Peace treaty
After the death of "Black Benjie," a member of the Ghetto Brothers who turned community activist, a peace treaty meeting was organized among the South Bronx gangs. The gangs in attendance that are most frequently mentioned include the Black Spades, Ghetto Brothers, Savage Skulls, Turbans, and Seven Immortals. This historic treaty among South Bronx gangs lasted until the crack cocaine wars erupted during the early 1980s. Gangs that attended the Hoe Avenue peace treaty meeting: * Alley Cats * Bachelors * Black Cats Inc * Black Ivory * Black Pearls * Black Spades * Blue Imperials * Born To Raise Hell * Brothers & Sisters (Offshoot Of Seven Immortals) * Deserters * Dirty Dozen R.T. (Offshoot Of Savage Skulls) * Dominican Lions * Evil Serpents (offshoot of Reapers Bronx) * Flying Dutchmen * Flaming Lords * Fox St. Association * Ghetto Brothers Org * Immortals New York * Javelins * Latin Aces * Latin Kings * Liberated Panthers * Mac.7 Rounds * Majestic Warlocks Tribe (Offshoot Of The Seven Immortals 1st Div) * Mongols (Offshoot Of Seven Immortals 1st Div) * Peacemakers 1st D.V., 2nd D.V. * P.O.W.E.R. * Renegades * Roman Kings (Offshoot Of The Savage Nomads 3rd Div) * Savage Sisters * Royal Swords * Savage Nomads - est. 1967 (Offshoot of Ghetto brothers) * Savage Skulls- est. 1969 (Offshoot Of The Savage Nomads 1st Div) * Seven Immortals- est.1971 (Offshoot Of The Savage Nomads 1st Div) * Shades of Black (Offshoot Of Reapers Bronx) * Slics * Spanish Daggers * Spanish Skulls * Turbans 1st D.V., 4th D.V., 5th D.V. * United Lords * Young Saigons * Young SinnersHistory
The meeting was held at the Boys Club on Hoe Avenue in the Bronx, with dozens of street organizations and many city officials and police present. Attendants included the Black Pearls, Savage Skulls, Turbans, Young Sinners, Royal Javelins, Dutchmen, Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozens, Liberated Panthers,Spanish Eddie
One of the Youth Services Agency's Bronx gang crisis squad, 27-year-old Eduardo Vincenti, "Spanish Eddie" (a veteran of the 1950s Bronx street gangs), began working on the grandiose notion of getting every major gang in the Bronx to sign an intergang treaty and alliance. This giant alliance would be called "The Family", and every gang would become a division in the larger gang. The idea had just enough vision in it for gang leaders to be interested in its possibilities. Vincenti felt that once unified under a single name, the gangs could do virtually anything, if someone provided them with the right kind of social vision. The police admitted to the existence of as many as 10,000 gang members in the Bronx alone.Reaper, p. 93 Vincenti signed on 68 gangs to the coalition/treaty before he and 10 other crisis squad members were suddenly transferred from the Bronx and reassigned to Brooklyn, where he was shot in the face trying to prevent a gun battle in the West Farms neighborhood. Vincenti survived to continue work on the Brotherhood Family in his spare time. Bronx Squad Crisis members believed the shooting was orchestrated in response to his attempts to broker a treaty.40th anniversary
In 2011, former members of the Ghetto Brothers and Black Panthers spoke to the New York ''Daily News'' in advance of a planned commemoration scheduled to take place at the Bronx River Art Center at 305 East 140th Street. Joseph Mpa of the Black Panthers stated that the truce itself played a role in the rise of hip hop culture since it permitted greater ease of travel between neighborhoods without fear of reprisals for crossing gang boundaries.See also
* * Benjamin Melendez *References
{{The Warriors 1971 conferences Gangs in New York City Street gangs 1971 in New York City History of the Bronx 1970s in the Bronx