Founded	Founded in 1958 by Edwin Marion Perry, Toehold, Bobby Bonds, Ernest Wren, and Leonard Calloway in or near North Lawndale
Affiliations	Give details
Colors	Black, Red, and Gold
Color usage	Black and gold 1958-present; Black and red 1978-present
Primary ethnicities	African American
Symbols	Playboy Bunny, Cane, Top Hat, Martini Glass, and Pyramid
Symbol usage	Pyramid 1978-present
Status	Active

The Vice Lord nation is one of the largest gangs in the United States with chapters in every state in the nation and almost every city and town in this country.  The Vice Lord nation has grown so powerful because of the goals the nation has tried to accomplish over time.  Many think it is all about drugs and money but the real cause for the nation is not about drugs and money or not even about violence, but this is the behavior that often results from membership but the nation itself does not condone violence and criminal activity.  There was a time in history where our country had faith in the Vice Lords and even offered assistance; as a result, something positive and marvelous developed from it that helped west side youths live better lives.  The Vice Lords were positive for the North Lawndale community and had a very positive impact on the youth during this time period.  What needs to be understood is there was barely any opportunity for black youths on the west side of Chicago and there was often only one way to go.

The original Vice Lords

When reading any literary pieces written by Bobby Gore or written about Bobby Gore, Gore never mentions any groups called the “Vice Lords” prior to the formation of the Almighty Vice Lords. I had always heard the Vice Lords date back to the 1940s but I thought it was all bullshit and that many were mistaken that those origins came about because the Vice Lords later absorbed what was left of older west side gangs. As time passed I got more of the story and now those legends make a lot more sense and the legends coincide with the story of Bobby Gore in the “A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords” book. Legends I heard from old heads said Bobby Gore was in a group called the Vikings. In the Vice Lord book Bobby Gore grew up in Chicago and was born in 1936, Gore was from the Halsted and Maxwell neighborhood area of the Near West Side. Bobby Gore began playing baseball and getting into fights over it which was an issue in the neighborhood due to a lack of parks. Bobby Gore was on a baseball team called the “Baby Dragons” at the age of 9 in 1945. Some time later the team changed their name to the “Vikings” perhaps because the Baby Dragon’s name became too juvenile.

While Bobby Gore was a Viking, he met a small club in the Maxwell Street Market neighborhood that called themselves the “Vice Lords.” These Vice Lords were located at Roosevelt and Racine in the Maxwell Street area of the Near West Side but they were coming up while the area was changing racially from Jewish to African American. The Jewish presence moved from living in the community to owning the community. The Jews owned the shops, the apartments, the houses and most everything else. Despite being the majority in the neighborhood, African Americans owned little to no property in Maxwell area which was more of an injustice especially since banks red lined African Americans from owning anything of significance. Vice Lords came up as a community group of young black youths coming together to help each other and their community. This Vice Lord group was not documented by the news, police or any social service groups because they were not on the wrong side of the law. Bobby Gore used to design the artwork that was put on the original Vice Lord’s jackets. The jackets were made of leather and had letters that said “Vice Lords” on the jackets. I have no further information on this group but I can say without a doubt that this group’s beliefs were very likely passed down to Bobby Gore during his encounters with them in the 1940s. If I had to give an exact year this Vice Lords groups was formed I would give it 1947 because that was the year the original Egyptian Cobras (Impressionist Cobras) formed in the same neighborhood, Bobby Gore would have been 11 years old in 1947.

Bobby Gore moved to North Lawndale in the year 1951 when the neighborhood was mostly white/Jewish. In the “A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords” book, Bobby Gore explained how at first he would keep going to the Maxwell Street area to hang with friends until eventually those friends moved to North Lawndale. This became the case with the Impressionist Cobras that would become the Oasis Cobras then the Egyptian Cobras. The original Vice Lords moved to North Lawndale in 1952 and this is how AVLN founder Edwin Pepilow Perry knew of them. I am not sure how long these original Vice Lords lasted but they were gone by the late 50s.

North Lawndale: the background

North Lawndale was a neighborhood that became conquered by predatory slumlords in 1955 after they purchased the vast majority of rental properties.  Moe M. Forman, Al Berland, Joseph Berke, Lou Wolf, and Gilbert Balin became the most notorious of slum lords renting below sub-standard properties to impoverished southern black families without maintaining the buildings and charging high rent.  Impoverished families had no choice but to live in these conditions because they couldn’t afford anywhere else to go and other mostly white neighborhoods were hostile toward African American families even after the covenants were lifted.

North Lawndale rapidly declined as many businesses closed and buildings became deteriorated in the mid-1950s.  Crime began to run rampant as criminals from outside the neighborhood drifted in and wrecked havok or committed hate crimes.  Families were stuffed into slum buildings in substandard conditions and there was no centralized heat as families needed to gather near antique wood burning stoves in the middle of the living room.  The neighborhood lacked parks and recreation leaving many black youths facing boredom, poverty and frustration.  Youths began to gather in numbers and occupy their time by harassing each other and starting fights just for fun.  Pre-existing youth clubs in the community soon converted into street gangs like Imperial Chaplains and Clovers, while many new gangs were forming that were of a more violent breed than the original Clovers and Chaplains, one such gang was the Egyptian Cobras that came to North Lawndale from Maxwell Street Market area in 1955 while still under the “Oasis Cobra” name.

It got to the point in the later 1950s where young black youths growing up in North Lawndale couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without being in a gang.  If we think forced gang recruitment is harsh in modern times it was worse back in the 50s and 60s as gangs took ownership of every piece of public property on the west side.  You couldn’t go to the pool, the park, the theater or even the grocery store without some gang harassing you.  Even if a young black youth just tried to walk to school or go anywhere, they were constantly harassed to join gangs and were beaten and bullied if they didn’t join and still wanted to venture into certain areas.  If you didn’t want to join a gang there wasn’t much you could do in the community for recreation.  It got to the point where youths needed to make a tough decision and that was which gang to join.  The decision of which gang to join would all depend on what activities the youth wanted to get involved in.  Did they like playing at the park more?  Did they like the theater?  Was the pool the most important thing?  Another deciding factor for joining a gang was determining which gang hung out in the vicinity of where they lived.  It is much harder to join a gang from the other side of North Lawndale when the gang outside your window is a rival.

Starting off the year 1957, the gangs of North Lawndale and the Near West Side reached a new level of violence as gangs now began beating each other with weapons, stabbing each other with knives or even shooting each other with guns. The gangs had now reached a new level of ferocity.

By the year 1957, the Clovers were the dominating gang in North Lawndale with the Egyptian Cobras quickly growing just behind them.  The Clovers were said to be one of the toughest gangs out there and at the time they also ruled the Maxwell Street Market streets on Halsted.  The Clover toughness and dominance caught the attention of the Chicago police in March of 1957 when the police began their massive crackdown on black Chicago street gangs on the west side, mainly Clovers and Egyptian Cobras.  Fillmore District Captain Thomas J. O Donnell ordered a sweep of black gangs in the Lawndale area and it ended up being a haphazard and violent process where young black youths were beaten badly and incarcerated.  Many cops would burn kids with cigarettes and whip them with belts or punch them in the face.  This all led to the James Halsell affair in May of 1957 where James Halsell, a Clover was charged with very minor misdemeanors, yet he was beaten savagely with belts for six hours.  This sparked an investigation from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Executive Board of the Chicago Youth Centers (CYC), a citywide gang outreach organization.  Despite the investigations the police sweeps continued into 1958 and several black youths were arrested, and many were sent to juvenile facilities.

