Bloods Gang

Bloods History

Blood is an alliance of individual street organizations known as "sets" or "hoods". The Blood Alliance originated in Los Angeles, California. Each Blood set is its own individual gang and is known to have sub-clicks, blocks, or lines (line-ups) which are like smaller individual sets within the set. Gang members in gangs under the Blood alliance are known as Bloods or Damus. Damu means Blood in the language of Swahili, a language Bloods are known to use to confuse outsiders. Bloods also refer to each other as "relatives". The gangs under the Blood Alliance are mainly identified by the color red which is worn proudly by all Blood members as a primary color. Each Blood set has significant differences such as hand signs, use of secondary colors, and customs. The Blood alliance has significantly branched out of California and has spread throughout the majority of the United States.

By late 1971 the Crip alliance was well established in Los Angeles. In this same year the Avalon Garden Crips and the Inglewood Crips had joined forces with other Crip sets and began to engage in violent warfare with non-Crip sets. They began to expand to non-Crip set territories controlled by other independent (gangs not in an alliance) gangs including The L.A. Brims, which started in 1969 on the west side Los Angeles and was already a powerful organization by 1971. The Crips targeted these independent organizations because they were not part of the Crip alliance or any alliance and therefore lacked the strength in numbers that the Crips had and were easy targets. The Piru Street Boys, who presented a powerful force in Compton, actually collaborated with the Crips prior to 1972. For a short time the Pirus were sanctioned by the Crips as the Piru Street Crips, and they also wore the traditional blue flags of the Crip alliance.

During the summer of 1972 the Piru Street Crips had a conflict with the rest of the Crip gangs and warfare ensued. The conflict was over a murder the Crips had committed on March 21st of that year at the Hollywood Palladium. After a concert at the Palladium, up to 20 Crips attacked a small group of young men and robbed them of their wallets and leather Jackets. During this attack a young man by the name of Robert Ballou Jr. was beat to death after he refused to give up his Jacket. Robert Ballou was not a member of any organization so the Piru Street Crips had a problem with the other Crip gangs for attacking a neutral person. A neutral person is a person not in a gang, and is also known as a civilian or neutron. The Piru Street Crips were strongly against the abuse of civilians and waged war against the other Crip gangs over this event, but they were severely outnumbered by the rest of the Crip gangs and the Crips prevailed in that battle. The Pirus dropped out of the Crip alliance and wanted to terminate all peaceful relations with all Crip gangs after this war, so they turned to the Lueders Park Hustlers for assistance. The Lueders Park Hustlers agreed and a meeting was called on Piru Street. The Pirus also invited every independent organization targeted by the Crip sets to join the meeting. The Crips had murdered an L.A. Brim member by the name of Lil Country earlier that year, so the Brims attended the meeting as well. Others that attended were the Denver Lanes and the Bishops.

At the meeting, the groups discussed how to combat Crip intimidation, along with the creation of a new alliance to counter the Crips. At that time the color of flags was not important, but since the Crips were known to wear blue flags, the Pirus and the other independent organizations decided to discontinue the wearing of blue flags. They decided to take on the wearing of an opposite color, red, and created a united organization which became known as the Blood alliance. Blood gangs also decided to start demonstrating their flags to the right side, since all Crips are known to demonstrate their flags to the left. Even though all Blood gangs now demonstrate their flags to the right as a result of that meeting, some old school Blood members continued to demonstrate to the left regarding it as the original side and how they were raised. The Athens Park Boys and Pueblos were later also sanctioned into the Blood alliance, and soon after, other independent gangs who had been threatened or attacked by the Crips were also sanctioned into the Blood alliance as well.

