This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2007) |
Founded | 1968Bronx, NY Founders: Guru, David Brockington |
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Years active | 1968 to present |
Territory | Soundview, Bronx, New York, Boston, Maryland |
Membership | approx. 250 |
The Black Spades were a mostly African-American street gang which started in the Bronx during the late 1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s. [1] The gang began to spread from the Bronx to Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Rochelle, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut by the late 1980s. During this period Latino and white members were more common. The Black Spades have made a comeback in 2019 with more members joining. They are now TBS New Direction, a community service group championing anti-violence initiatives and providing food distribution for the food insecure.
The gang originated in 1968 in the Bronxdale Houses in the Soundview section of the Bronx. Although rumor says they were originally named the Savage Seven, the name from the start was the Black Spades.
The Black Spades officially formed in Junior High School 123 on Morrison Ave in Soundview. Originally a teenage street organization, The Spades followed the teachings of The Five-Percent Nation, Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, and were influenced by the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground Organization. Under the leadership of the original president David Brockington, who was a member of the Nation of Islam, the Spades organized to fight against the racism and bigotry in the Soundview, Clason Point, Parkchester, Castle Hill, and Throgs Neck neighborhoods of the Bronx. The 1st division Black Spades policed and protected Bronxdale Houses from the rise in crime, drug dealers, and heroin addicts who began to take over the community.
The gang quickly spread to nearby housing projects in the Soundview area (Monroe Houses, Soundview Houses, Bronx River Houses) and throughout the Bronx, starting a subculture inviting music into the lives of gang members. The Black Spades were also participants in the Hoe Avenue peace meeting. The Black Spades also included a women's division that started in Clason Point housing and Junior High School I.S. 131.
By the early 1970s the Black Spades had increased in numbers and members began to lose focus of their original purpose. The Black Spades and younger members (Young Spades/Baby Spades) became violent and other divisions were unrestrained. David Brockington didn't like the direction that they were headed so he stepped down as 1st division president. Afterwards Monk became the new supreme president of the Black Spades which became a full-fledged street gang.
New York street gang activity peaked in 1973, and then began to decline. Reasons for this decline included violence and drug use as well as a move to the burgeoning hip hop culture in park jams, block parties and clubs.
Afrika Bambaataa was a member in a Black Spade 1st division 1st chapter then joined the Bronx River Houses Black Sapdes 10th Division before becoming a famous hip hop DJ. He went on to form the Universal Zulu Nation on November 12, 1973; [2] with several members following him.
Kool DJ Herc, an early hip hop music pioneer, credits gangs including the Black Spades with getting the hip hop scene started.
It started coming together as far as the gangs terrorizing a lot of known discotheques back in the days. I had respect from some of the gang members because they used to go to school with me. There were the Savage Skulls, Glory Stompers, Blue Diamonds, Black Cats and Black Spades.
The organization had a strong following through the late 1990s. Around this time many young members of the organization transitioned their membership to the Bloods street gang of NYC.
In early 2022, a resurgence of Black Spades members have risen in the River Park Towers housing complex of the West Bronx. This latest incarnation of The Black Spades are a neighborhood self policing unit that has plans to participate in homeless food drives, after-school programs at CIS 229, other positive neighborhood development.[ citation needed ]
The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed by Hip Hop artist Afrika Bambaataa.
The Ghetto Brothers were a gang and music group founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960s with the motivation to uplift young Latino and Black men in their community.
Soundview is a neighborhood on the Clason Point peninsula, on the southern section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Lacombe Avenue to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. The Bruckner Expressway bisects the neighborhood horizontally along the center and the Bronx River Parkway runs north to south. Soundview Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Soundview.
Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the east Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East Tremont Avenue to the north, Castle Hill Avenue to the east, Westchester Avenue to the south, East 177th Street/Cross Bronx Expressway to the southwest, and White Plains Road to the west. Metropolitan Avenue, Unionport Road, and White Plains Road are the primary thoroughfares through Parkchester.