Edwin Perry

During the sweeps of 1957 to 1958, a 15 year old youth by the name of Edwin “Pepilow Perry” and his group the “Phantom Burglers” were arrested for burglary and brought to the Illinois Youth Center (St. Charles reformatory) in St. Charles Illinois.  In 1957, when Pepilow was fourteen years old he left home and began living on his own involved in a life of crime, mainly burglary.  Pepilow wanted to become a member of one of the larger outfits at the time the Imperial Chaplains but when he visited their lair to speak to “Big John” the leader of the Chaplains, Big John said, “We don’t want no punk motherfucker in the organization.” It is a mystery why Big John wouldn’t let him in since Pep was six foot one and 190 pounds, fast on his feet and with his hands.  One thing for sure Big John, made a big mistake not letting Pep in but of course if it wasn’t for this chain of events, we wouldn’t have the Vice Lords today (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The beginning of the mob

Pep was assigned to stay at the Harding Cottage at the reformatory and he found out his friend from the neighborhood Leonard “Cal” Calloway was staying in the reformatory as well.  Pep had already gained a reputation as a hell of boxer and exhibited leadership qualities.  He also was known for getting new guys in line coming into the facility.  Pep somehow arranged for Cal to be transferred to his cottage and the boys came together at Harding.  Calloway was a member of the Imperial Chaplains and was Pep’s sponsor to gain membership into the Chaplains but of course that didn’t go as planned back in 1957.  Now in 1958 the two were in Harding Cottage together and decided to clique up.  They also cliqued up with Ernest Wren who was also an Imperial Chaplain.  The boys got together with “Toehold,” Ralph Bonds, Maurice Miller and one other that I don’t know of.  As far as I know only Cal and Wren were in gangs already.  Pep assembled this group of seven into their own organization geared at organizing their work details and pulling strings to get jobs they favored.  The jobs they worked were very important in the institution and this caused these seven boys to end up running the whole Illinois Youth Center and since they worked jobs that were assigned by the institution the staff didn’t pay any mind or understand the Vice Lords and let them carry on.  The Vice Lords controlled the institution by taking on the number one and two roles in the butcher area, the kitchen and the linens area, essentially making them control the food and clothes in those sections and deciding who does certain work duties in their sections and who is to be cast out. (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The seven boys didn’t have a name in the very beginning, but Pep decided he wanted to have a name especially since the boys were already running the important jobs there.  Besides the relations between Cal and Pep, the boys were all strangers to each other until Pep came into the reformatory but now, they would become a group.  The boys had meetings twice a week and at one of those meetings they decided on a name.  From the glory stories of gangbanging from Cal and Wren, Pep wanted this club to be a gang once they all returned to the streets.  Maurice Miller thought this was just going to be a social club and came up with the idea of “Conservative Lads” but Pep wanted a different last name but decided to keep the “Conservative” part of the name.  The “Vice Lord” name was created by Pep after he looked up in the dictionary that “Vice” meant to have a tight grip on something and not let go, then of course they would be “Lords,” the idea also came from the original Vice Lords from the 1940s. The term “Vice Lord” was used throughout the country decades prior to these Vice Lords forming, even the Italian mafia was referred to as “Vice Lords” in some newspapers. The autobiography fails to give credit to the original Vice Lords but it is time credit is given where credit is due.  The ideas from Wren and Cal were to be called “Imperial Vice Lords” to pay tribute to the gang that each of them belonged to and that Pep had previously worked hard to join up with but now Pep had a vendetta against Big John and the Chaplains and wanted nothing to do with them so “Conservative Vice Lord” was the chosen name.  Within a short time, they realized that the “Conservative” part of the name didn’t make sense for them and they also knew many guys on the streets wouldn’t know what “Conservative” even meant let alone pronounce the word, so they just went with “Vice Lords.” (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Vice Lords on the streets: Fall 1958

Maurice Miller was the first one to get out of the reformatory and the deal was he was supposed to be the first one to spread the word about the Vice Lords to the streets in exchange for having the “Conservative” part of the name and he was the first one to inform the streets about the Vice Lords, however, the nation was not really put out there yet until all the boys got out by the Autumn of 1958.

By the time the boys got out the Clovers were no longer the biggest and meanest outfit anymore, now it was the Egyptian Cobras that were the biggest gang set on conquering east of K-Town.  The Clovers and Chaplains were still very large gangs, but the Clovers took a big hit from the police raids of 57-58 allowing the Cobras to gather all the steam.  The seven Vice Lords were entering this world on the streets of North Lawndale where there were several gangs that had combined membership into the thousands, some gangs like the Clovers, Cobras and Chaplains had hundreds of members each.  The Vice Lords knew they would have a challenge facing off with all these larger clubs but were still determined to preserve their existence on the streets.

The first fight

Once Pep was out, he took in some close friends on the street: “Son,” “Trip,” “Green,” and Green’s cousin “Sloop.”  The Vice Lords now had eleven guys in their group and didn’t recruit anymore non-gang affiliated members for the rest of the year.  In order to attract attention, the guys hosted dances, threw parties and attracted women to their group.  At one party the Vice Lords ran into four members of the Clovers and a fight started.  The Vice Lords beat the four Clovers until they ran away but then awhile later fifty or sixty members showed and attacked the Vice Lords who were outnumbered severely.  The Vice Lords fought well and escaped the party but couldn’t win against this larger gang, this is when they decided it was time to grow much larger.  The Clovers also became the Vice Lords’ first enemy on the streets (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The Barons

The Vice Lords really wanted to take out the Clovers and needed additions to their army, but it wouldn’t be possible unless they went up against a moderate sized gang and took them out.  Their first target was the “Barons,” a twenty-four man gang that Pep picked a fight (known back then as a ‘humbug’) at Farragut High School.  Over the next week the Vice Lords fought them while outnumbered two to one and still beat on them until they got the Barons to submit and flip to Vice Lords, now there were about 35 Vice Lords (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The Van Dykes

Next, the Vice Lords took on the Van Dykes which was a war that lasted two days, in the end the Van Dykes’ leader found out his own brother became the Vice Lord Vice President and he wouldn’t fight his own brother, that’s when the Van Dykes flipped to Vice Lords by the end of 1958 and now the Vice Lords were becoming well known going into 1959  (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

You don’t land in the mob, the mob lands on you: The end of the Comanches and Continental Pimps

During the year 1959, the Vice Lords went to war with several gangs all at once and that gained them lots of reputation.  They began to war with the biggest gang in the neighborhood the Egyptian Cobras especially since the Cobras controlled most of the public recreational areas.  They had the pools, the theaters and the best parks and had the most girls, this drove the Vice Lords to fight them tooth and nail while simultaneously warring with multiple other gangs.  Pepilow became very well-known and the Vice Lords dismantled some other smaller gangs and now their numbers had reached a few hundred.  The Vice Lords were now at war with the Egyptian Cobras, Comanches, Imperial Chaplains and Continental Pimps. The Vice Lords were unique from other gangs in the area as they refused to draw up alliances with any other gangs and were rather anti-social with other clubs.  The only way they would agree to be friends with another gang is if that other gang adopted the last name of “Vice Lord” but that of course meant they basically would flip to Vice Lords, an ultimatum that all the gangs didn’t like and refused but most of them ended up dissolving their organizations and flipping to Vice Lord eventually. (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Vice Lords also had aggressive recruiting measures they adopted back in 1959 where they would approach individuals or maybe a small group whether they were already in a gang or not and ask them to become Vice Lords.  In the beginning, to become a Vice Lord you needed proper representation but by 1959, all you needed to do was be able to breathe and move.  A youth would be asked to join and if they said they wanted to it was made to happen right on the spot with no initiation ritual.  If the youth said they didn’t want to they would receive a “whippin” or brutal beating with more to follow on other days until they submitted and joined.  Gangs in the late 1950s on the west side were known to do this but not nearly as often or as badly as the Vice Lords did it, they were much more persistent and violent in their recruiting measures.  For other gangs, as long as you stayed out of their territories you weren’t forced to be recruited but for the Vice Lords your only requirement to be aggressively recruited was for you to exist and breathe.  The Vice Lords were full of aggression and loved to teach each other to box.  They also would pick out random guys on the streets and tell each other to attack sometimes for no reason (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The incarceration of Edwin Perry and the destruction of the Imperial Chaplains

