Gangster Disciples
Encyclopedia


The Black Gangster Disciple Nation is a gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...

 which was formed on the South-side of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in the late 1960s, by David Barksdale
David Barksdale
David Barksdale , also known as King David, was the original leader of the Chicago-based street gang the Black Disciples....

, leader of the Black Disciples, and Larry Hoover
Larry Hoover
Larry Hoover was the leader of the Chicago street gang called Gangster Disciples.-Early life:...

, leader of the Supreme Gangsters. The two groups united to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN).

The gang has made several attempts to legitimize their image. Some members dropped the "B" and began to call themselves GDs or Gangster Disciples. In the 1990s the Gangster Disciples entered into politics in the Chicago tradition of Black Panthers, Black Stone Rangers, Latin Kings, Vice Lords and Young Lords
Young Lords
The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...

 through the formation of the "Growth and Development" movement. Outside of Chicago some gangs will still go by the old name of BGD.

Gangster Disciples have been documented in the U.S. military, found in both U.S. and overseas bases. Graffiti characteristic of the Gangster Disciples has been reportedly seen in U.S. military bases in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Symbols, signs and emblems

Like most major gangs, Gangster Disciples use a well-defined system of symbols to communicate alliances and rivalries. This system is a combination of symbols that represent the Gangster Disciple Nation or the Folk Nation as a whole and symbols that rivals use to represent their organization, typically inverted to show disrespect. BGD is currently the largest gang in Chicago, IL.

Colors/apparel

Gangster Disciples "represent" with the colors blue, black, grey and white. There are indications that in some very rare and unusual cases, some GD members will adopt what some gang experts and historians refer to as "outlaw" or taboo doctrine, and wear the otherwise-rival Vice Lord color (red) which in a majority of other cases would be counter to the blue, black, grey, and white colors normally associated with GD. Gangster Disciples are known to wear Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown's nickname is The Hoyas, but its mascot is "Jack the Bulldog." Various breeds of dogs have been used by the sports teams as mascots since the early 1900s. Several notable bull terriers like Sergeant Stubby and "Hoya" were used at football games in the 1920s, as was a Great Dane in the...

 clothing.

Six pointed star

The major symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

 Gangster Disciples make use of is the six-pointed star (identical in appearance to the Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...

) The fact that this star is known as the Star of David pays homage to co-founder David Barksdale
David Barksdale
David Barksdale , also known as King David, was the original leader of the Chicago-based street gang the Black Disciples....

, and the six points are said to represent Love, Life, Loyalty, Understanding , Knowledge , Wisdom . Despite there being no ostensible references to the country of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 or Jewish religion in most open source literature on the subject of Gangster Disciples, some rival Vice Lord members will at times refer to someone suspected of being an organizational infiltrator, mole, spy, supporter, or sympathizer as being "Jewish." There have been other indications clearly suggesting that many GD members internally have aligned themselves with pseudo-Judaism principles just as rival Vice Lords have aligned themselves with pseudo-Islamic principles which is even further evidenced by the Vice Lord Oath in which Vice lord members swear allegiance to Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

.

The second most well known symbol of the Gangster Disciples is the three pointed pitch fork, which is also the basis of their representative hand-sign. A pair of pitchforks may be seen in GD graffiti crossed behind a six pointed star, with the tines of the fork always placed in a vertical position. Since two forks with three tines each make a total of six, this again makes reference to the six-pointed star. The number six plays prominently into most GD symbols.

Graffiti

Gangster Disciple graffiti is also known to contain:
  • Heart with wings, each wing having 3 feathers (for a total of 6), typically placed around a six-pointed star. Can be used to represent love for lost members of the organization, or members who are incarcerated.
  • Inverted shepherd's cane. The cane is a symbol of the Chicago-based Vice Lords
    Vice Lords
    The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second largest and one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago. Their total membership is estimated to be as many as 30,000...

    , a powerful faction in the People Nation
    People Nation
    People Nation is an alliance of street gangs generally associated with the Chicago area. They are rivals to the Folk Nation.The People Nation were formed much in the same way as the Folk Nation. In 1978, the El Rukns People Nation is an alliance of street gangs generally associated with the Chicago...

     and a top rival of the Gangster Disciples. The cane can be incorporated into the handle of crossed pitchforks, so that the upward facing half is a fork and the downward pointing half is a cane. This both represents the Gangster Disciple Nation and shows disrespect to the Vice Lords.
  • Inverted pyramid
    Pyramid
    A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...

    . The pyramid is a Peoples Nation symbol, especially for the Black P Stones.
  • Inverted cross, with hash marks between the bars. Symbol of the Latin Kings (gang).

External links

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