Another organization, called the Black P Stones, was also sanctioned into the Blood alliance in Los Angeles. The Black P Stones actually originated in Chicago, Illinois and were brought to Los Angeles in 1969 by T. Rodgers, who was sent to L.A by Chicago's main 21 at the age of 12 to spread the nation and its teachings. T. Rodgers started 2 decks of Black P Stones in Los Angeles, one deck is called the Jungles (Baldwin Village, an area that had an organization called the Jungle Boys which T. flipped into Stones) and the other deck is called City (in the West Adams area). The People Nation alliance did not yet exist in Chicago at the time, so the Stones joined the Brims in Los Angeles as their own Brim sets before the Brims requested to be sanctioned into the Blood Alliance. Even though the Black P Stones in Los Angeles joined the Blood Alliance with the rest of the Brims and soon became their own Blood sets separate from the Brims, The Black P Stones in Chicago remained independent until the People Nation was created in 1978. The Black P Stones in Los Angeles took on the wearing of red flags, but kept demonstrating to the left and used the same symbols and teachings as the original Stones in Chicago. The original Black P Stones in Chicago have been known to show great animosity towards the Black P Stone Bloods in Los Angeles for joining the Blood alliance without permission from the Stones in Chicago, so the Black P Stones in Los Angeles are regarded as renegades by the original Stones in Chicago. Renegade is a person or group of individuals claiming a gang or organization that they are not or are no longer really a part of or on count with. The Blood Stone Villains (also known as East Side Villains) and Blood Stone Pirus of Los Angeles are not part of the Black P Stone Bloods, they got their name from a 1970's R&B group called "Bloodstone" and have no connection to the Black P Stone Bloods in L.A. other than being under the Blood alliance. Contrary to popular belief, T. Rodgers did not start the Bloods, and was not even at the meeting where the Bloods were created. His gang just simply fell in line with the Blood Alliance after the Blood Alliance was created.

Today, some Blood sets are known to put aside the Blood alliance concept on the streets and go to war with other bloods if necessary. Also, many Piru sets began to use burgundy flags in addition to the red flags to separate themselves from the rest of the sets in the Bloods alliance. The Bloods strictly bang (go to war) to defend their territory (hood) before any alliance, and are known to be very vicious in their attacks. Also, Blood sets are always trying to expand their territories and find new territories to take over.

There are significantly more Blood sets today than when the alliance was first created. This is because many independent organizations outside of California and across the United States have also decided to be sanctioned into the Bloods alliance. All it takes for an entire independent organization to be sanctioned into the Blood alliance is the permission from a member of an already sanctioned legit Blood set. Many Blood sets have names which include the name of their City, a street that runs through their turf, or the name of the projects, apartment complex, or community they control.

The Bloods representing the 5 point star started in Chicago with the OLB's (Outlaw Loco Bloods). The OLB's in Chicago are a mostly Asian Blood set that are a legit extension of the OLB's (Oriental Lazy Boyz) Asian Blood set in Los Angeles. OLB's were introduced to Chicago in the late 80's by members who migrated from Los Angeles Asian neighborhoods to Chicago Asian neighborhoods. The OLB's in Chicago occupy the area of Argyle Street & Damen Ave and have a strong relationship with the Black P Stone deck in that neighborhood. This strong relationship with the Black P Stones lead the OLB's in Chicago to being sanctioned into the People Nation and representing the People Nation's 5 point star. This BPS/Blood relationship in Chicago along with the Black P Stones in L.A. becoming a Blood set lead to Black P Stones and Bloods all across the U.S. to create tight relationships with each other. These tight relationships soon lead to the creation of the Almighty Flame Alliance.

The Almighty Flame Alliance (AFA) started in the Midwest in Kansas City after the 8 ball alliance that occurred in 1993 during a gang peace summit. It started because the local crip sets and Gangster Disciple decks were getting savagely attacked by the local Blood sets and Black P Stone decks. The Bloods and Black P Stones in Kansas City would naturally team up against other gangs because of relationships they had with each other that were influenced by distant relationships in Los Angeles with the Black P Stone Bloods and in Chicago with the relationship of the OLB's (Outlaw Loco Bloods) that were sanctioned into the People Nation and had a very tight relationship with an Almighty Black P Stone deck. For this same reason, Blood sets and Black P Stone decks are known to form tight relationships in almost every City that they co-exist in. So the local Crip sets and Gangster Disciple decks decided to create a secondary alliance to combat the Blood sets and BPS sets and unite under the 8 ball, which is what you get when you put the "C" hand sign and a "Pitch Fork" hand sign together. This alliance caused the Gangster Disciples in Kansas City to allow the Crips who participated in the alliance to adopt the 6 point star with their own meaning and create their own literature to implement the 6 point star in. In light of the Crip and Gangster Disciple alliance, the local Blood sets and Almighty Black P Stones in Kansas City took it upon themselves to finally form an official secondary alliance also, instead of just a tight relationship. The name for this alliance was called the Almighty Flame Alliance (AFA). This alliance caused the Almighty Black P. Stones in Kansas City to allow the Blood sets who participated in the alliance to adopt the 5 point star with their own meaning, and create their own literature to implement the 5 point star in and the Bloods allowed the Almighty Black P Stones the right to fly the red flag of the Bloods in Blood territory. All Bloods and Black P Stones who agreed to uphold the AFA alliance were to add new teaching to their lit called "The Red Flame Manifesto". All Crips and Gangster Disciples under the 8 ball alliance were to add new teachings to their lit called "The Universal 8 Ball Doctrine". These alliances were widely embraced and quickly spread throughout cities where both ABPSN and Bloods coexist.