Eventually, Vice Lords were taking over the Illinois Youth Center and declaring anyone that came in an enemy if they weren’t Vice Lords; this became especially apparent when Edwin Perry went back to the center again.  While inside he got word that “Bow Chest” of the Imperial Chaplains had slapped around and beat up his girlfriend in front of his sister.  Pep asked him which arm Bow Chest used to slap his girl with, after the youth told him which arm Pep said he was going on a week’s long vacation and bringing back the arm that was used to slap his girl around with.  After this declaration, Pep set out immediately to get revenge right after getting out of the reformatory.  At first, the Vice Lords attempted to raid an Imperial Chaplain party but where beaten back as they were outnumbered.  After this they laid low traveling about the west side avoiding the Imperial Chaplains leading the Chaplains to believe they had won.  One day the Vice Lords got word that the Chaplains were hanging out 200-300 deep at the Central Park theater located at Roosevelt Road and Central Park Ave (3531-39 W. Roosevelt).  The Vice Lords marched to the theater 50 strong but by the time they arrived all but 12 of them backed out along the way. Pep, Bate, Stucky, Toehold, Yancey, Wren, Trip, McLamore, Big George and three others went at it with about ninety members of the Imperial Chaplains while all the rest watched the fight.  Despite being heavily outnumbered by nine to one, the Vice Lords were beating them back and put a good hurting on the Chaplains until they got out of the theater.  The Chaplains then chased the Vice Lords and caught Wren and jumped him.  The rest of the Vice Lords wouldn’t leave Wren behind, so they attacked Wren’s attackers then decided to proceed back into the theater and take on the Chaplains yet again.  During the brawling Bow Chest emerged; as soon as Bow Chest emerged Pep and McLamore abducted him and pinned him.  The two began cutting his arm off as they slashed him all over the rest of his body, even in the face, they also carved “CVL” on his back.  Once they cut his arm halfway off the police showed up and broke it all up and Pep was arrested.  Pep was convicted and sent back to the reformatory for another light sentence.  In court Bow Chest had, had his arm sewn back on but when word traveled at the Illinois Youth Center what Pep had done every single Chaplain flipped to Vice Lord immediately which nearly flipped their entire gang in 1959 (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).  The Chaplains would still remain in existence after this but as a smaller gang that didn’t have much significance on the west side streets, Pep single handedly dismantled most of the Chaplains.  I also want to mention Pep got his revenge on Big John for disrespecting him back in 1957, I don’t know all the details, but he got even.

The cane, the top hat, the gloves, the bow tie: 1959

Vice Lords became very popular as the year 1959 progressed.  Packs of Vice Lords all over North Lawndale took out one small group after another and destroying small gangs forcing them to flip.  Many youngsters also began admiring the Vice Lord style of wearing a black cape with gold lettering and an earring placed in one ear before it was even close to popular for males to wear earrings.  The Vice Lord new symbols were admired as Maurice Calloway came up with the idea for the top hat, cane and gloves.  Calloway made the canes spell out “CVL” and used a skull wearing the top hat, bow tie and cigarette holder with smoke coming out of the skull.  The capes were a total Vice Lord thing and often used to hide shotguns and other guns, that’s why police made Vice Lords take them off (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The masters of the streets: the elimination of the Bandits and Spanish Counts

The Vice Lords became a serious force to be reckoned with and began to spread fear in the neighborhood.  They dismantled the Bandits and the Spanish Counts (Not a Hispanic gang) gangs and then exercised a curfew for other gangs on the streets.  If any other gang was out after 9:00 P.M. they were severely beaten, only Vice Lords could roam the streets at night, nobody else.  This display of sheer power gained the Vice Lords more momentum and was making them graduate to becoming the kings of the streets.  The Vice Lords went anywhere they wanted and didn’t feel the need to claim certain territories like the other gangs did.  One day they were hanging out in one area then the next it was elsewhere, this made it tough for police to track their haunts.  They also had no respect for other gangs’ turf and if any gangs had a problem the Vice Lords were always overflowing with eagerness to fight over it, something you never saw in other gangs in history as gangs usually want some down times between wars but the Vice Lords were like aggressive dogs that wouldn’t quit.  The Vice Lords only had one set location for meetings back in 1959 and that was 2135 S. Millard (Millard and Ogden Ave) in North Lawndale (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

1960: the dismantling of the Morphines

In the year 1960, Pep got out of the juvenile center again and now he was seventeen years old.  He got word that one of his top Lieutenants “Possum” had flipped to a Morphine.  After failed negotiations to get Possum to flip back to Vice Lord Pep intensified the ongoing war that had started after he was locked up and all through the winter in 1960 the Vice Lords kept coming at the Morphines until they finally surrendered and their leadership, including Possum, joined the Vice Lords, thus, dissolving the Morphines (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

1960: the dismantling of the Cherokees, Imperial Knights and Braves

Next on the agenda was the take down of the Cherokees that ruled Theodore Herzl School located at 15^th and Ridgeway.  The Cherokees also dominated 16^th Street back then and were known for being very tough.  The Vice Lords fought the Cherokees for a few days and took over Herzl School but were not satisfied enough.  The Vice Lords called for a meeting with Cherokee leaders about surrendering and flipping to Vice Lords, the Cherokees refused.  After the refusal by the Cherokees, the Vice Lords violently attacked the Cherokees hurting their members badly, busting heads until they took 16^th Street away from the Cherokees forcing most of the Cherokees to flip to Vice Lord.  Some Cherokees flipped to Egyptian Cobras while others flipped to Imperial Knights and that’s when the Imperial Knights were next on the agenda.  They beat on the Knights for a month until every member of the Knights flipped to Vice Lord (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Next up were the Braves.  The Vice Lords were sick of the Braves messing with young Vice Lords and now it was time for payback and domination.  The Braves were a big gang and even were located in the ABLA projects and Henry Horner projects in the Near West Side neighborhood.  After a three-month war the Vice Lords destroyed the Braves and this only left one other big gang, the Egyptian Cobras (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

1960: the end of the Clovers and the invasion of Henry Horner, ABLA, the Near West Side and East Garfield Park

Vice Lords spread outside of the North Lawndale community in the year 1960 as they landed in the Near West Side neighborhood and East Garfield Park after defeating the Braves where they began to exercise domination over those communities.  This was also the year the Vice Lord dismantled the Clovers and fought their way into the ABLA projects and the Henry Horner projects, thus, 1960 was the year Vice Lords landed in the ABLA and Henry Horner Homes.

Bloody war with Egyptian Cobras

The Cobras were fierce competition and wanted to claim all of North Lawndale and from Pulaski Road all the way east to the end of the neighborhood it was now Vice Lord territory.  The Vice Lords wanted the Cobras to completely leave the west side of Chicago entirely.  After giving an ultimatum in 1960 for the Cobras to leave and the Cobras turning it down a big brawling war ensued that caused Pep to stab one of their Lieutenants in the neck.  The Lieutenant then called the police on Pep and this time Pep was tried as an adult being seventeen years old and was sentenced to six months in Cook County Jail.  After Pep went in the Cobras were beating back on the Vice Lords which lead to the death of “Dee Dee” after Cobras shot him with a high-powered rifle during a brawl with the Cobras.  Dee Dee was only sixteen years old and was a leader of pee wee members.  After the death of Dee Dee Pep was enraged and told his fellow Lords that when he got out the Cobras better be softened up.  The Vice Lords listened well and shot “Stump Daddy’s” brother “Pop Eye,” Stump Daddy was a Cobra leader.  They gave another Cobra, Hershey Foster a concussion and they killed another Cobra leader, Leroy Brown, by stabbing him forty-two times.  The Vice Lords then kept on hitting the Cobras hard until when Pep got out the Cobras were indeed softened up and even backed off (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The incarceration of Edwin Perry

While Pep was locked up the Imperial Chaplains tried to reassemble and began growing again, this angered Pep and the Lords, so they stormed a dance being held at the YMCA.  The Vice Lords trashed the building breaking windows and destroying everything in sight. The YMCA then called the police on the Vice Lords and Pep.  In the meantime, the Vice Lords stormed a pool hall in Franklin Benjamin Park (4320 W. 15th St) and tore apart a poolroom and even burned furniture.  They then advanced on a nearby restaurant and caused problems over there.  After all this Pep was arrested and put back in Cook County Jail again, this time the judge gave him a one-year sentence hoping it would stop the Vice Lords dead in their tracks, the judge was wrong (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Vice Lords: The first street mob to run the jails

