Renegade Vice Lords - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded c. 1964 in or near North Lawndale
Affiliations	People Nation — c. 1981 – 2000 or later;
Colors	Give details
Primary ethnicities	African American
Symbols	Give details
Status	Active

1964: The Holy City Renegade Conservatives

In the year 1964, the Vice Lord founders and leaders began to regret the destruction of the North Lawndale community and the many crimes Vice Lords had committed on the streets. Leadership felt they had lost their original intentions to be positive role models and mentors to the young boys on the streets lacking father figures. It was time to bring back the “Conservative” in the name that was originally voted dead in 1958 when the Almighty Vice Lords first formed. Vice Lords now offered individual branches further independence and would allow branch leaders to give their own Vice Lord groups their own names as long as the last name remained “Vice Lord.” The first Vice Lord leader to raise his hand and declare this level of independence was “Gator” and his group of Vice Lords at 16^th and Lawndale in the “Holy City” area. Gator created the “Renegade Conservative Vice Lords” in 1964 which made the Renegade Conservatives the first branch with a name in their own and the Renegades were formed in the heart of Vice Lord headquarters in Holy City. Renegade Conservatives began gathering at 15^th and Lawndale and recruited heavily at Theodore Herzl Public School at 15^th and Lawndale. Several Renegades also attended Julius Hess School at Douglas Boulevard and St. Louis. Throughout the rest of the 60s, the Renegades were only found in North Lawndale and at some point in the 60s they dropped the “Conservative” from their name and just became “Renegade Vice Lords,” I think it happened in the late 60s when other branches of Vice Lords started naming themselves as well.

Rockwell Gardens RVLs

I don’t have much more history on the Renegade Vice Lords from the 70s because much of RVL legacy comes from the Rockwell Gardens projects and that chapter did not begin until much later in history. Vice Lords came to the Rockwell Gardens projects in the year 1971 and the branch was named after the projects as “Rockwell Vice Lords.” The Rockwell Vice Lords ran these projects in the 70s until Traveling Vice Lords and Black Gangster Disciples began moving in there between 1979-1980. In the year 1985, “Hard body” of the Renegade Vice Lords came to the Rockwell Gardens as a teenager and convinced the Rockwell Vice Lords to flip to Renegade Vice Lords. Hard Body was from Holy City from the headquarters of the RVLs and brought Rockwell VLs into the RVL fold which credits Hard Body as the Rockwell Gardens RVL founder. Hard Body did not lead the Rockwell RVLs instead that title went to Jerome A.K.A “King Spot.” King Spot was a legendary Renegade and many stories I had originally heard about the foundation of the RVLs pointed to Spot as the founder. This misunderstanding happened because Renegade Vice Lords were always blended into hoods with Conservative Vice Lords and were not real big on their own. Once Hard Body and King Spot flipped the Rockwell VLs it became legendary to the point where RVLs became one of the biggest mobs in the Rockwells. When the RVLs began in the Rockwells they started in the 117 building which was the home of King Spot.

Within no time in the later 80s the RVLs spread to several Rockwell Gardens buildings into the following buildings: 2515, 340, 2514, 117, 450, 2501, 2450. In the early 90s the Gangster Disciples took over the 340 building but RVLs held all the others until they were torn down in the 2000s. The Rockwell Gardens projects is the heart and soul of Renegade Vice Lord history and this history was at its peak circa 1990.

In the mid-1990s King Spot was shot to death on the streets but Hardbody is still living today and is retired.

79^th & Coles, 81^st & Exchange

In the year 1991, “Frog” moved to 83^rd and Paxton in the South Chicago community then started the Renegade Vice Lords at 81^st and Exchange. Frog was a serious member and started a hardcore group in South Chicago that became legendary. Frog was eventually convicted of the murder of Jacqueline Bernaugh in 1998 in retaliation against the Mafia Insane Vice Lords over the shooting death of “Chubb” of the Renegade Vice Lords. Frog later passed away but the RVLs of South Chicago lived on. These RVLs were between the South Shore and South Chicago neighborhood from 78^th to 82^nd and from Exchange to Brandon. Over time most RVLs became concentrated in South Shore between 78^th to 79^th and Coles area. This was prime territory because these RVLs had immediate access to Lake Shore Drive and could move drugs on and off Lake Shore Drive which connected to major highway systems. 79^th and Coles remains active currently and is one of the only active RVL sections in Chicago currently.

Mad Renegades

I am going to make this brief. Over time there has been many rumors that “Mad” or “Madd” Renegade Vice Lords was a breakaway faction of RVLs that became its own Vice Lord branch, this is not true. The Mad Renegades were just a clique of RVLs from Rockwell Gardens and had no independence or war with their own kind.

The 21^st century

After a big run in the 80s and 90s the Renegade Vice Lords began to decline in the late 90s and all through the 2000s. During their peak Renegade Vice Lords spread to East St. Louis, Gary, Indiana, Greenville, Mississippi, Detroit, Memphis, Missouri and Ohio. These out of Chicago area branches ended up becoming the backbone of the RVLs starting in the 2000s because once the Rockwell Gardens projects were torn down in the 2000s RVLs were forced into neighborhoods were they would flip to other mobs.

In Austin, the RVLs flipped to Mafia Insane Vice Lords because they were tight prior to the 2000s. In the West Garfield Park area many RVLs flipped to Four Corner Hustlers. In South Chicago most RVLs flipped to Conservative Vice Lords. The Rockwell Gardens RVLs would flip to Conservative Vice Lords and Traveling Vice Lords. In North Lawndale RVLs flipped to Conservative Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords and Unknown Vice Lords. RVLs are not very active in Chicago anymore besides 79^th and Coles but they are strong in other states and East St. Louis. Many RVLs can be found in Greenville, Mississippi.

The Batman logo and black and purple colors

One of the known symbols of the Renegade Vice Lords is a the symbol of Batman along with the colors black and purple. Rest assured, this is not a Chicago RVL thing and is something created in other states. Because this was generated outside of Chicago area I have no info or interest in learning about this origin. The Batman symbol and colors is not linked to foundation of the Renegade Vice Lords.

Austin neighborhood

Decks of Austin

North Avenue & Austin

Near West Side neighborhood, Established

Decks of the Near West Side

Campbell & Jackson, Monroe & Adams, 117 and 2450 buildings Rockwell Gardens projects (Shared with CVL and Four Corner Hustlers)

Lake and Wood (Henry Horner projects, the Hornets)

Jackson & Campbell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Conservative Vice Lords, and Four Corner Hustlers)

Madison & Rockwell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Conservative Vice Lords, and Four Corner Hustlers)

North Lawndale neighborhood Established 1964–2000s

Decks of the North Lawndale

Roosevelt to Cermak, Avers to Central Park Avenue area (16^th & Lawndale)