businesses, black children, and reporters, diverting rioters to
Chinese- and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
-owned businesses instead.
Symbols
* Crossed
sabre
A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...
s, machetes, rifles, shotguns with the letters (B G F) or (2.7.6.)
* A black dragon.
See also
*
Hugo Pinell
*
Latin Kings
References
External links
FBI files on the Black Guerrilla Family
{{Organized crime groups in America
Organizations established in 1966
1966 establishments in California
African-American socialism
Black Power
Communist organizations in the United States
Communism in Maryland
Far-left politics in the United States
Left-wing militant groups
African-American gangs
Prison gangs in the United States
Gangs in California
Gangs in San Francisco
Gangs in Maryland
Gangs in Baltimore
African-American history in the San Francisco Bay Area
African-American history in Baltimore