While locked up in the juvenile portion of the jail Pep was wild and fighting several youths inside getting thrown in isolation until the authorities decided he was too much for that section and he was moved to the adult side to be with grown men.  When he first got there, he was confronted by an older guy that tried to bully him; Pep ended up beating the man up on three occasions until he gained a reputation in the adult side.  He worked in the kitchen and declared he wasn’t going to be a food server anymore and withdrew all his Vice Lords from that duty too.  Within no time he was controlling all work details in the adult side which meant the Vice Lords were running it all.  The Vice Lords were well taken care of getting preference of the best clothes, the best food and the best sleeping arrangements.  This caused more gang members coming in to flip to Vice Lords so they could get the best treatment. This also caused the Vice Lords to be bigger on the streets because these flipped members came home as Vice Lords too.  Edwin Perry had such power that he was able to successfully escape from jail by slipping out the front using a disguise without anyone knowing about it.  He found a Vice Lord that looked just like him and had him dress like Pep and act like him for three months, the guards never noticed, and the man was released when Pep’s sentence was over, not a word was ever said.  The Vice Lords also had all the intelligence on all the other gangs in the jails and prisons.  They knew all their movements and what they were all about.  Vice Lords also shouted down messages through the toilets and air vents when guards were not standing around.  They could shout down the toilet after pressing the button and their voices would travel through the pipes to the inmate below.  Vice Lords also used jail and prison staff to relay messages for them to the outside.  They would write numbers on their backs or tell them to remember certain information.  Most of the jail and prison staff cooperated because they lived on the west side and didn’t want to be terrorized by Vice Lords at home (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

 

Hustlers in the streets

In 1961, Pep got out of jail and he found the nation to be in very good shape as “Sugar Cane” made things more organized than ever.  Vice Lords were making money as they set up several different hustles like offering protection to store fronts, restaurants and drug dealers.  When they offered protection, these businesses slid some cash into the pockets of Vice Lords.  Many Vice Lords did armed robberies or had girls steal clothes from department stores so they could sell the clothes on the streets.  The Vice Lord leadership were even the ones to consult with for potential business owners that wanted to open on the west side, this brought them in competition with Italian organized crime that usually ran the underworld of the city including the black ghettos.  This led to an assassination attempt on Pep at the Millard Street club house.  An unknown gunman came knocking at the door on October 2, 1961 and shot a Vice Lord Chief named Glenn Miles in the chest killing him instantly.  It was said the bullet was meant for Pep and Vice Lords knew the Mafia had put a hit out on him for stepping all over their operations.  The police arrived and found six automatic weapons, shotguns and two .30-.30 scoped rifles which got Pep arrested right away. The police said the Vice Lords killed their own member and investigated other Vice Lords.  This incident caused the Vice Lord’s building of their own organized crime racket to falter as there were fears of another Mafia reprisal (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Vice Lords began to focus on quicker ways to make money after the failed syndicate activities.  They opened up their own auto theft operation.  Vice Lords had boxes full of keys that were used to boost cars and they figured out how to steal just about every model in the neighborhood.  Stolen cars were used for direct sales of the whole auto, the sale of parts, joyriding or for gangbanging hits on rivals (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Lords and masters of war

In the early years the Vice Lords were already all about war strategy.  Leonard Calloway was War Counselor and devised strategies to ambush enemies and create attack strategies by using Guerrilla warfare type attacks.  Cal and the Vice Lords would draw maps and take notes on entire territories of all the other gangs. They would even map out buildings, doorways, gangways and everything so they could plan attacks.  They would attack with guns, do a shooting, then jump into getaway cars real fast.  In one incident, in 1961, the Vice Lords kept beating up Egyptian Cobras and Imperial Chaplains anytime they saw them on the streets wearing their sweaters.  Vice Lords stripped the sweaters saving up a few hundred of them until they crashed a party that Cobras and Chaplains were throwing.  All the Vice Lords were wearing the sweaters disguising themselves as Cobras and Chaplains until suddenly, they started beating on actual Cobras and Chaplains.  The Vice Lords shot out the ceiling lights with shotguns and threw their jukebox down the stairs.  Of course, because of all the sweaters it was hard to tell who was who but Vice Lords ordered actual Cobras and Chaplains to move over in one area but no one moved and this is when Cobras and Chaplains never wore the sweaters again.  Vice Lords were known for crashing rival gang parties and beating everyone up in sight while kicking out their windows, this was all strategies to terrorize and intimidate other gangs in the area and caused them all to shrink in size (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

1961: The Imperial Vice Lords

Because of the attack on the Chaplains at the YMCA in the late part of the year 1961, all Imperial Chaplains flipped to Vice Lords and became the first separate branch in Vice Lord history that was not just named after the streets they were from, their name became “Imperial Vice Lords.”  This would become the first of many branches to come, but now the Imperials were a part of the overall Vice Lord nation.

1962: Cabrini Green and the foundation of 500-502 Oak “Bank Roll”

In the early part of the year 1962, CHA officers began reporting recruitment drives at the Cabrini Green public housing project in the Near North Side community.  Shortly after this, a 17-year-old Vice Lord affiliated Cabrini Green resident Alphonso House Jr. shot a peanut vendor to death in the complex.  The Vice Lords had arrived in Cabrini Green in 1962 and this gave birth to their 500-502 Oak Street territory mainly by the buildings near Oak and Hudson.  Vice Lords also settled outside of the projects in the Near North Side tougher areas near the Ranch Triangle and near the shabby areas near North Avenue. 

Guns blazed in Cabrini Green as Vice Lords at the 500 N. Oak to 502 N. Oak buildings (Bank Roll) in the Red walls section shot it out with rival Disciples and even Mickey Cobras over drug turf and territory as snipers were posted on roof tops picking each other off. CVLs remained strong in the Bank Roll buildings until they were torn down.

Wicker Park: Evergreen and Hoyne

The Vice Lords further expanded into white communities as they landed in Wicker Park in 1962.  This neighborhood had a small black community since the 1900s decade at the intersection of Bell and Leavitt that was used to fighting white gangs.  Vice Lords found this area perfect for settlement as they recruited among this black population in 1962 creating the legendary Evergreen and Hoyne branch.  The Vice Lords became very well-known in Wicker Park at their Evergreen and Hoyne stronghold that was heavily contested by white greaser gangs and the United Neighborhoods gangs (Insane Unknowns, Latin Kings, Spanish Lords and Warlords). These Vice Lords would become Conservative Vice Lords.

The Roman Saints

In the years 1962 and 1963, as the Vice Lords abandoned their syndicate operation after Glenn Miles was killed, older members spent much of their time in bars drinking a lot while young members ran the streets small time hustling and gangbanging.  During this time while the Vice Lords were starting to slip a little and only focus on Egyptian Cobras, a Vice Lord named Eugene Brown broke off and formed his own gang called the “Roman Saints.”  The Saints became very popular, but the Vice Lords were always tougher causing the Saints to team up with the Cobras, but it didn’t do the Saints much good as the Vice Lords still had their number (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Alfonso Alford

In the year 1964, the Vice Lords began to go through changes.  The organization now numbered in the thousands and it was now impossible for Pep and the top leaders to control the whole organization.  This is when Pep stepped down as the active leader at age 21 to spend more time with his family.  He would still act as a behind the scenes leader, but he was not the main man anymore.  It was decided one night at a pool room that 29-year-old Alfonso Alford would take over the role.  Alford joined the Vice Lords very late in life, not joining until he moved to Chicago from another state in 1962 at age 27.  Now at age 29 he would become the new leader. The Vice Lords looked up to Alford as he was charismatic, tough and quick tempered.  Alford would do activities with the Lords taking them places and spending money on them.  He took them on field trips and he even helped young Lords get jobs and make a little money (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Early relations with Black P Stones (Blackstone Rangers)

In 1964, Vice Lords began hanging out on the south side of the city with the Black Stone Rangers as the two organizations formed a tight alliance.  Ranger founders Jeff Fort and Eugene Hairston were related to Vice Lord leaders Leonard Calloway and Bobby Gore so this is what got them acquainted to begin with but now Vice Lords were making more of a presence out there and helped the Rangers as much as they could (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The Conservative Vice Lords 1964

