Street Gangs The Crips And The Bloods

The gang is notorious for its flamboyant use of the color blue. Wearing blue any and everywhere, gang members often get heckled by the police. The Crips are known to have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Bloods and various surrounding gangs. They are also locked in an ongoing struggle over the drug trade with the Vice Lords. Raymond initially called the gang the Baby Avenues in an attempt to emulate older gangs and the activities carried out by the Black Panthers; Raymond was fascinated with the movement of the Black Panthers.

The Gang renamed itself the Avenue Cribs and then took on the nickname the Cribs, because of the young age of members. The name Crips was first introduced in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in a description by crime victims of young men with canes, as if they were crippled. Resources state, it could have Just been a misspelling error, either way the name stuck, and the Crips were officially Born Gangsters. Stanley Tookie Williams, generally acknowledged as co-founder of the Crips, started his own gang called the Westside Crips. Crip meaning “Community Revolution In Progress”.

The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs Joined; at one point they outnumbered non-crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-crip gangs, including the L. A. Brims, Athens Parks Boys, the Bishops and the Denver Lanes. The Crips eventually became the most powerful gang in California. In response, all of the other rival gangs, including the Pirus, formed an alliance that later became the Bloods. Along with friends, Williams and Washington created the initial intent of continuing the revolutionary ideology of the 960s.

These aspirations were unattainable because of a general lack of political leadership and guidance. Washington and Williams were never able to develop an agenda for social change within the community. By 1971 the gang’s notoriety had spread across Los Angeles. The Gang became increasingly violent as they attempted to expand their turf. By the early 1980s the gang was heavily involved with drug trade, majority being crack cocaine. In 1971, a Crip set on Piru Street, Compton known as the Piru Street Boys was formed.

After two years of peace, a feud began between he Piru Street Boys and the other Crip sets. It would later turn violent as gang warfare ensued between former allies. This battle continued until the mid 1970s when the Piru Street Boys wanted to call an end to the violence and called a meeting witn other gangs that were targeted by the Crips. Atter a long discussion, the Pirus broke off all connections to the Crips and started an organization that would later be called the Bloods, a street gang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips.

For many years, Crips were characterized by their tendency to wear blue in order to easily dentify each other. One suggested origin of the selected color is traced to the school colors of Washington High School in South L. A. Another theory is the co-founder, Stanley Williams, had a good and close friend called “Buddha”, who wore blue shirts, khakis, shoes, and a blue bandana from his back left pocket. When Buddha died, Williams made blue the Crip color in honor of Buddha.

A particular set of Crips, the Grape Street Crips, have been known to wear purple in addition to blue. The Shotgun Crips are separated into three sub-sets: The Nine, 139th Street; The Foe, 134th street; nd the Deuce, 132nd street in the city of Gardena, California and have been known to wear dark green, the city color of Gardena, in addition to blue to show that the Shotgun Crips are from Gardena. Crips also wear blue bandanas and British Knights sport shoes, which the Crips use BK as a acronym meaning “Blood Killas”.