The Black Gangster Disciples, often abbreviated “BGDN” “GDs”, is a gang from the South-side of Chicago that was created in the 1960s. It was formed by the leader of Supreme Gangsters, Larry Hoover, and the leader of the Black Disciples, David Barksdale. The two groups merged in the 1960s to form a new gang alliance called the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN).
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The BGDN has in the past made several attempts to clean its name and image. Some of the Gangster Disciples members have taken out ‘B’ from the gang’s name, and go simply by Gangster Disciples (GDs). The GDs spent some time in the political world working with other gangs such as the Vice Lords, Young Lords, Black Disciples, and Latin King through the ‘Growth and Development Movement”. Many GDs gang members not located in Chicago often go by the original name Black Gangster Disciples (BGDN). BGDN is also part of a phenomenon taking place in the army, where gang members are joining the army. The GDs are said to be found in the U.S. and American bases oversea. The gang often leaves their graffiti in bases.
| Gang Name | Gangster Disciples |
| Territory | US NationWide |
| Years Active | 1960s-Present |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Black |
| Symbols | 6 Point Star, Pitchforks, Heart with wings, Tails and horns |
| Aliases | GDs, GDN, 7-4, 7-4-14 |
| Colors | Black, Blue, & Gray |
| Members | 40-50,000+ |
| Phrases | GD till the world blow |
| Criminal Activities | Drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, murder, prostitution, Boosting (d-queens) |
| Allies | Folk Nation, Crips, Zoe Pound, Black Guerilla Family, and Black Mafia Family, Some Black Disciple sets, Some People Nation sets |
| Enemies | People Nation, Black P.Stones, Vice Lords, Four Corner Hustlers, Bloods, Latin Kings, Nortenos, Surenos, White Supremacist gangs, & Black Disciples |
The Gangster Disciples’ history can be traced back to the 1960s. Larry Hoover, often regarded as the founder of the Gangster Disciples, was born in November 30, 1950 in Jackson, Mississippi. Larry Hoover moved with his family to Chicago when he was 4, when he turned 13, he joined a gang called the Supreme Gangsters which was located in his neighborhood. While a sophomore in high school, Larry Hoover was gunned down by a rival gang member on his first day of school and got kicked out as a result. While out of school, and with no job, he turned to a life of crime, ranging from prostitutes, gamblers, and drug dealers. Larry Hoover eventually became the leader of the Supreme Gangsters, and in 1966 Hoover and the gang overpowered the King Cobras , which forced the remaining cobras to ally themselves with the Black Disciples Nation which was under David Barksdale’s control. Larry Hoover would later merge the Gangster Disciples with numerous other gangs to form the Gangster Nation. Gangster Nation was a merge between the Supreme Gangsters, African Sniper Gangsters, Raven Gangsters, High Supreme Gangsters, Maniac Gangsters,Russian Gangsters, Mafia Gangsters, 75th Street Syndicate Gangsters, Gent town Gangsters, Outlaw Gangsters, 95th Street Supreme Gangsters, the Dells Gangsters, East side Syndicate Gangsters, West Side Supreme Gangsters, Racketeer Gangsters, Imperial Gangsters, and the Black Pimp Gangsters of the West Side.
The Gangster Nation’s size was increasing; however, they were still trailing the Black Disciples and the Black P. Stone Rangers. David Barksdale was the leader of the Black Disciples, and Jeff Fort was the leader of the Black P. Stones. Jeff Fort wanted to join forces with Larry Hoover and promised a high leadership in the new, realizing that his new position would be lower than his current, Larry Hoover declined. In 1969, instead of joining forces with the Black P. Stone, Larry Hoover formed an alliance with the Black Disciples which caused them to adapt a new name “Black Gangster Disciples”(BGDN). The BGDN alliance ended the war that was going on between the Gangster Nation and the Black Disciples in the 60s.
The BGDN started turning their ways around after the formation of the new alliance and participated in numerous community programs. The gang opened restaurants and gas stations and even went as far as to steer young kids in school toward the right direction. On the surface, it looked as if the BGDN was moving toward a positive direction; however, in beginning in the 1970s, massive amount of drugs started to flood the very same black community they were helping. The BGDN was deep in the drug trade, many of their members started to get rich off the drug trade, while some of their members fell victim to the addicted substances they were selling. Larry Hoover and Andrew Young were found guilty of Murder in 1973 and were sentenced to 150-200 years each for murdering William Young, a drug addict believed to have stolen one of the gang’s supplies of drug. Joshua would later test testify against both Hoover and Young, and saying that he witnessed both of them kidnapping William Young.
David Barksdale would later die on September 2, 1974 due to Kidney failure from a gunshot wood he suffered in 1968. Due to the death of Barksdale, a new leader needed to be appointed to run BGDN, the decision came down to Larry Hoover and Jerome Shorty Freeman, it was decided that Hoover would be the new leader. Four years after Hoover became the leader of the BGDN, Jerome Freeman decided to dismember the alliance, resulting in the Black Disciples and the Gangster Nation heading separate ways.