In July of 1964 when Edwin Perry, Bobby Gore, Alfonso Alford, Leonard Calloway and J.W. were hanging out on 16th Street drinking bottles of wine and throwing the bottles into vacant lots and the street.  Younger Vice Lords were coming around that night talking about smashing rival gangs that were already beaten to a pulp; some of those gangs were already asking for mercy to not take anymore punishment but there was nothing else to do in the neighborhood but be big and bad. This is until the older guys came up with an idea based upon how they were seeing the destruction and damage they had caused in the community.  The guys decided on an idea, after some debating, to go about opening legitimate businesses and working to better the community.  This was a major breakthrough for the Vice Lords and on that night,  they became “Conservative Vice Lords” once again (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

In 1964, the Vice Lords were so large it became impossible for even great leaders like Alfonso Alford or Edwin Perry to directly lead all these young lords all over the west side.  For the first years from 1958-1964 the Vice Lords didn’t really claim certain territory, they simply moved about the west side and terrorized any other gangs away from trying to establish certain territories.  It was finally in 1964 that the Conservative Vice Lords established a set piece of territory at the intersection of 16th Street and Lawndale in the North Lawndale neighborhood, this became their headquarters.  This was of course only the headquarters of the Conservative Vice Lords but not the whole Vice Lord nation as now the Vice Lord nation was divided into different factions starting in 1964. 

The first order of business was for the Vice Lords to put a stop to the mayhem around them.  Vice Lords worked as mediators to stop violence and put an end to gang wars, Vice Lords even officially stopped fighting with Egyptian Cobras which allowed Vice Lords to move into the K-Town section of the North Lawndale neighborhood west of Pulaski Road and this allowed them mobility to move into the West Garfield Park community eventually.  Vice Lords acted as kind of like police or guardian angels watching over businesses and people in the neighborhood so harm would not come.  The challenge of all this was the police still had a negative outlook on the Vice Lords and young men still felt the despair of not having opportunities to succeed that still led them to crime.  The Vice Lords knew the best thing they needed on the west side was its own economy with businesses that could vest in the community and bring employment for youths.  This part of the city was barren and was a complete slum due to extreme economic poverty.  Without revenue generating businesses not enough city tax dollars could go into renovations and maintenance to the neighborhood leaving the area deteriorated.

Prior to 1964, Vice Lords had branches and/or sections in North Lawndale, East Garfield Park, Cabrini Green and the Near West Side. Vice Lord groups were not deep in the sense of having strong individual identities; therefore, they claimed rather generic names named after Chicago streets they were from like the “Congress Vice Lords” that were founded by Billy Washington, The Kedzie Albany Terrible Vice Lords, Cermak Vice Lords, Independence Vice Lords, Lake Street Vice Lords, Madison Vice Lords, Maypole Vice Lords, Jackson Vice Lords, R.I.P Douglas Ridgeway Vice Lords, 12^th Street Vice Lords, 15^th Street Vice Lords, 16^th Street Vice Lords. When the Vice Lord nation was reorganizing in the summer of ‘64 it became agreed upon for these different Vice Lord groups to have more pronounced identities and to be governed almost completely independent. It became impossible to have just one man or one group of men run a nation of thousands, especially now that Vice Lords were migrating into other parts of the city. Some of these earliest new names that derived from these older groups was the “Traveling” or “Travelor” Vice Lords, Renegade Vice Lords of 16^th Street, the Warlords created by Stupid, Dino and Bolock, Conservative Village Vice Lords of Pulaski Road, 7-Crown Syndicate Vice Lords of K-Town, Chocolate Corner Vice Lords, Ambrose Vice Lords, Black Orpheus Vice Lords, Invisible Vice Lords, Village Vice Lords, Player Vice Lords and the City Vice Lords. These were some of the 26 factions of Vice Lords. All these groups operated individually and many of them didn’t even know who Alfonso Alford even was. 

All the right moves

In the year 1965, George T. Sims Junior was appointed Commander of the Fillmore District, and the first black commander of that district as well. The older Vice Lords used this appointment to their advantage to further their new direction.  The Vice Lord leaders wanted to speak with Sims informing him about their new direction and for suggestions to steer youth away from crime and gangbanging.  After this, the streets of North Lawndale slowly began to improve.

In the year 1966, the Vice Lord’s new cause was bringing in more positive attention as they began to work very closely with Egyptian Cobras, Black P Stones and Black Disciples on bettering their communities and putting an end to violence.  In the summer of that year Martin Luther King came to Chicago and stayed in North Lawndale to help protest during the west side riots of 1966.  Martin Luther King planned a march through the mostly white areas of the south side of Chicago in protest.  The Vice Lords, Disciples and Stones were ready to march alongside Dr. King but after a remark was overheard from one of King’s men that they didn’t need gangbangers to help.  Edwin Perry gave one quick signal with his hand and all the gangs disbursed and withdrew aid.  Later that night Dr. King summoned Edwin Perry, Bobby Gore and a few other leaders to where he was staying and told them he didn’t back that statement about not needing the gangs for support instead he expressed that he needed them and after that the Vice Lords and their allies marched alongside Dr. King.  After this march the Vice Lords started to get major attention that summer as groups were coming to North Lawndale to speak to the Vice Lords and admire their progress; the Deacons of Defence, RAM, ACT as examples came to meet the Vice Lords and this is what got the ball rolling. Everyone could come meet the Vice Lords at the new club house that opened a little earlier that year at 3655 West 16^th Street (16^th and Millard).  The older Vice Lords scraped all the money they got from hustling over the years and pooled it all together to open this pool room.  This became the first legitimate Conservative Vice Lord building in history, and it was made possible by Vice Lord member’s hard earned money and not government grants, but the grants were soon to come (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

Leading off the new year of 1967, Chicago area was socked with horrible snow storms and blinding blizzards that left much of the city buried.  This blizzard was so bad that cars couldn’t even move about in the city which provided a perfect lawless environment for young Vice Lords.  In the mid-60s older Vice Lords struggled to contain the younger Lords and this blizzard made it much worse as now the young Lords had a blast ripping off one store after another, stealing, looting and burglarizing the Jewish owned businesses, some of the older Vice Lords even got in on the action.  The problem with this was it drew negative attention to the Vice Lords and drove out more business owners out of the neighborhood even after the winter was over.  This brought negative attention, but this negative attention turned into a positive as now Commander Sims was concerned that the summer of 1967 would become a repeat of the summer of 66.  Commander Sims arranged a meeting with Vice Lord leaders to discuss how to prevent chaos.  At this meeting would also be David Dawley from Newbury, Massachusetts of the Transcentury Corporation who was sent to eleven cities across the nation to investigate working with impoverished areas and conducting research.  Dawley’s research was key to the government’s decision or other organizations linked to the government granting money to the Vice Lords.  David Dawley moved to North Lawndale and lived on these streets among Vice Lords.  Dawley interviewed Vice Lords all over the neighborhood and helped the CVLs form “Operation Bootstrap” which was a coalition of CVLs, Egyptian Cobras and Roman Saints that were geared toward working with west side major corporations to prevent riots that summer that would cost these companies millions of dollars.  These companies Bootstrap worked with were: Sears Roebuck, Ryerson Steel, Illinois Bell, Western Electric and others.  During that summer Vice Lords, Cobras and Saints policed the neighborhood and broke up gang meetings and even stopped the Black Panthers from creating a plan to destroy businesses and begin looting.  There were challenges that summer and scandals rocked the city and the nation that could have easily triggered more rioting but the CVL led Operation Bootstrap stopped the violence because they had a bigger plan in mind (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The Conservative Vice Lords began to come to a full realization that burning down neighborhoods and fighting the white man was not the way to go anymore.  From the years of 1958 to 1964, they violently revolted against society, but now the mindset had changed.  Vice Lords realized that fighting the government and white people only brought negative images to not only their organization but to the black man.  It became time to show power in a different way by showing restraint and asking for help from the city and government.  Vice Lords wanted to see black owned businesses, jobs for blacks, clean and safe streets and they knew that violence was not the answer to achieving those goals.  This is mostly long-lost history that is buried and under published.  “A Nation of Lords” is an excellent autobiography that tells the whole story about the full Vice Lord intentions but sadly most of the general public never picked up a copy of this book so I will continue sharing highlights from the book blended with my personal knowledge so you, as the reader, can really understand what the Vice Lord nation was really trying to accomplish here.  I strongly recommend A Nation of Lords, but I will cover some major highlights as I already have done so far.  The Vice Lord struggle has often been in the same class as the Black Panthers or even the Black P Stones, but this is different because the Vice Lords had the goal of fully working with the white man and the government, police etc…to get a helping hand to rebuild the North Lawndale community and create a sustainable economy.  They were hoping this model would then spread to the rest of the black ghettos city-wide, then eventually help all poor people of all colors.  The ultimate failure rests upon the city and the Mayor at the time that didn’t adhere enough to Vice Lord pleas for assistance with change.

CVL Inc

Before the summer of 1967, Alderman George Collins promised that if the Vice Lords would keep riots off the streets that summer, he would help CVL open an ice cream parlor.  As the summer progressed not only did Vice Lords prevent rioting, they even set up divisions within themselves that dealt with education, law, order and justice.  On September 11, 1967, Alderman Collins lived up to his promise and incorporated “CVL Inc” as a non-profit organization and began opening up a storefront at 16^th and Lawndale which brought the opening of “Teen Town” later.  David Dawley had just submitted his report in November to the Transcentury corporation which was a major peace to convince the federal government to give money to CVL Inc.  David was then trying to get the Rockefeller Foundation to fund the $15,000 Teen Town needed to open which should have been simple due to the fact it didn’t need major committee approval.  After several negotiations with the YMCA and Bootstrap the money was at last granted in February of 1968 and Teen Town opened on April 4, 1968.  YMCA acted as an auditor for all monies CVL would receive to make sure the gang used the money in the places they promised to use it but CVL leaders needed to make it clear that the YMCA was not to get the money directly and then give it to CVL.  Also, CVL wanted to assure that Bootstrap was a separate organization and not to get the funds either.  Sadly, on the same day Teen Town opened and the big announcement was to go out the assassination of Martin Luther King quickly stole the headlines and diverted attention away from this colossal moment.  To make matters worse rioting went on uncontrollably on the west side as everything burned.  Vice Lords decided not to partake in the rioting as an organization, but they did nothing to stop it like they did in the summer of 67.  The store owners never showed any gratitude for the previous summer, so Vice Lords just stayed out and let it all burn while they protected Teen Town and the pool hall.  Rioters only targeted white owned businesses anyway and after the riots white business owners stopped doing business in the area.   The Vice Lords opened a relief station right after the riots at 3720 West 16^th Street to pass out food and supplies to hundreds of families affected by the rioting (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

In the aftermath of the rioting CVLs sent letters to the Mayor’s office pleading for assistance with the transformation of the neighborhood and bring more grants to help establish a fully functioning community.  These letters were ignored by the mayor.

Even though Mayor Daley was not on board CVL still came across more grant money in the years of 1968 and 1969.  Of course, the best form of help would have needed to come from the city itself but for now grants from several private and smaller federal programs would have to do.  Grants came in from: The Field Foundation for $25,000, $130,000 from the Ford Foundation, $36,000 from the Department Of Labor and $60,000 from W. Clement Stone (Source: Crimescenesblogspot.com).  The money was used to open multiple legitimate companies and community centers.  The businesses were: Teen Town at 3700 West 16th street, The African Lion at 3702 W. 16th street, The House of Lords at 3724 W. 16th street and one at 3414 West 15th street, Art and Soul at 3742 West 16th street, Tastee Freeze at 18th and Pulaski and California and Flournoy.  Simone; which was a business venture with Sammy Davis Junior for African American women’s beauty products.  West Side Community Development Center, Management Training Institute, Street Academy, Tenant’s Rights Action Group, Art and Soul, Youth Organizations United.  Vice Lords took part in programs to beautify the neighborhood rehabbing building, removing trash and planting gardens.  Vice Lords also became educated on tenant’s rights working on a non-for-profit basis as they successfully fought legal battles against crooked landlords forcing landlords to provide better tenancy and to push back on unfair evictions.  Vice Lords were also working to bring more employment within the community so people in the neighborhood didn’t have to commute too far away places such as out in the suburbs.  Having employment locally could also provide more equal pay (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

It got to the point in the late 1960s where North Lawndale residents could walk the streets wearing jewelry and other valuables without any fear of being attacked as Vice Lords now not only refrained from violent behavior against the community, they also acted as the police in the area making sure residents were safe.  Not all Vice Lords were on board with this but for the most part all the North Lawndale CVLs were all about this positive direction and most of the criminal elements in the Vice Lords existed in other neighborhoods or within other branches of the nation.  The newspapers lit up with headlines talking about how the Vice Lords had changed and were now working toward new goals and once a gang of killers and hooligans now had become a community organization. Despite all the hard work there was still an overall negative perception on gangs in general, and this was amplified by Mayor Richard J. Daley that preached about his war on gangs in 1969.  The Vice Lords were classified as a gang and the city would take a blanket approach to all gangs not just some.  This was a damaging attitude for the Vice Lords as it also clumped Vice Lord operations in with the operation of the Black P Stones that were under heavy investigation in 1969 for misuse of government funding.  It is true that the federal government ended up gathering evidence against the Black P Stones, however, much of the funding the Stones received was still going to good use, just not all of it.  No matter how you look at it, the money filtering to the Stones helped the community and helped south side black youths as youth centers were opened, businesses that provided jobs, G.E.D programs and job training centers helped save many youths on the south side of Chicago but the illegal endeavors were highlighted above all and became a big part of Mayor Daley’s war on gangs.  The Vice Lords were dipping into the same type of funding sources as the Stones and were even opening the same type of businesses and being a black street gang like the Stones just got them swept under the same category as the Stones.  When the investigations began and concluded CVL Inc funding was eventually cut off and the Vice Lords were left with nothing even though not a single Vice Lord was convicted of an overall conspiracy to use funding for illegal endeavors like the Stones were convicted of.

The beginning of a downfall

Not only were the Vice Lords classified with more criminal gangs, there was also a lack of patience with bestowing the Vice Lords the opportunity to keep the west side streets safe.  Federal law enforcement agencies spat out crime stats in the higher numbers during the late 1960s and Vice Lords were often given no credit for making a difference even though the Conservative Vice Lords directly were barely contributing to those crime stats.  The Conservative Vice Lords had expressed that they needed more patience because it would take years for them to help the entire west side clean up their act, something that couldn’t be done in just a year or two.  This is why the Vice Lords expressed their need for more resources in the black community to keep youths distracted with positive activities and to offer better opportunities with recreation and jobs.  Many of these letters written to the Mayor were unanswered.  Mayor Daley himself never visited the Vice Lord clubhouse despite being invited on multiple occasions instead him and many other government officials wrote off the Vice Lords as bad company.

Other problems with funding were that the city had already allocated funding to the west side, but every dollar was controlled by city officials that were not in touch with what the community truly needed to rehab itself.  CVL Inc had all the knowledge of how to spend funding in the best way to provide the maximum effect on the community but instead pleas to the city fell on deaf ears.  The funding that was received was often mishandled and mismanaged by other groups such as Bootstrap which caused lots of confusion and frustrations.  Sometimes funding would fall into the hands of less educated Vice Lords that mismanaged the funds and paid themselves a salary that didn’t fit into the CVL agenda, once again this was caused by money going to where it shouldn’t even if it was within CVL it would go to the wrong part of CVL against CVL leadership’s instructions.

Austin: 1968

The Austin neighborhood of Chicago became the last mostly white west side community in Chicago and these Austin residents did not want to give up their homes…at first.

In the year 1966, a small white flight pattern began on the far southeast side of the community at the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Cicero Avenue. The first African American families moved near this intersection and by 1967 African Americans were exclusively living with the area of Kenton to Lavergn and from Madison Street to the Eisenhower Expressway (290). This small area was just across the railroad tracks from the now all African American community of West Garfield Park. African American youths in this area were constantly targeted by groups of white youths and white adults. Even grown white men attacked young African American youths. Austin was full of gangs from North Avenue to the Eisenhower in 1967 and not a single one of those gangs was black. Greaser gangs, clubs, sports teams were all over Austin and were the children of families that did not want their neighborhood to become majority African American. Many families would be upset for a while but would eventually leave the community especially in South Austin and through Central Austin by later 1967.