The 8 Ball Alliance and Almighty Flame Alliance was firmly established by the end of 1993 throughout the United States. Many (not all) Chicago and Los Angeles motherland natives have shown great animosity and hatred towards these new alliances due to the many changes in the structure and ways of the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, and Almighty Black P Stones that participate in these alliances have made from their origins. Even though the Almighty Black P Stones strictly represent to the left, the AFA Blood sets have continued to mostly represent to the right like most of the original blood sets. Not all Bloods represent the 5 point star or the A.F.A. Alliance. Only Blood sets who are sanctioned under the AFA alliance represent the 5. A vast majority of today’s new-age Blood sets that represent the 5 don't know the history of how they started representing the 5 due to superior members neglecting to hand down the Red Flame Manifesto literature (lit). The AFA alliance has allowed members from both the Bloods and Black P Stones to splinter off and create new hybrid Blood/Black P Stone combination gangs that are all sanctioned under the AFA alliance. All Black P Stone decks that participate in the AFA alliance are declared renegade.

Many Pirus began to use burgundy flags in addition to the red flags to separate themselves from the rest of the sets in the Blood alliance, essentially turning Piru into a "Card" or "Car" for short. Cards are smaller alliances of individual Blood gangs within the Blood alliance itself, which gangs within the cards are known to put before the whole Blood alliance. Blood gangs strictly bang (go to war) to defend their territory (hood) before any alliance or card, and are known to be very vicious in their attacks. Also, Blood sets are always trying to expand their territories and find new territories to take over which essentially makes their wars never ending. Bloods are known to mark their territories and all boundaries by the use of extreme wall banging. Wall banging consists of marking territory with graffiti which shows what gang controls that turf or going into a rivals turf and crossing out their graffiti.

There are significantly more Blood gangs today than when the alliance was first created. This is because many independent organizations outside of California and across the United States have also decided to be sanctioned into the Bloods alliance. All it takes for an entire independent organization or gang to be sanctioned into the Blood alliance is the permission from a member of an already sanctioned legit Blood gang. Many Blood sets have names which include the name of their City, a street that runs through their turf, or the name of the projects, apartment complex, or community they control. Bloods are known to shout "SuWhoop" and "Blaaat" as a greeting to other Bloods and to let their presence be known. All members must shed the Blood (shoot, stab, slice, etc.) of an enemy before becoming a Blood to prove that he/she is really down to "ride" (put in work) for the set/hood.

Contrary to popular belief, real Bloods do not represent any People Nation 5 point star and are not part of the People Nation Alliance. The confusion of Bloods representing the People Nation's 5 point star started on the internet with unknown persons creating various fictional "Blood Books of Knowledge" which consist of mixing Blood history and People Nation history, symbols, and literature (lit) together. These fictional "Books of Knowledge" spread rapidly throughout the internet and eventually into the streets with wanna-be's taking these books seriously. There are, however, legit Bloods who use the terms "5 poppin" and "We ride the 5", but these are Blood sets that were created in New York City (East Side UBN Blood sets) and they use the term/number "5" to signify the Nation of Gods and Earths 5 point star meaning A.L.L.A.H. which breaks down into Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head. The reason New York Bloods use the Nation of Gods and Earths 5 point star dates back to when the New York Bloods first started when many members of the Nation of Gods and Earths and NYG Alliance gangs joined the Bloods and brought their teachings along with them essentially making a large portion of NY Bloods followers of the Lessons of the NGE. The reason the East Side UBN represents the NGE 5 instead of the NGE 7 is to separate the Bloods alliance from the NYG alliance in NY. The New York Bloods 5 has absolutely nothing to do with the People Nation Alliance or any People Nation Mobs 5 point star, but the New York Blood sets use of the number 5 may have sparked the idea in someone’s head of creating the fictional internet "Blood Book of Knowledge" for false claimers to use. The East Side UBN's use of the NGE's lessons, the NGE's 5 point star, their separate rank structure than West Coast Blood sets, and their use of ever-changing secret codes to communicate with each other with has created a divide in the Blood alliance into 2 main categories, The East Coast (East Side) Bloods and West Coast Bloods, with both practicing extremely different ways of "banging". The East Coast Blood sets are known to be highly structured, extremely organized, and have adopted to the New York City Gang culture with the use of beads, secret codes, rules, strict hierarchy, etc. as opposed to their Los Angeles counterparts who have a more "savage" and "unorganized" gang culture. These differences in ways of banging has lead to friction between East Side Blood sets and some (not all) West Coast Blood sets, with some West Coast Bloods even going as far as making DVD's and YouTube videos speaking out against East Coast Bloods. These differences have also lead to friction between East Side UBN Bloods and almost all Folks Nation Mobs that exist in New York, who view the UBN as "finballers". Another war was sparked between loyal God Body members and the East Side UBN because God Body viewed the UBN as an organization full of former God Body "transformers" (people who switch gangs) and misuse the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths. This war soon escalated to the UBN being at odds with the whole NYG alliance. Against all these odds, the East Side UBN remains strong and is still growing at a staggering rate.

West Coast Blood sets have a loose structure of ranks based on how long a person has been banging for their particular hood and how much work they put in for the hood. Their rank structure is as follows:

(From lowest to highest)
Y.G. (Young Gangster)
O.Y.G. (Original Young Gangster)
O.G. (Original Gangster)
O.O.G. (Double O.G.)
O.O.O.G. (Triple O.G.)

These ranks don't signify leadership or dominance over anybody else in the set, they just signify respect for those who have been in the hood longer, put in more work for the hood, and have survived the longest. This means that in West Coast sets, Bloods with higher rank don't give out orders or call shots over those with lower rank. The only exception to this rank structure is the East Side UBN Blood sets, who are far more structured and organized than West Coast Blood sets and use their own set of ranks which does involve higher ranking members being superior or dominant over lower ranking members. The reason the East Side UBN sets had to become better organized and structured than West Coast Blood sets is because during the East Side UBN's rise they had to combat gangs who were very organized and structured (Like the Latin Kings, DDP, La Familia, Trinitarios, God Body, Ñetas, Zulu Nation, etc.) and the UBN would not have had a chance to fight against these highly organized gangs by using the traditional Los Angeles unorganized and non-structured way of banging. Because of this, East Side Bloods had to adopt the East Coast way of banging.

The East Side UBN rank structure is as follows:

(From lowest to highest)
000 - Foot Soldier: The foot soldiers function is to comply with orders from Lieutenants, and to keep putting in work for the set at all times.

090 - Y.G. (Young Gangster) - Lieutenant: The Lieutenants function is to ensure the soldiers carry out orders as issued by the Head Lieutenants.

080 - O.Y.G. (Original Young Gangster) - Head Lieutenant: The Head Lieutenants function is to assist and advise the Captain, pass Captains orders on to the Lieutenants, and to carry out the Captain's duties in his absence.

070 - O.G. (Original Gangster) - Captain (Capo): The Captains function is to pass down orders from the Generals amongst the Head Lieutenants and assist and advise the Generals. The captain has the authority to start his own lineup within the set with the permission of a General.

060 - 1 Star General - Commanding Officer: The Commanding Officers function is to dictate orders as specified by the Ranking Generals to the Captains of each lineup under the set.

050 - 2 Star General - Head of Security: Head of Security’s function is to provide weapons and discipline to all member of the set.