With King Barksdale dead and King King Hoover in prison, the police were baffled as to how the GDs were stll able to amass massive amount of profits and keep growing. Hoover’s power reached a pinnacle when he created a new alliance of gangs known as Folk Nation, and managed to order a prison riot in Pontiac prison located in Illinois which resulted with the death of 3 dead officers. The new folk alliance resembled that of BGDN and consisted of both BGDs and GDs as well as numerous other gangs. Hoover succeeded in bringing in some of the major and fastest growing gangs in Chicago into the alliance. Within that time period, Hoover also managed created a Latino faction of the gang which went by the name Spanish Gangsters Disciples.
The alliance between the BGDs and BDs was shot lived, in 1991, an inter alliance war was started and they started shooting at one another. The war between the two gangs set bad precedence for the folk nation, which would later cause multiple other inter alliance wars to happen. When the war broke out between the BGDs and the BDs, the BGDs were so mad that they removed ‘Black’ from their name and went simply by ‘Gangster Disciples’(GDs). The GDs also became the biggest gang in Chicago in the 1990s. Larry Hoover’s power over the gang was so great, that in 1993 about 10,000 Gangster Disciples showed up to hear Hoover speak on a phone from prison. During the meeting Hoover pushed Growth and Development concept, which claimed that GDs were no longer operating in the criminal world. However, in 1995, in an effort to hurt the GDs’ leader ship, operation Headache was launched, which took down 39 high ranking Gangster Disciples members. As a direct result of this operation, Hoover was given a life sentence and moved to a more secured prison location.
About every major gangs have a unique system of symbols to communicate their respective rivalries and alliances. Gangster Disciples use a mix of symbols that represent the GDs and/or the Folk Nation, they also use symbols from that of rival gangs, usually in inverted manner as a sign of disrespect. Gangster Disciples are said to wear blue and black as their color, they are often seen wearing the Georgetown Hoyas and Duke Blue Devils clothing
Gangster Disciples’ main symbol is the six-pointed star which looks very much like the Star of David. The Star of David is often said to be a tribute to their founder David Barksdale, the star’s six points stand for love, life, loyalty, understanding, knowledge, and wisdom.
| LOVE | Love of the Nation is greater than mere love alone, because we have a brotherhood in which love is as deep as the deep blue sea. TRUE BLUE LOVE |
| LIFE | Life commitment to the Nation for the betterment of ourselves as well as the Nation and each committed brother within the Nation, and our Nation's teachings, laws, creeds, symbols, philosophy and defense. |
| LOYALTY | To yourself, and each committed brother of our Nation. |
| UNITY | Collectively embraces all concepts, ideas, and actions that apply to our Nation. Togetherness is essential in order for us to continue our survival. |
| KNOWLEDGE | Is insight, therefore it is priceless, it gives one the ability to apply rational judgement. Knowledge is the ability to have a conscious awareness, and knowledge gained and not passed along is wasted knowledge. |
| UNDERSTANDING | Shows that we are able to communicate effectively, bringing about agreements, and a positive state of mind. |
Gd Gangster Disciples
At the height of their reign, the Gangster Disciples gang was a well structured organization. The gang has an organizational structure similar to that of a fortune 500 company. As most of the leaders of the GDs ended up dead or incarcerated, the gang became less structured.
The Gangster Disciples ranks are:
- Chairman Of the Board
- Board of Directors (2) (Prison & Street)
- Governors/Area Coordinator
- Street Enforcers
- Soldiers/Non Members
Gd Gangster Disciple Creed
Like all gangs, gangster disciples has its fair share of enemies which includes but not limited to People Nation, Black P.Stones, Vice Lords, Bloods, Latin Kings, Surenos, White Supremacist gangs, Nortenos & Black Disciples. Black Disciples often refer to themselves as GDK, meaning Gangster Disciple Killers, and Gangster Disciples often refer to themselves as BDK meaning Black Disciple Killers. The main allies of the Gangster Disciples are Folk Nation gangs, Crips, Zoe Pound, BGF, as well as numerous other gangs.
| Lil Scrappy |
Lil Jay|Geto Boyz|Lil Mister|Larry Hoover|||
Sets:
STL/EBT/Tookaville/Tutu Gang/Boss City
Bricksquad/D Block/Aikiville/JoJo World
M.O.B/Junebug Gang/Scrapp Gang/Bay Bay World
50 Strong/Dell World/Dougo Gang
CMB/Crazyville/Joc Block
PBG/Insane Cutthroats/Freakyville/Pappy Town/Mosey Squad
075 Wuga World
Killa Ward/Freako World/LY City/BK Gang
Gd Gangster Disciples
Gd Gangster Disciples Creed
http://chicagogangs.org/index.php?pr=gdn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangster_Disciples