Once the warmer weather of 1968 arrived, Columbus Park area was now heavily populated with African Americans but whites were still in the majority along with multiple white gangs. In Central Austin the bustling intersection of Cicero Avenue and Chicago Avenue was now populated with many African American families. White gangs and groups of African American youths were fighting heavily in these streets but the white gangs often had the stronger numbers and were more organized and had more weapons. This became time for the heaviest ties to the Black P Stones, Four Corner Hustler and Conservative Vice Lords authorized a chapter in the South Austin and Central Austin areas in 1968. CVLs would become established for decades in South Austin from Jackson Boulevard to the Eisenhower and in Central Austin along Chicago Avenue. At first CVLs fought white gangs but later in 1968 CVLs were battling with Four Corner Hustlers and Black P Stones. Central Austin CVLs would eventually grow into the area of Chicago Avenue to Superior and from Lamon to Lavergne.

CVLs in Austin are not the biggest mob in Austin but they are one of the oldest gangs that still exist in Austin. In the year 2002 CVLs moved north of North Avenue and became one of the prominent groups in northern Austin. CVLs in the Austin have been big money makers since the 1970s.

Uptown: 1969

The Uptown neighborhood was an impoverished majority white community from the 1930s through the 1990s. Until the late 1960s Uptown was mostly white Appalachian and Native American, once African American students were bussed in from the south side and west side to Senn High School in 1969 some African American families decided to move to Uptown so their children would not need to be bussed in.

Some African American families moved to the most historic African American community in Uptown in a small area of houses and apartments along Winthrop Avenue. In 1969 Black Gangster Disciples (Supreme Gangsters) moved into apartments at Lawrence Avenue and Winthrop Avenue; therefore, the GDs took over the settlement of the first African American families in Uptown in the 1910s. African American families also moved into affordable apartments at Agatite Avenue and Hazel Street. Impoverished Hispanic families were also moving into the area of these affordable apartments between Lawrence Avenue to Montrose Avenue. Most African American families were at Hazel and Agatite and this is where Conservative Vice Lords formed in 1969. These Vice Lords were tough as nails as they battled Harrison Gents in these apartments that recruited several African Americans and Hispanics in these apartments.

By the 1970s CVLs of Agatite and Hazel entered the drug game and became money makers. More enemies moved into the neighborhood as it was mostly Hispanic in the 70s. Latin Kings and Brazers moved into these apartments and now CVLs were fighting all three groups. Up until 1979 Harrison Gents and Latin Kings were allies that teamed up against CVLs but CVLs could not be eliminated no matter what numbers came at them.

By the early 1980s Brazers left these apartments and Latin Kings took over their territory but the People alliance kept these CVLs and Latin Kings at peace and they teamed up against Harrison Gents. These Latin Kings were the Montrose and Hazel Latin Kings and once the Harrison Gents left these apartments by the end of 90s the CVLs took over most of their territory. Even when the apartments were demolished and new expensive buildings were built CVLs would remain in these newer buildings, these CVLs are the “Uptown Lords.”

Rockford: 1969

Since the 1910s decade African Americans had been livjng on the west side of Rockford, many of them were livjng in heavy poverty but still were able to build shacks and simple houses while working at the factories on the south side. An African American migration wave came to west Rockford during World War II but these migration waves were rather small. Rockford was a heavily conservative city in northern Illinois and there was much desire from the white community in eastern, northern and southern Rockford to keep their communities free of African Americans. On the west side many groups of white youths and adults kept African Americans away from certain public facilities and from certain areas of the west side. When African Americans began moving in from Chicago in the late 60s, these Chicago youths did not tolerate white groups pushing them around and fought back much harder than many Rockford youths but city youths taught Rockford African American youths how to toughen up and stand up for themselves. Soon groups of African Americans moved in numbers on the west side and fought back against whites. African Americans were also moving onto the south side in a mostly Italian neighborhood that was even the neighborhood of the Rockford Italian Mafia. These were even tougher streets to survive because there were far less African Americans.

Black Gangster Disciples moved to the west side of Rockford and took over the majority of the public housing buildings in 1969 but Conservative Vice Lords moved into the same buildings in 1969 and a war erupted between them. Even though CVLs were outnumbered since 1969 they have always been tough enough to fight decades of Disciples and they still remain in these projects like the former Concord Commons apartments.

On the southwest side of Rockford, in the Italian community, the CVLs would move into this area along Island Avenue and have remained here for decades battling Disciples along the way. In the 1980s the south side was full of People ally gangs but these relations broke down with Four Corner Hustlers, Mafia Insane Vice Lords and Latin Kings by the 1990s. CVLs would eventually spread into multiple other projects in Rockford especially in the Fairgrounds projects on the east side of the tracks, CVLs ran that whole side of the projects until they became vacated. CVLs of Rockford are still strong on city’s streets.

The injustice of Bobby Gore

A big blow to the Vice Lords was the convicting of CVL leader Bobby Gore on murder charges.  In November of 1969, Bobby Gore was taken away in handcuffs accused of murder.  He then went through a very brief trial in early 1970 as he was denied continuances.  His case was only continued three times in the very early months of 1970 as it became very clear the justice system was eager to lock him up and not allow the defense to further investigate and prepare a stronger case.  The system was completely set against Bobby and he was convicted of murder, a murder conviction that would later be overturned in 1981 (Source: A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition).

The last days of CVL Inc

Vice Lords continued to attempt positive changes in the years of 1969-1973.  As reports of members committing violent crimes now began to take back over the newspaper in the early 1970s, CVL Inc still kept going and kept its charter in the early 70s.  CVLs also worked with Black P Stones and Black Gangster Disciples with the “LSD Coalition” or “Lords Stones and Disciples.” The LSD coalition heavily advocated for employment rights for black Chicagoans until it ended in 1973.  Between the years 1964 through 1969 the Vice Lords were mainly only in the newspaper for their positive leadership on the streets and the programs they were getting involved in.  Only a few times were they in the negative spot light during these years.  The worst case was that of Edward Taylor, a CVL member, convicted of murdering a nun in 1969.  The Executioner Vice Lords had started a murder-for-hire business in 1969 and a shooting with the Roman Saints in 1966 along with some other small stories was just about all that made the papers in a negative light in these years.  Once Bobby Gore was convicted of murder and David Dawley moved back east and the spot light was back on the Vice Lords, the Vice Lords began to engage in criminal behavior. Original member and co-founder Leonard Calloway was convicted of murder in 1970 which took down another CVL leader.  In 1972, CVL leader Kenneth “Goat” Parks was convicted of possessing and using stolen U.S. Treasury checks, which was another conviction that really hurt CVL reputation.  During the year 1972, the Vice Lords were still working with Egyptian Cobras to prevent war so there was still some positive actions going on from CVL; CVL Inc was still active as of 1972.  Many of the headlines of Vice Lords committing crimes and murders were carried out by other branches like Unknown Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords and Cicero Vice Lords, but CVL violent crimes were much less as they still struggled to maintain order as the new heroin epidemic was beginning to take over the west side of Chicago in these years.  Youths were beginning to partake in the heroin trade as it was putting money in the pockets of desperate west side youths and as the influence of CVL Inc was slowly fading in the early 70s more youths were getting involved in heroin.  Conservative Vice Lords of North Lawndale did not involve themselves in the heroin trade, but the other branches of the overall Vice Lord nation were getting involved and this was the years where distinguishing between the different factions became very important.