040 - 3 Star General - Minister of Information: The Minister of Information’s function is to provide information concerning the set and its enemies.

030 - 4 Star General - Minister of Defense: The Minister of Defenses function is to provide strategies and information to the First Superior for the operations of the set.

Low 020 - Second Superior: The Second Superiors function is to assist and advise the First Superior and carry out the First Superior's duties in his absence.

High 020 - Double O.G. - First Superior: The First Superior's function is to oversee the set. This individual acts as the disciplinary officer.

010 - 5 Star General - Godfather: Highest rank of the set. Triple O.G

In all Blood sets (West and East), Bloods with higher rank are respectfully referred to as "Big Homies" by Bloods with lower rank.

History of the East Side UBN

The United Blood Nation (UBN) originated in the west coast prison systems in the early 80's to put down all street beef between bloods in prison who wanted to participate with the UBN and unite them to protect themselves from the Crips, Sureños, and Aryans. The original UBN has an influence in California, Oregon, and Washington State prison systems. O.G. Mack created the East Coast (East Side) version of the United Blood Nation in 1993 in the C-73 section of New York’s Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

O.G. Mack, whos real name is Omar Portee, was raised by his grandmother on 183rd Street and Davidson Avenue in the Bronx and was an active high ranking member of an independent and ruthless gang in the area called the One Eight Trey Gangsters. He was arrested in 1988 at age 16 for an armed robbery he participated in with his gang. After serving 3 years at Rikers Island, he was released in 1991 at age 19 and went out to the west coast to spend time with his family in Los Angeles in an attempt to stay away from the trouble of hanging around the deadly gangs of New York City. What he didn't realize was that gangs where also very prevalent in Los Angeles and his family in Los Angeles were members of the Miller Gangster Bloods. O.G. Mack's natural ruthlessness impressed his family and the Miller Gangster Bloods who quickly absorbed him into the Los Angeles gang culture. Even though he never officially joined the Millers, he still participated in their gang activities and was considered a Blood while he stayed a loyal member of the One Eight Trey Gangsters. 2 years later (1993) he returned to New York City to spread the Bloods with the permission of the Millers. Upon returning to New York City he was welcomed back by the One Eight Trey Gangsters with open arms and O.G. Mack quickly convinced the gang to flip from being independent and transform the One Eight Trey Gangsters into the One Eight Trey Gangster Bloods under the Bloods alliance. Within months of returning to New York City O.G. Mack was arrested for attempted murder and sent back to Rikers Island.

By early 1993 The Bloodline Latin Kings (Bloodline is a nickname for the New York State Chapter of the Latin Kings, which was started by King Blood) and the Ñetas were the 2 largest and most violent Latino organizations on the streets and prisons of New York City and were inflicting violence on blacks along with other Latino organizations like DDP (Dominicans Don't Play), Trinitarios (3ni), La Familia, and many others. The Latino organizations controlled the New York State prison systems and targeted independent black gangs with daily acts of violence. At this time the existing independent black organizations in Rikers Island were fighting amongst themselves over street beef that they carried over into the jails and weren't receiving help from the NYG or NYC alliances or from the larger independent gangs such as the Zulu Nation, etc. The independent gangs and O.G Mack's Blood set desperately needed a way to unite, which would be the only way they could protect themselves, but they did not wish to be a part of the existing alliances or larger independent gangs. In October of 1993 O.G. Mack (who was already a high ranking member of the One Eight Trey Gangster Bloods who's original turf is from 183rd street & Andrews avenue all the way to Webster avenue in The Bronx, NY) saw the void of unity with the independent black organizations in Rikers Island and called for a meeting of several gang leaders. He approached them with the idea of uniting their gangs together as a Blood set and expanding to help end the violence the Latin organizations were inflicting upon them by creating an East Coast version of the United Blood Nation in Rikers Island. Some of the existing independent black organizations in Rikers Island were tired of fighting amongst themselves and saw this as a great opportunity to unite and finally stop the abuse from the Latino organizations and end the racial conflicts between blacks and Latins in the NY prison system. These small independent gangs took O.G. Macks advice and merged together to create New York City's second Blood set, the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods (whose name represents 1993 Gangster Bloods which shows homage to the year it started). The One Eight Trey Gangster Bloods and Nine Trey Gangster Bloods set the foundation for the East Side UBN.