Sex, Money, Murder is a "set" of the Bloods street gang operating on the East Coast of the United States. The gang was formed in the Soundview section of The Bronx in the Soundview Houses, a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development. Sex, Money Murder is one of the original sets (subgroups) of the United Blood Nation.
The Hoe Avenue peace meeting was an important gathering of gangs that took place in the Bronx, New York City, on December 8, 1971. It was called to propose a general truce and an unprecedented inter-gang alliance. The impetus for the meeting was the murder of "Black Benjie", a peace keeper of the Ghetto Brothers. While no lasting peace was ever established, a subsequent negotiation established a procedure for dealing with conflicts to avoid street warfare. The meeting is notable as one of the first attempts by street organizations to broker a truce between groups of different ethnic backgrounds.
Morris Heights is a residential neighborhood located in the West Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: West Burnside Avenue to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and the Harlem River to the west. University Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Morris Heights.
Castle Hill is a neighborhood located in the southeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries are Waterbury Avenue and Westchester Avenue to the north, Westchester Creek to the east, the East River to the south, and White Plains Road to the west. Unionport is a subsection of Castle Hill, typically considered north of Lafayette Avenue.
Bronx River Houses is a low-income public housing project in the Soundview section of the Bronx, New York City. It consists of nine buildings with 1,260 apartments. Completed February 28, 1951, the 13.94-acre (5.64 ha) Bronx development is bordered by East 174th Street, Harrod, and Bronx River Avenues. Bronx River Houses is home to 3,025 residents. The project is patrolled by P.S.A. 8 located at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.
Clason Point is a peninsula and a neighborhood in the East Bronx, New York City. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including Harding Park, and Soundview. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: Lafayette Avenue to the north, White Plains Road/Pugsley Creek Park to the east, the East River to the south, and the Bronx River to the west.
Clive Campbell, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Campbell began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown. Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat—the "break"—and switch from one break to another. Using the same two-turntable set-up of disco DJs, he used two copies of the same record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using funky drum solos, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated, rhythmically spoken accompaniment now known as rapping.
Lance Taylor, also known as Afrika Bambaataa, is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip hop culture. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.
Soundview Park is a 205-acre (83 ha) park on Clason Point in the southern portion of the Bronx, New York City. The park is adjacent to the Clason Point, Hunts Point, and Soundview neighborhoods, situated where the Bronx River flows into the East River, roughly opposite Rikers Island and LaGuardia Airport. The park is bounded by the Bronx River Estuary/East River, Lafayette Avenue, Morrison Avenue, Story Avenue, Metcalf Avenue, O'Brien Avenue, and Bronx River Avenue.
The Savage Skulls are a mostly Puerto Rican and African American street gang started in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s. The gang declared war on the drug dealers operating in the Hunts Point area in the early 1970s, and was also involved in a number of running battles with rival gangs, including the Seven Immortals, Savage Nomads, and Dirty Dozen.
Ronald "Bee-Stinger" Savage is an American entrepreneur, hip hop artist, author, and activist. He was known as the "crate boy" for Jazzy Jay, who was the DJ for Afrika Bambaataa. In 2016, he publicly accused Bambaataa of sexually molesting him. Savage also is the service mark owner of the registered brand Hip Hop Movement.
The Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses and Community Center is a housing project in Soundview, The Bronx, New York City. Formerly known as the Bronxdale Houses, the project was renamed in honor of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who had spent part of her childhood in the development, in June 2010. The complex was originally opened in January 1955. The 28-building complex includes close to 1,500 apartments that house about 3,500 residents. The 30.77-acre development is bordered by Bruckner Boulevard and Watson, Soundview and Leland Avenues.
The Savage Nomads were a mostly Puerto Rican and African American street gang started in the South Bronx area of The Bronx, New York during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s. The gang was involved in a number of running battles with rival gangs Seven Immortals, Savage Skulls, and the Dirty Dozen. The Savage Nomads were alleged to be involved in numerous small crime activities in the New York City area.
Anthony G. "Cholly Rock" Horne, is a first generation B-Boy and one of the original 11 members of the Zulu Kings, the predecessor and genesis of the Universal Zulu Nation.
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris.