Gangs of Chicago | Almighty Gaylord Nation | Memories of the Streets of Chicago

2009-06-11T20:32:00.002-04:00

It had too have been a Friday night,Schurz high school had let out.Me and the fatman had decided too go out meet up with some Gaylords,We took the Cta bus back up too Schurz High School area.I was actually wearing a pair of Baby Blue Baggies,these were not of the Osh Kosh variety ,they were more of a style that the Latino bangers were wearing,I had purchased these baggies on Milwaukee ave. in the wicker park area.That was not a safe haven in the 80s as it is today.I was also wearing Black shoes that were referred to as Rockers,because it had a bottom too the shoe the sort of waved,and when you walked it was with motion. So me and Fatman had actually went too Aladdins Castle a game room on Irving Park and Keeler. Also this corner was being recognized as the IKPP Irving and Keeler Party People.
We meet up with Rook basically a Former Gaylord and Associate,A very good friend of mine, and perhaps even Doughboy of the Gaylords.Me Rook,Fatman and Doughboy proceeded too smoke some of the Marijuana I had brought with me.We got high played some games then Probably drank A twelve pack or case between us.The flashy lights outside the Game room were brightly lite.I was stoned and stole one of the light bulbs.
It was starting too get late so me and fatman said our farewells then preceded up too Addison n Pulaski,looking for a bus,I then flagged down a cab,At that precise moment 2 or 3 members of the ABOs spotted me sticking out like a sore thumb. They ran up on us and a fight issued.Fatman was struck over the head with a blackjack or bowling pin.I was fucked up but I preceded too fight off the attackers.The light bulb I stole from Alladins Castle i shoved in one of their faces.I then made them relinquish their weapon and i used it against them.They then fled.
We jumped into the cab that watched a mini gang fight happen before his very eyes. Fatman was bleeding the cab went straight too Belmont hospital.
Fatman got stitched up then the Doctors wanted too have a look at me.I said no during the altercation I got hit too.I think they wanted too call the Police.I started to fell dizzy then I ran down the hallway with Fatman and i started Puking throughout the hallway of the hospital.We reached the front doors of the Hospital being Melrose and Karlov,we ran out the doors up too Belmont ave. As soon as we reached the corner we spotted the east bound Belmont bus coming. 30 seconds later we were gone. JAKE.

2009-06-10T00:46:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is D. and i lived on Malden and Sunnyside from 1969 to 1978.i knew some of the Gaylord's. They took good care of the kids in the neighborhood. I remember one time the Gaylord's had a cook-out block party for the kids in the area and they had to stop it because some of the Latin Kings came over and attacked a little girl in the ally. well needless to say the party was over and they went after the ones who hurt the little girl. there was another time that one gang I'm not sure which one but the were looking for a Gaylord and when they found him, tied him to a tree in the park and cut him up real bad. it didn't kill him but not far from it. the guys i knew were really great guys. i dated a couple and babysat for some.to me i felt safer being in Uptown as a kid.there was another time i can remember where two guys wanted to join the Gaylord's and my sister and me were out side on the park, the one guy they were talking to pulled out a gun and started shooting. hope this helps a little.

2009-05-24T00:08:00.000-04:00

http://wearesupervision.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicago-lesser-known-arts-history.html

Surfing around the web today, I crashed into this card display. http://wearesupervision.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicago-lesser-known-arts-history.html While gazing over it I thought to myself, "Damn, that fuckin' card again." Now, I don't know why but this whimsical card keeps getting lassoed in with rough-looking gang cards. Every time I see it, it sends an embarrassing zap through out my system. At the same time though, it is weird to see that the card has stood the test of time, whereas most of the individuals who are card-listed most likely have no memory of the thing.

The Stooge Bros was the concoction of my friend Robert and I. Actually, dopey Robert was always comically labeling our little hood fellowship in some fashion. Far from a rough-headed street gang, we were just young neighborhood guys, within the docile realm of Jefferson Park. Incidentally, the sneering-smile C-Notes were just starting to spring to life in the area at the time period, and I think our meager clique was hit with a bad case of the identity crises. We tossed around a few goofy ideals amongst ourselves of what to conform to, like "The Junior Klan of Lawrence and Lavergne." The nervy Junior Klan prospect had entered our foggy heads when we had to discard the Gaylord pipedream. Inwardly we were enticed by the reputed "Gaylords"; just seeing the name banner-scrawled across CTA bus seats, had Rob and I starry eyed. Admitingly, us pipsqueaks were inexperienced in the unfine art of gang warfare. The C-notes had leading all-stars within their crew. Plain and simple, we would have got shredded up by a stack of the green paper-labeled gang. Crazy Luke, alone, was a legendary C-Note around those parts. Maybe if some GL classic models would have resided in the area, things would have developed different. So, the dream child of the Lawrence and Lamon Gaylords never came about. Either did the Junior Klan idea; I thought it would just draw a lot of political attention to our misdemeanor hood.

The Stooge Bros. was a scatter-brain alternative to the more militant ideas. Truth was, we were just not that serious minded about things, misfit stooges if anything. Additionally, at the time we more concerned with trying to fondle up on the virginal group of girls that we had leached ourselves too. Hence the girlish names, and two mushy overtures, on this card. Additionally, A-B-C is as simple as 1-2-3; ABCS is the first initial of some of the girls' actual names. The girls’ porno-sounding nicknames were forced-pressed upon them. Never-the-less though, once they received the Stooge Bros cards, the girls were all giggles and smiles about the project being completed. Skipping off later, they probably thought us guys really were a bunch of stooges for making the cards.

The Stooge Bros card itself was made by me. Printed up at the compact print shop off of Milwaukee and Montrose, I believe the 500 embossed trinkets were my first trial run at making business cards. I don’t officially count it as my first gang-associated card, as the whole process felt more like the making up of a cheezy Hallmark card. The beer and leprechaun symbols were not thoroughly thought out either, but selected in minutes from a stock-image book. Beer was super-fucking-cool and some of us were Irish proud. Shit, one of the girls, Ann, was an Irish line dancer.

After the Stooge Bros card were printed up, and after tagging up the kiddie playlot and the rest of our hood with Stooge-a-rama, the glimmer of the Stooge Bros lasted for maybe a couple months, then it just fizzled out. My friend, dopey Rob, and I then brainstormed the "Knights." Infantile as it sounds, we thought we could create some new household-name gang. We even pulled off our first major heist; a copyright infringement, by using the Jousters’ helmet as our logo. After going on a wall-tagging crusade with the Knights fascination, for weeks, I, for one,was starting to crave some real action. Eventually, I got bit by the Gaylord bug and I splintered off from our hood of misfit stooges. Within months, I would be using the compact print shop to produce future GL masterpieces. But that is another short story which will come....

2009-05-15T21:58:00.000-04:00

Old School Gang Perspective
People today have no perspective on gangs and drugs. The middle class, who have never had to worry for anything and have always had jobs and safety nets waiting for them to fall into, look at criminal activity and see people who aren't trying hard enough, because they believe the myth that anyone can make it in America. The gangs themselves are the results of poverty and class warfare - of a neighborhood that people have forgotten about.

2009-05-05T14:34:00.002-04:00

Repping Gaylords
You can feel the animosity and see it posted on all the threads. What has it come to? Gaylord verses Gaylord. I think it's total bullshit. It doesn't matter what set you're from, You're still a GL. Yes, we didn't come to alot of sets and alot of sets didn't come to us.And why? Because of our colors and yours. Here's alittle something for you.

If we all would have got along as a nation, like it was supposed to be, the city could have been ours. I was dating this girl who lived on Kostner and Fullerton .Had already been up there a few times. SA didn't stray too far as did other sets so that whole hood was new to me. I didn't know where any of the gangways were to run through if anything happened or where the alleys led so I took a friend up with me. His name was Lil Wolf. He was just a rep for us, a new guy to the neighborhood. We get up there, off the final CTA and it's a total setup by the chick and her friends. Nothing but ALMIGHTY NORTHSIDE WHITE BOYS.And a few IG"S. Now we're screwed. Maybe 15. Maybe less. We lasted as long as we could. Took our beatings and gave some. Then decided to haul ass.It's late November of "86. Cold as shit. Nothing but my gray baggies on, black leather jacket and my black Rockers.And a bottle of "69 cognac.We must have ran for miles. Next thing we see are the railroad tracks. We stopped to take a breath, take in some of the "69 and try and stay warm.

As we see this car coming around, chasing the same crew that were still on our tail. So Lil Wolf and I take off again, duck down an alley, take a turn and there's that car again. The dude riding shotgun leans out the window and starts yelling " eagle killer". We repped back "SAGL Eagle Killer" He yells back "Gaylord Love"
.Just a car full of Gaylords, just different colors. Never so happy to see black and blue in my life. The passenger in that car saved my ass as well as my partners and I was more than happy to give up that bottle of "69 cognac to all the Gaylords, LA and KP. That nite will stay with me forever. I probably wouldn't be here with my kids, my family ,my girl without that passenger helping out a Black and Gray Gaylord. Who was NOT part of the unity. He didn't have to help the WPO SAGLN. And All I see on this site is a lot of bashing towards this guy who saved my ass because I was a fellow brother. He didn't know me, never met, but was a TRUE GAYLORD AND STILL IS
TALL THANKS TO Rocker FOR SAVING MY ASS.

SAGLN
WOLF
MAN

2009-04-18T02:19:00.000-04:00

The war sweater shown on your site labeled "unknown" (royal blue with yellow chops and trim/belt,PR flag patch) is a Lawndale Boys sweater. L-Boys hung around Funston school back around 1984-85. From what I can remember,they were probably not really 'bangers. More like a club. As you know, that school was around Central Park & Armitage.

I'm sure some of those guys brothers were IG's. I had some friends from Armitage & K-Town back in the day that kept me up on happenings in the streets around those parts. That was around the same time as the short-lived Maniac Destroyers.
I was never affiliated with any gang,although I did have some friends that were retired "flakes" (ex-MLD's ). They saw the light and got the hell out,although they still kept up with what was happening in the street. That was kind of a weird neighborhood back in the early to mid-80's because it was in transition. There were Freaks and Gaylords and Cobras and Disciples living on the same blocks. Most of those guys went to Nixon school and Kelvyn Park H.S. so when they ran into each other it wasn't really a big deal because they knew each other from childhood. The folks in that neighborhood were mostly KK and guys like Chip hung out over by
Grand & Harlem. I do remember checking out some freshly painted walls over at Belden & Knox. You guys had that camp decked out big and bold. Me and a friend used to call ourselves the Muralmasters,because whenever a club had a really nice painting up,
we would take pictures of them. We never desecrated any walls and we had scrapbooks of all the pictures. We also took pictures of the New York style hip hop graffiti that was all the rage at the time. We actually risked life and limb taking some of those shots.

Sometimes my buddy actually had permission from some of those clubs to take pictures of their murals. To be safe we would always go super early on Saturday and Sunday mornings when nobody was around. I'm sorry to say that I no longer have any of
those pictures due to moving around so much over the years. I took the picture of the mural in the alley at L-A (the one that's in Rocker's book). That was an awesome little painting and I got up at the crack of dawn to take that picture. Hey,that was smart. I didn't want my ride to get bricked in that alley.LOL. Around that same time,give or take a year,there were alot of really cold walls up. The Kings had one on the roof at Division and Spaulding that was about the best. The Latin Brothers had a nice one on the roof at North Ave. & Latrobe. A knight's helmet with an old english LB. That was just before they moved all the way up Cicero Ave. The Latin Lovers had one over by Lyndale & Campbell with 3 hearts and the names of their deceased homeboys inside.

The Uptown Rebels had one on the roof at Wilson & Magnolia that was smoking. We even took pictures of walls down in Pilsen. The Gangsters had a huge gangster crown up at Drake & Armitage around '84. It had to be about 6 feet high and 12 feet wide.
Alot of guys back then (even non-gangbangers) collected gang cards too. You could go to Chicago Knitting Mills up on Montrose and have a sweater custom made. Plain war sweaters costed about 80 bucks. They had Latin King and Royal sweaters already
made,in the box. Probably because those were the 2 biggest clubs up there. That entire scene changed when drug dealing became an enterprise and the styles became more bling bling. Remember when the baggy work pants were more popular than jeans? You used to get those at the military surplus stores. They only came in a few colors. Gray (GL's/LE's),Green(SC's/ID's/CN's), Tan,Brown (Jivers/OA's),Dark Blue(SCR's/CW's/NK's),and Black(everybody else). Navy Pea Coats were popular. Leather jackets with the sweat hoods underneath. Casual straw shoes.Kung fu slippers. Army boots. Of course,Converse All-Stars. The canvas ones.
The official poor kids gymshoe. With no arch support whatsoever. Later on with the breaking craze,Puma suedes with the fat laces. They didn't wear bandanas like Tupac. They wore them pirate-style and aunt-jemima style if you were really ghetto. Then the stupid baseball caps came out. Tip to the left or right or whatever. Now they wear those big denim burlap sacks falling off their asses. They shoot their gats sideways because they saw somebody in a rap video do it like that. Then they wonder why innocent people get killed. I thought our generation was messed up. We look like elder statesmen compared to these kids now. Anyways, no use living in the past. Things were not all perfect back when Ronnie Reagan was prez,either.

Arrow (the Irish kid that hung out w/Ricans)

2009-04-08T15:23:00.002-04:00

South Side Old School Times
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I really see no commonalities between anything I was involved with as a kid, and the clubs of today. The whole demographic changed; when we scorned people of a darker persuasion back then in the 80s, now it seems to be a staple of club life. When we would end up at parties, and there would be guys from other clubs showing up who were affiliated with the 5, everyone seemed to get along, though there was always that thought in the back of your head something might happen.

I remember cruising around the south side, everywhere from Marquette Park, through Stickney and Garfield Ridge; through Berwyn, Cicero and Summit, sometimes looking for trouble, other times just cruising on a Saturday night looking for chicks. Mixes from 102.7BMX would be blasting from the car, especially when the Hot Mix 5 came on.

I remember going to the teenage dance clubs on Wednesday and Sunday nights; Prime and Tender on 63rd and Harlem, Kicks on 66 on 66th Street, and the Fire Alarm on Ogden in Cicero. Their were club members everywhere, both allies and flakes. It was exciting times.

I remember when pagers were first becoming popular, and if you had one, you were the shit.

I remember stealing hood ornaments, Alpine car radios, and Cobra fuzz busters, and selling them to a gentlemen in Lyons for some much needed cash.

I remember not wearing blue jeans for years: black baggies, black Converse All Stars with the tongue flipped over and T-Ps scrawled across it, spider or ladder-laced, a white hoodie, and slicked back hair . That was the uniform of the times.

I remember selling the carp we caught in the Des Plaines River in Lyons by the water tower to the Blacks for a buck a piece.

I remember a time when you fought with fists, or whatever else you could get your hands on instead of guns. Yes, in the 80s guns were starting to become more the rule that the exception, but it took a little while longer before the negro influence took hold of white youth.

I remember seeing Colors when it came out at the Hillside Theater. Cops were both inside at outside the movies. Club members would just start yelling out their names during the film, kind of like that scene in "Cooley High".

I remember when NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" was released. That shit hit like a storm. Everyone was blasting "F_ck tha Police" on their ghetto blasters. It was something never heard before, and though I wasn't big on rap music, it was kinda cool. Nowadays, kids just take it for granted, gangsta rap, trying to emulate and propagate it.

I miss those times

Just feeling nostalgic today. :)

2009-04-06T23:13:00.001-04:00

Gang Jargon: Boppin Gangs

when I was coming up in the 50's & 60's boppin was dancing! (or giving your little brother, a Bop on the shoulder, A slug) but not a fight... A gang fight was "RUMBLE" ! Cool Site.... Thanks for the Memories! Eric.

2009-04-03T15:24:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it pays to be a Gaylord
So I'm driving Mrs. D's car in town and doing errands this week. I decide to take her car into a local oil change shop, since I'm driving right by it. Last time I'm in there, I did not like the feeling I got from their service, but thought I'd give it another chance. I was sitting in the waiting room when the new manager walks in to introduce himself. He's an Mexican guy, late 30s, early 40s. He wanted to let me know that they were under all new management and that any past experience I had would be addressed with a more positive outcome this visit. He was very professional and I appreciated his approach. Funny thing was, when I first got there, I noticed a pretty rugged looking crew of 4 hispanics and a couple of white guys.

I needed quite a bit of maintainance done, so I knew this would not be a real cheap day. Even though there were plenty of discounts with the new management. As we were figuring out the bill in his office, 2 other guys walk in and are waiting for the manager to finish with me. I look at them an notice some major ink work on both of them and one in particular. I ask him, "Hey, does that say RIP Bam Bam on your neck". He looks at me very suspicously and says "yeah, he was a friend of mine." I also notice a crown on the other side and said, "Is that a LK crown?" All three guys stop dead and stare at me, obviously wondering why a suburban white guy would ask that. He said yeah, it was. I smiled and said I'm an old Gaylord. They about fell over. Very funny. The one LK says, hey, the manager is an MLD! The manager smiles and says, "RETIRED MLD". We got to talking and one of the LKs knew Willard in the joint. Anyway, they discounted my bill by almost 50% and on top of it, I was running late for another appointment and the MLD tossed me his car keys and told me to use his car as much as I needed it.

Typically, I keep a low profile when it comes to my past. Especially in my little world of Suburban Americana. So it's pretty ironic when something like this happens and it actually pays off!

2009-03-31T14:44:00.000-04:00

I spend a lot of time walking the alleys of the northside; Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Uptown, etc....

I am always documenting the tags I find and I am noticing that all bets are off now. While there are obviously traditional, defined consolidated mob hoods there are also the most random sets popping up in weird places . Like the other day I found an entire alley in Bucktown that was hit with Latin Eagle tags; who from my understanding were isolated near K-Town. Then over in Spanish Lord hood by Holstein Park an entire alley full of Latin Pachuco tags who I thought were pretty much out west.

I am wondering what mobs will do when they are displaced; I dont believe that these nations will cease to exist since so much blood and investment has gone into it; for many of them, this is all they know. Either they will move into unclaimed territory out north or west or out in the burbs or the hoods will shrink and be on an apartment to apartment building basis. Its funny to see one of these douchebag new condos right next to a dilapitated building and then go in the alley and see that all the garage doors are hit with Latin Jiver & GD tags.

Two years ago I was living in Uptown by Argyle & Broadway. I used to go running down by the lake. I got a lot of tats. I get down there and there are literally like 40 either vicelords or stones just walking in broad daylight all wearing their colors ice grillin me. I was like WTF theres all these yuppies with dogs and on rollerblades yet heres this mob alive and well just strollin.

Evidence of this is when I go back to where I was raised in Mt. Prospect and visit my mom. When I was growing up in high school we started to get LKs & Stones from the city but they were small in number. Last year I went to Melas Park for the 4th of July and the demographics are insane. What used to be a mostly white crowd has been eclipsed by latinos. Many just working class families (like my auntie and her family) but also many mobs decked out in their colors. It blew my f_cking mind.

2009-03-07T23:04:00.001-05:00

As far back as 75-76 I can remember the dueces from the projects were a mixed breed...white,hispanic,..black...one duece I remember is munchkin....john n. somethin...not so funny story...once upon a time...this is like 78 used to go to church on wellington just east of damen...me n all my cousins are walking home.....[mistake #1]....back to Diversey n Talman....only I ain'nt supposed to leave the church...so half way home I get the bright idea to go back so I don't get in trouble....[mistake #2]...even brighter I decided to cut through the projects to save time....[mistake #3]....on this particular day I happen to be wearing a green shirt with the word warriors in black....[mistake #4]....so I'm through the projects and across damen on george when some afrospanic aproaches me and says what you be about..I tell him I'm not in a gang....he wants to know why I'm stylin the shirt....I show him the back of the shirt that says bass......cause I was in a band....he was not sympathetic....he said UP THE SHIRT.......I REPLIED NO WAY......[MISTAKE #5]...HE WHISTLES TO A GROUP OF AFOHISPANICS N THEY SWARM ME..now it's me n 7 deuces when they say give up the shirt...again NO WAY...[mistake #6]..this time it's a 38 stuck in the gut a couple punches in the head and a few boots in the ass as they take my shirt n chase me down the block yellin warrior killer,..deuce love.....keep in mind all this is happening at 10:30 am on a sunday mornin..

2009-02-09T23:29:00.002-05:00

Lords of Kilbourn video:

Soundtrack: Runaway, by the Werewolfs

Lords of Lawndale

2008-12-24T02:27:00.005-05:00

R.I.P. Harpo 1959-1972

On thursday, December 26th 1972, after a night of burning cashmeres from rivals, RGL club members were sitting at a fast food restaurant on central ave. When a greaser walked in and fired a blank gun at someone's head. People started laughing thinking it was a Gaylord from another section the dude also let out a laugh while he shot the cap gun and then quickly left, like a prank between friends. A short time later two younger guys decided to walk home while the other stayed behind. The two were walking down barry avenue. When they were ambushed by a group of greasers. One of the guys who was walking, was a fourteen year old by the name harpo. Sadly, he died of multiple stab wounds. Those that took his life were a bunch of nobodies trying to make a name for themselves the easy way. If they had real balls, then they should have started jamming in the restaurant.

2008-11-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

There were a lot of the Lawndale Gaylords back in 1974. I remember it was put up right before our first mural. We had just repainted the whole wall going across. Stepin gave us money from the dues to do our first mural. We even clear coated it and was very shiney. I was busted by the cops for working on it with a few other brothers. I had a 12 in brush in my pants when they grabbed me. The cops took my brush I had just stoled from Saxon's to clear coat the wall. I sat in jail but the guys got it done. I got out a few hours later to see our nice new mural up. We got a few pictures before the Gangster hit it. For a whole week we guarded it ever night taking turns. The Gangster would drive by with babyfood jars full of pink paint and try hitting the wall. At the same time we hung a dummy up with a Gangster sweater right in the middle of Fullerton Av. The Gangster went crazy over it. There CTA bus they all take would go right pass it. The Gangsters would get off at Centralpark by the YMCA and stare at it in disbelief.Man we knew how to represent back then lol.

2008-04-15T20:31:00.005-04:00

Lords of Kilbourn

http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~51832.aspx

""…If I did venture up there, I would need a gun in case it was a setup or something. I didn’t know if the suspicious intruders would turn out to be playing a game of entrapment. They lure you in and then the game is all over for you…”

A compelling story, based on actual events, of one young man’s struggle to survive the urban nightmare of gang life in Chicago. Starting by giving the reader a reviting look into the often disturbing history of the gang he was a member of, Scott goes on to narrate the gripping story of his life as a gang-member. Whether you live in a city or not, whether you have kids or not, this book is a must-read. Violence, poverty, drug abuse, and frustration combine to fuel the undercurrents of gang culture that affect us all!

2008-01-21T12:51:00.000-05:00

Were you a member of one of Chicagos Stone Greaser clubs? If you were, or are, we REALLY want to hear from you! All clubs, all members are welcome. If you were in an opposition club, you're welcome too. Those who come with respect are given respect.

Check it out, tell us your view of things, give us another perspective!

http://pacman712.proboards54.com/index.cgi

2008-01-13T07:57:00.001-05:00

Back in the day, I personally had quite a few designs printed up displaying a Klansman or two. To be perfectly honest, I was not doing it to show racial superiority. Yes, white pride, but not "shave your head and disgrace a synagogue" pride. My intent was just to alienate the enemy. Additionally, the Maltese Cross was difficult for me to draw; you needed a damn ruler or edge of a book to get the thing angled just right. The Klansman was just easier to draw out. I could have drawn out an actual figure of a Gaylord but that was a pain in the ass to show intimidation through. I was watching a documentary once about animated cartoon characters, where a veteran animator explained that there were so many animal cartoon figures in films, because they are easier to animate or get moods across, then drawing out a person. Thats why you see so many cute creatures and, "brought to life" objects, in classic cartoons. I believe the Gaylords used the Klansman, mainly because he was worth a 1000 words- of fear.

I fully realize that a prejudicial lash strikes out when an individual views these particular cards, but it is not an extreme White Power stance as it seems to dictate. I am sure that the PR and Mex gangs did not realize how we perceived their flags that they displayed, or their use of "Spanish" or "Latin" in their name. It all hit a nerve with us for sure. Our view was that they wanted to defiantly stay whole and not peacefully assimilate in to our culture. In the Gaylord documentary by Gangfilm, I believe Butch said it best when he disclosed that we were not fighting a racial war but a cultural one.

Too bad I used a Klansman as much as I did, for as we all reflect upon the Gaylords now, the real message and image of our club is distorted by the paper propaganda that remains today. Truth was; we were Great American Youths, not cheerleaders for Hitler.

2007-12-24T13:37:00.000-05:00

Now on YouTube: This film managed to convey, in twenty minutes, the desperation and exhilaration of being a member of a White club in the midst of Chicago's turbulent and violent era of neighborhood change.

There is no acting. All of the dialog is spoken by those who lived through those times, the places we see are all real, the young lives ended tragically close to our hearts.

When we speak or think of White youth today, it is invariably in terms of privilege. We think of suburbs, private schools, and so forth. This is far from the reality, and seeing and hearing the men in this film should remind us, brutally, of the often violent struggle of White youths to maintain a sense of identity and belonging in their neighborhoods and their schools. There is nothing racist in this-quite the contrary. This is survival, plain and simple

Great American Youth

2007-01-28T01:50:00.000-05:00

Latino thugs indiscriminately murder blacks regardless of gang membership, genocidal purge aligns with radical Aztlan theology

Racist Mexican gangs are indiscriminately targeting blacks who aren't even involved in gang culture, as part of an orchestrated ethnic cleansing program that is forcing black people to flee Los Angeles. The culprit of the carnage is the radical Neo-Nazi liberation theology known as La Raza, which calls for the extermination of all races in America besides Latinos, and is being bankrolled by some of the biggest Globalists in the U.S.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/230107Gangs.htm

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/220107mexicangangs.htm

2006-12-03T02:08:00.000-05:00

Great American Youth - Audience Appreciation Award

The title says it all! These were great youths! I personally know about the struggle to preserve a neighborhood. I also grew up in the tough streets of Chicago's north side. My hat goes off to these guys. White youths are often portrayed as sheltered or that they know nothing about being poor. This was a struggle about identity, not one about money like most gangs today. These young men were misunderstood and treated like ordinary modern-day thugs. Everyday they found themselves more alone against newcomers. Ultimately, I strongly believe that these men went out like lions. No modern-day thug will ever experience the passion and the struggle to preserve ones land or territory. Itl.Plby. Elmwood Pk Sect.

2006-09-05T20:36:00.000-04:00

I got great news today. The documentary short film has been accepted into it's first festival, the 2006 Chicago International Short Film Festival. The name of the film is called "Great American Youth". The Festival is Sept 29,30 and Oct 1st of 2006. That's the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this month. I am not sure which exact day and time is the screening(s). They will let me know later on as they finalize the schedule in a week or so. I'll post updates as soon as I get precise details.

The location of the festival is at the Davis Theater 4614 North Lincoln Ave. Chicago IL, 60625.

Here is a brief synopsis of the film:This short documentary film (18 min 58 sec) is a historical overview of the evolution of Chicago's Largest White Street Gang, The Gaylords. It follows them from their inception in the 1950's until the Present Day. The piece explores what happened when the neighborhoods got marginalized because two cultures could not assimilate. Simple questions like the why, what and how lead to brutally honest responses from members in how they dealt with their opposition. A vivid recollection of what it took to walk the mean streets of Chicago as a gang member.

2006-07-06T19:13:00.000-04:00

The acclaimed TV news show, Geraldo at Large interviewed Wiz Friday, July 7th 2006, for the At Large to be shown July 12th 2006.

Anyone unfamiliar with Wiz can read about him below in the rough excerpts taken from a book currently in the works titled, "Bourn to Kill." Bourn to Kill is the sequel to “Lords of Lawndale”, which can be ordered at any Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

As the evening was setting in, the yellow van was crammed full with Gaylord’s and it was headed down Milwaukee Avenue, with an agenda to get beer and eventually sit back somewhere, but then it nose-dived right in to trouble. Christa, Wiz’s girlfriend, said she needed to use a washroom, so Lil Wiz drove the van to a doughnut shop that was located just around the corner from where they were presently at. The van pulled up in the parking lot of the place, and Wiz escorted his girlfriend out to take a wiz. It just so happen though, that just a little while before the van had actually pulled up next to the doughnut shop and let Wiz and Christa out, another scene was playing out somewhere else; two younger Simon City Royals, Fritz and Joker, were with some fellow members of their gang behind a shoe factory parting, when the two of them decided that they wanted to add a little more to their high for the evening. They desperados headed out together to the close-by doughnut shop, where they would try and make contact with a pot peddler, a friend of theirs. Not too long later, they were seated on the concrete side step, outside the doughnut shop, waiting patiently for their weed delivery, as Wiz came strolling up with his girlfriend Christa to use the ladies washroom that was situated inside with the sweet smells of pastries and coffee brewing away.

As Wiz waited for Christa as she used the washroom, coffee was not brewing outside. What was brewing was the fact that you now had two Royals and a Gaylord, and the unavoidable ness of mixed company was not good. Wiz was disturbingly conscious, of the two characters, and he felt obligated to check them out. When he confronted them, he decided to tell a fib; he false flagged them. Wiz sternly stated openly, Deuce Love Royal Killer. He did this to throw the Royals off by misleading them. Often this was the standardized way of doing things on the streets; there was no use fronting your true self off, until you figured out who exactly you were dealing with. Along with this came the personal addition of disrespectful hands signs. Fritz and Joker responded by dishelming themselves from off the pavement of the step to engage Wiz. The two Royals had the advantage, and they knew it; this was their hood and Wiz looked to be by himself. However, the advantage changed over in seconds when the yellow van doors opened up and their came an outpouring of more Gaylord’s to assist Wiz.
>>>> The Royals took off in flight together across a busy street, but then split up quickly once they came across a small hotdog stand that was located on a corner. Once they came up on it, Fritz ran up in the hotdog stand and Joker took off into the alley right behind it. Joker was not pursued as he dodged off. Fritz however, was centered on, but he had smartly found safety inside the hotdog stand and was now being protected over by its steely owner. And the owner was having none of this bullshit commotion entering his establishment as he stood there, his hand tightly gripping the handle of his broom stick, while staring angrily at Wiz and the others who were outside robustly yelling.

