Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
amazon.com/Wings-Fly-Jarnell-Stokes/dp/1734245204
When you think of the Civil Rights Movement in the states
north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the last people thought of would be
gang members. In our minds, Martin Luther King, James Bevel, Jesse
Jackson and Stokely Carmichael are the people credited with
spreading the Movement to the North.
Because of this view, the roles
local organizations and gangs played in the Civil Rights and Black
Power Movements are often glossed over. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in Chicago in the late 60s during the Chicago Freedom
Movement of 1966 and the subsequent rise of the Black Power
Movement of 1968.
This marked a period when gang involvement in
the Civil Rights Movement would not only grow; it would actively be
sought after. In the 60s, Chicago-based gangs became more numerous
and more organized than the previous iterations. Their involvement in
the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements enabled them to become
players not only locally, but on the national stage as well.
The Blackstone Rangers, who would also be known as the
Black P. Stones were co-opted into the Civil Rights
Movement in Chicago. They were able to extend their influence
beyond the Civil Rights Movement and into the Black Power
Movement, as well. The Rangers and their leader Jeff Fort became the
most notorious gang in Chicago.
Their rise to prominence and
community activism made them a unique force in the ‗60s. The
relationships they formed with prominent Civil Rights and Black
Power leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, and Fred
Hampton showed their willingness to fight the inequalities in
Woodlawn neighborhood.
amazon.com/Wings-Fly-Jarnell-Stokes/dp/1734245204
When you think of the Civil Rights Movement in the states
north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the last people thought of would be
gang members. In our minds, Martin Luther King, James Bevel, Jesse
Jackson and Stokely Carmichael are the people credited with
spreading the Movement to the North.
Because of this view, the roles
local organizations and gangs played in the Civil Rights and Black
Power Movements are often glossed over. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in Chicago in the late 60s during the Chicago Freedom
Movement of 1966 and the subsequent rise of the Black Power
Movement of 1968.
This marked a period when gang involvement in
the Civil Rights Movement would not only grow; it would actively be
sought after. In the 60s, Chicago-based gangs became more numerous
and more organized than the previous iterations. Their involvement in
the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements enabled them to become
players not only locally, but on the national stage as well.
The Blackstone Rangers, who would also be known as the
Black P. Stones were co-opted into the Civil Rights
Movement in Chicago. They were able to extend their influence
beyond the Civil Rights Movement and into the Black Power
Movement, as well. The Rangers and their leader Jeff Fort became the
most notorious gang in Chicago.
Their rise to prominence and
community activism made them a unique force in the ‗60s. The
relationships they formed with prominent Civil Rights and Black
Power leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, and Fred
Hampton showed their willingness to fight the inequalities in
Woodlawn neighborhood.
