Bloods

For the Native American nation, please see Kainai.

File:Redban.jpg

The red bandanas worn by most blood gangs.

The Bloods are an African American street gang originating from Los Angeles, California. They have an intense rivalry with the Crips. Group members are identified by the red attire such as red bandanas. Various cliques known as "sets" form the organization, which is sometimes internally split by enmity and difference.

History

The Pirus or the Piru Street Boys were an African American street gang based out of Compton, California. In 1973 a meeting was called on Piru Street to form an alliance with other neighborhood gangs such as the LA Brims to put a stop to the intimidation being inflicted by the extraordinarily large Crips street gang. This united organization eventually became known as The Bloods. (Today, almost all of the Bloods gangs located in Compton are designated as "Piru" sets-- for example, rapper The Game, who is a Compton native, is a member of the Cedar Block Piru Bloods but as ex-gangmember SiGh of the Van Nuys Street Blood is not).

Knowing that the Crips used the color blue to identify each other, the Bloods decided to use an opposing color, red, to identify each other. There has also been a set by the name of the Lime Hood Pirus who wear the color green.

File:Greenban.jpg

The green bandanas worn by Lime Hood Piru blood gangs.

During the 1990s, there have been many alleged Bloods gang members in New York City. It has been said that they were formed on Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail facility. While in New York, they have become infamous for various slashings [1].

Following several months of gang violence that killed 40 people, the Tookie Protocol For Peace was negotiated between the Bloods and the Crips in May of 2004. Former Crips member and founder, the late Stanley Tookie Williams helped negotiate the "perpetual peace treaty". [2]

Bloods and hip-hop

A number of popular West Coast rappers are affiliated with Bloods gangs. Ex-G-Unit rapper The Game is a member of the Cedar Block Piru Bloods in Compton, and rapper/producer DJ Quik, also a Compton native, is a known member of the Tree Top Piru Bloods. The Boo-Yaa TRIBE are members of a Samoan Bloods gang in Carson City [3], and Westside Connection rapper Mack 10 is from the Queen Street Bloods in Inglewood. In 1995, Los Angeles producer Ron "Ronnie Ron" Phillips produced the self-titled debut album of the Damu Ridaz, a rap group consisting of gang members from the Denver Lane Bloods.

File:Blackban.jpg

The black bandanas worn by several blood gangs.

It is important to keep in mind that there are many rappers who claim to be Bloods because they hope to establish street credibility, yet they are unable to prove any ties to Blood gangs. The members of Camron's group The Diplomats (Dipset) often claim to be Bloods, even though they are often mocked by actual Los Angeles Bloods for being fake. Cash Money Records rapper Lil Wayne often dresses as a Blood, carrying a red bandana in his right pocket, yet he has no proven Blood affiliation. (Some New Orleands blood members do consider him a blood and he himself is torn on the issue, as he claims "I am not a blood" and "I consider myself a member") There is also a common misconception that Tupac Shakur, was a member of the Mob Piru Bloods when he was signed to Death Row, but this is incorrect (Tupac was not originally from Compton, and was never put on the turf). The misconceptions stems from the frequent use of Bloods as security by Death Row Records founder Suge Knight, Tupac being signed to that label.

Trivia

According to a Los Angeles Weekly profile, the Bloods generally refuse to use the letter C in names, especially when names start with a C, they will often add the letter K after C to make it CK, meaning crip killer. The Bloods refer to crips in disrespect as "ckrabs". The Bloods are notorious for their gang initiation, which traditionally involves the gang bang of a local girl. East Coast Blood initiations were notorious and widely reported in New York for having recruits slash a person's face with an old-style razor. Sometimes the victim chosen has to be from a rival gang, but other times the attack is carried out on a random passer-by.[4]

Entertainers with Blood affiliations

• Boo-Yaa TRIBE (Westside Piru Bloods)
• B-Real (of Cypress Hill) (89th Street Family Swan Bloods)
• Damu Ridaz (Denver Lane Bloods)
• DJ Quik (Tree Top Piru Bloods)
• The Game (Cedar Block Piru Bloods)
• Hi-C (Tree Top Piru Bloods)
• Mack 10 (Queen Street Inglewood Bloods)
• Suge Knight (Mob Piru Bloods)

References

• Yusuf Jah, Sister Shah'keyah, Ice-T, UPRISING : Crips and Bloods Tell the Story of America's Youth In The Crossfire, ISBN 0684804603

See also

• List of Los Angeles street gangs
• Banging on Wax (CD)
• Gang signals
• Stanley Tookie Williams

External links

• Gang nations