Within a few days, 3 more black organizations in Rikers Island were sanctioned into Blood sets by O.G. Mack and helped speed up the growth of the East Side UBN. One person very instrumental in helping the East Side UBN rapidly grow was O.G. Mack's right hand man named O.G. Deadeye (Leonard Mackenzie). O.G. Deadeye got his nickname for his cloudy right eye that looked dead. Deadeye, formerly of Howard Avenue in Brooklyn, was born to a 14-year-old mother. Deadeye's rap sheet showed 11 arrests between 1985 and 1993, including three robberies, two assaults, a gun charge and a murder. O.G. Deadeye was the Captain of his own God Body cipher under the NYG alliance that was based in Brooklyn and upon meeting O.G. Mack he flipped his entire Cipher into the GKB (Gangster Killer Bloods) a.k.a. G Shine Bloods set which helped fuel the growth of the East Side UBN in prison and influenced the East Side UBN to officially follow the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths. Another organization that joined the UBN was the Valentine Gangster Bloods which was created from the entire Chapter 4 of the Universal Zulu Nation flipping to Blood under the decision of it's highest ranking leader named Valentine and their headquarters are the Bronx River Projects. The last of the first 5 original East Side UBN Blood sets was Sex Money Murder, which was under the NYG Alliance and lead by Pistol Pete (Peter Rollack) from Soundview Projects in the East Bronx.

Many Bloodline Latin Kings, Ñetas and other Latinos who didn't agree with Latinos attacking blacks over race also decided flip and join the UBN sets. Also, many members of The Nation of Gods and Earths and smaller God Body Ciphers went on the joined the East Side UBN. The Bloods quickly became a strong force in the prison systems on the east and the Bloodline Latin Kings, Ñetas, DDP's Trinitarios, La Familia, and the rest of the Latino organizations no longer severely out-numbered them. The unfair abuse stopped but a fair war began which lead to many years of bloodshed between Latin organizations and the East Side UBN Blood sets in New York’s prison system. By early 1997 the East Side UBN did what the West Coast UBN never did, which was spread the concept of the UBN into the streets their sets already controlled and successfully turned the East Side UBN into a highly structured and organized Blood Nation that operated as it's own separate Blood Card with power in both the streets and prison.

By the year 2001, 8 years after the UBN was first introduced in Rikers Island, the Bloods were a major force in prison systems and cities all across the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. The sets that originated under the East Coast version of the UBN soon spread beyond the east throughout the streets of the whole south, streets in parts of the Midwest, and even in west coast streets in states like Oregon and Washington. There are only 5 Blood sets that originated under the East Side UBN concept but they have hundreds of branches and lines spread throughout much of the United States. The reason for this rapid expansion is because they quickly spread through the prison systems and streets (unlike the Bloods in L.A., which mostly only spread in their neighborhoods), so when members started being released from jail they went back to their own separate neighborhoods, started recruiting, and either formed their own sub-clicks of each set called "Line-Ups" or "Lines" or just started a completely new East Side UBN Blood set.

Even though the East Side UBN has Blood sets and lines in multiple cities spread throughout much of the United states, each member of these sets and/or lines still show great loyalty to the East Coast and New York City as the motherland of the East Side UBN no matter where they are. They all call themselves East Side Riders and throw up the East Side hand sign to show their devotion and loyalty to New York City as the motherland of the East Side UBN. Also, many members of these 5 original sets have broken away and branched out to form and establish their own East Side (East Coast) Blood sets. All Blood members in sets under the East Side UBN Card greet each other by doing a Universal UBN Handshake called the "Lock and Load" and then throwing up their particular set/line/hood hand sign afterwards. While they are doing this handshake, they are known to shout "Peace Blood" and "Peace Almighty" which are variations of the God Body/ Nation of Gods and Earths greeting of "Peace God". They replace "God" with "Almighty" to separate themselves from God Body and the rest of the gangs under the NYG alliance. East Side UBN Bloods are also known to call themselves "Hard Body" as a sign of blatant disrespect for God Body.