The Almighty Black P Stone Nation: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of an American Gang
The Almighty Black P Stone Nation, one of the most notorious teen gangs in 1960s Chicago, evolved from a youth gang involved in petty crimes into a major operation engaged in drug dealing and defrauding an antipoverty program aimed at youth employment. Journalist Moore and scholar Williams, the son of a former member of a rival gang, draw on interviews, newspaper accounts, and court records to examine the rise and fall of the gang that started as the Blackstone Rangers and later morphed into the El Rukns. The gang, led mostly by Jeff Fort, adapted through the civil rights and black nationalism eras and was later caught up in charges of domestic terrorism for its connections to Libya. Moore and Williams explore the elements that brought the gang to life: the expansion plans of the University of Chicago versus resistance from community groups following the tenets of community organizer Saul Alinsky. Fort led the gang through turf wars and rivalries, political machinations, and changes in the economic and social landscape of Chicago neighborhoods plagued by youth violence, housing segregation, and racial hostility. --Vanessa Bush