Besides unbranded access to his Hotdog stand, the owner was even threatening to call the police. At this juncture, the short chase had obviously come to a conclusion, and to try and subdue the Royal inside his fast food sanctuary was futile. Although it had been fruitless, the Gaylord’s had achieved their objective and routed the Royals. The sportiveness part of it was over with, and all that was left now was the verbal insults and angry fists pounding against the Plexiglas window, like upset customers not getting what they ordered. Wiz finalized it all, by purposely blowing his cover and leaving a calling card. He abandoned his fictional act of false flagging as a member of the Insane Deuces, and revealed his true identity by proudly shouting out, Lawndale and Gaylord’s, Lord Wiz. The jumpy Royal hiding inside now knew who he had been chased off by, and Wiz was content with that. It was now time for the Gaylord’s to fall back, and they did so as Lil Wiz pulled the van up on the side of the hotdog stand. Within seconds they darted off with the guys all compressed inside the van like a yellow submarine.

Wiz and the boys still had to swing around and pick up fetching Christa, who had been left over by the doughnut shop as the chase off of the two Royals occurred. She was done using the powder room in the powder shop. Once they pulled on up and retrieved her, Fritz, the same Royal that was hiding out just a minute or two ago, was now spotted running across the path of the van. Why he did not just stay in his safe deposit box of the hotdog stand, and wait things out there was unknown. In desperation, Fritz had probably decided to try and make it back to the scene of the Royal party that he had left earlier that evening; there he would have back up. It was a short distance away. There was no street guide book for these type of situations, and Fritz was only in basic training; a sixteen year old kid, kind of new to the gang gig. Sadly though, if the Royal party was his destination, he fell short of making it there.

The Gaylord’s were out of the van and on Fritz’s tail quick. Lil Wiz fell upon Fritz and got in to a scuffle with him, on the ground of a small parking lot that was situated behind a small corner business. It wasn’t too long before Fritz was over powered; a few Gaylord’s were getting in their individual kicks and punches. Wiz was anxious; Christa was presently sitting in the van, and it was not a good predicament. He did not know if Joker, the other Royal who had run off behind the alley, did so with the intention of obtaining more Royal troops or not. It was time to head back to the van and get the hell out of there. He told Lil Wiz it was time to split, and they started to make leave. The simple beating on Fritz would suffice. In a scene of confusion, not everyone is always thinking the same thing. Sinner had acquired a baseball bat from within the messy van and had come running up with the intent of using it. Once he stood over Fritz, Sinner became sinful and executed his own plan by smashing Fritz in his head with the wooden bat; setting Fritz’s execution in motion…

The actual trial itself was a farce. The police did not prefer the reality of the lone baseball batter story, so they scratched it completely out and went with the rock and table leg, which were randomly found at the scene, theory; and in doing so, the prosecution had no choice but to go along for the fantasy ride. The trial was about forcing the wrong weapon in to the wrong hand; Wiz’s. As agreed upon to lessen his jail sentence, Sinner sinisterly testified that he witnessed Wiz throw cement down toward Fritz’s upper body, but did not actually see where it hit; a bit of a slip up. Sinner was not the only one slipping up, but hell, as long as each of the recitals given by witnesses for the prosecution followed the dubious script that was initially given in the beginning by Santos, it was fine for the State of Illinois.

In written statements and court testimony, two of guys stated that Wiz had a large piece of concrete, or stone, and he threw it very hard onto the victims head. But anyone with any kind of brainpower knows that there would have been an imprinted mess if that occurred. Matter of fact, the expert for the defense said that the fatal wound, located behind an ear, was caused by a cylindrical object, and as far as the concrete he candidly said, “The rock would have had enough kinetic energy to tear the skin upon impact. Added to that, there was no DNA evidence found on either of the proposed random weapons.” The experts for the defense and prosecution, jointly found no blood, hair, skin tissue or finger prints of any kind on the piece of cement, or even on the stick that Sinner said he used. When it came to the prosecutions magic “stick” that Sinner basically said he tapped Fritz with, the description of it, coming from different sources, mysteriously changed into many forms right in front of everyone; from a metal table leg, to a rod, to a stick and then to a broom stick.

2006-06-30T13:23:00.000-04:00

AGLN 712 Day Par-Tay

Just a shout out to those of you who don't make it onto the Boards. There is a 712 Day Party being held on 15 July that is open to all Gaylords and their guests. This is a family type event, many members are bringing spouses and kids. Brothers are flying in from all over the country for this one-don't miss it! Hit up an administrator for more details, or log onto the Boards.

2006-04-30T16:17:00.000-04:00

Michael Hynes, guy charged in the death of SPY in the book "Lords of Lawndale", was killed Saturday night on Palmer Street:

Mike Hynes Story

2006-04-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

Respect all da way from Australia , im a 24 year old , also in a previous gang, i think the Gaylords story was great and theres so much history behind that name and so much pride, much respect to all Gaylords who wanted there story to be heard...peace