In the year 1973, David Dawley returned to the streets of North Lawndale to present his new book, A Nation of Lords which was announced in the newspaper and brought a positive spotlight back to the Vice Lords.  The public could now read all about the Vice Lord story and develop an understanding.  This was also a year that the Vice Lords did not show up much in the paper for crimes committed.  Some positive leaders were still on the street especially Alfonso Alford who was still President up until March of 1974 when he was shot three times near his home.  It was at that point that Alford stepped down and left the area leaving CVL to fall into a mostly criminal organization once again.  The legitimate businesses the Vice Lords once owned and operated in North Lawndale closed down once CVL Inc was deactivated.  The buildings where these places once were thriving with hope now became depressed dilapidated buildings just like how they were left before CVL Inc bought them in the late 1960s including the pool room at 3655 West 16th Street that Vice Lords bought with their own hard-earned money in 1966.  These buildings were either replaced by businesses that failed a short time later or immediately turned dilapidated and were torn down leaving much of 16^th Street barren.  The vacant lots where these buildings existed now became centers of gang activity, garbage dumping and drug needles.

The biggest reason for the decline of CVL Inc the CVLs being led by positivity was the incarceration of leaders. The early 70s was a busty time for Chicago law enforcement and federal authorities to lock up as many leaders of African American gangs as possible and many of these cases pinned on these leaders was bogus but they were amplified and leaders were now off the streets. Many of these leaders were not drug dealers or even killers but leaders like Bobby Gore had false convictions against them. Vice Lords in prison rose to becoming powerful behind bars. After Alfonse Alfred was shot, Vice Lords were seldom mentioned in any newspapers later in the 70s.

West Humboldt Park

In the year 1975, the West Humboldt Park community began to undergo a third racial change since the early 60s. The first change in the early 60s changed the streets between Chicago Avenue and Franklin/Ferdinand from Pulaski to Sacramento. Whites moved out of this area as Puerto Rican moved in which brought about the foundation of the Latin Kings. Starting in the mid-60s Puerto Ricans began moving out of this area as did the Latin Kings and the area became increasingly African American until it became a completely black community by 1966. In the late 60s gangbanging began in this area between Black Souls and Supreme Gangsters (Gangster Disciples). In the early to mid-70s the Chicago police shut these gangs down and by 1975 these streets were open. Another African American migration wave came to West Humboldt Park between Chicago Avenue and Division Street all west of Pulaski. Vice Lords moved into this community north and south of Chicago Avenue which included Conservative Vice Lords. One of the most historic CVL outposts became Iowa and Hamlin. Conservative Vice Lords would became heavy between Augusta to Chicago Avenue and from Chicago Avenue to Ferninand/Franklin. CVL in this neighborhood fought a racial battle against Hispanic gangs like Latin Kings, Spanish Cobras, Maniac Latin Disciples and Imperial Gangsters. CVLs were also battling Black Gangster Disciples as the BGDs settled in the same areas as CVLs. 1975 was the beginning a permanent legacy of Conservative Vice Lords in West Humboldt Park.

Conservatives in the 100s

I don’t know the whole story or exactly how it all started but a Conservative Vice Lord named “Straw,” who was a pee wee member of the Conservative Vice Lords moved to the south side Roseland community. Straw was a strong enough leader in the neighborhood surrounded with Black P Stones and Black Gangster Disciples. Straw was the first south side Vice Lord to dare to open territory in the CVL name and in the wild streets of Roseland at 113^th and Edbrooke. These Vice Lords would congregate in Palmer Park. These CVLs started in the year 1976 and still exist in present years. These Vice Lords endured a lot of hardship moving to a Stone and Disciples controlled community; however, they prevailed and these CVLs would grow paving the way for other CVL groups to form in Roseland as well.

Howard Street

Beginning in the year 1979, gangs from outside of the Howard Street area began to move in heavily along this storied strip of land that borders Chicago from the suburb of Evanston. The notorious Black Gangster Disciples landed in Rogers Park in the Juneway Terrace area and established a permanent and strong legacy. Disciple came to Howard Street because of a Illinois prison release program that ran between the year 1979 to 1982 to ease tax payer burden during an economic recession. Many gang members were released all over Chicago and in the suburbs which brought them to unlikely places in order for the state to separate gang leaders so they would not reform, the issue was communities with no gangs now had gangs as these gang members were now housed in low-income apartments, townhomes and condos. Many of these low income areas were made into halfway homes in these communities and Howard Street was heavy with this type of housing along Howard Street from Juneway Terrace area to the West Ridge community and the suburb of Evanston. Conservative Vice Lords established themselves well along Howard Street along the Evanston and Chicago border, especially on the Evanston side in the many apartments. CVLs became deep in the suburb of Evanston on the southeast side starting in 1979 as they battled Black Gangster Disciples from Juneway. At some point, CVLs spread to the notorious west side of Evanston and have engage in violent wars with Disciples and Black P Stones for decades. This CVL legacy has become permanent in Evanston.

Joliet

Beginning in 1979, the Illinois prison release program came to the east side streets of Joliet as members of the Latin Kings, Black Gangster Disciples, Two Six and Conservative Vice Lords. Black Gangster Disciples and CVLs took over the east side public housing projects and into the Fairmont area of Lockport Township just over the Joliet border in unincorporated Lockport, this area is known as “The Hill.” GDs and CVLs had fought over this land for decades. CVLs were even active by Broadway Street near the Crest Hill border in Joliet. Back in the later 2000s a friend of mine lived along Broadway Street and one day when I came to visit there were police closing off parts of the streets and alleys behind Broadway Street because the CVLs had shot someone in the head killing the victim. From first hand knowledge, growing up in Will County, I can say the Joliet CVLs were a group that would be a force to be reckoned with on these streets and they have deep history back to 1979.

Bolingbrook and Woodridge

Possibly as early as 1979 and no later than 1981, African American gangs moved into the northern Will County and southern Du Page County area into the Woodridge and Bolingbrook suburbs. Black Gangster Disciples and Conservative Vice Lords moved into both suburbs and took over most of the low-income housing apartments, condos and townhomes in both suburbs. One time, I was out cruising with a friend of mine who happened to be a Romeoville Two Six and he wanted to stop in the Fernwood townhouses along Lily Cache Drive, he got out while I stayed in the car. A short time later he came running to my car with knuckles bloody and a cut on his head. He said we needed to get out fast or we were going to be shot up by CVLs. He had just gotten into a fight with CVLs and had fought well but they would not let it go and wanted to go to the next level, we got the hell out of there but that experience showed me that Bolingbrook CVLs don’t play. I also remember hearing about the CVLs in the Innsbrook apartments (now demolished) along Boughton Road. These apartments were so bad that I knew a guy that delivered for Pizza Hut that had his shitty floor mats stolen during the day time while he was on delivery. Another friend of mine had a buddy that got stabbed by CVLs in Innsbrook. CVLs were highly active in Bolingbrook and stood their ground against rival gangs constantly. Woodridge CVLs were deep in the apartment complexes of Emerald Courts, Timber Creek and Waterbury. Gang violence has made the newspaper more than once in these Woodridge apartments as CVLs and GDs fight it out. CVLs have a permanent legacy in these suburbs since the early 80s or as far back as 1979.

Palatine

The suburb of Palatine is the last place one would think Chicago gangs could organize but many that believe this are not aware of the far northeast side of the community. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that this area of Palatine was part of incorporated Palatine and instead was Palatine Township. Because this area being unincorporated Illinois public housing and private low-income housing developers found this area to be perfect for low-income housing in the 1970s. The most notorious was the Rand Grove public housing development that was built in 1973 and became crime ridden by the later 70s. In about 1979, Latin Kings and Conservative Vice Lords moved into Rand Grove and took over these projects with Latin Kings on the south side of the projects and CVLs on the north side. African Americans were a smaller population in Rand Grove but CVLs recruited well among them. Through the 1980s CVLs and Latin Kings upheld the People alliance until 1988 when more Latin King factions formed and Gangster Disciples moved to the far northeast side. CVLs spread to multiple housing areas on the northeast side and moved into these areas in 1988 alongside Latin Kings which made them become adversaries. CVL and Latin King wars were intense as much as both gangs’ wars with Gangster Disciples. CVLs have become a permanent fixture on the Palatine suburb.

CVLs in the far Lake County north suburbs

Beginning in 1979, the Lake County suburbs fell on hard times as several manufacturing companies closed creating incredible job loss and white flight from the Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion communities. At the same exact time this was going on the Illinois prison release wave of 1979-1982 took full effect in these suburbs as many former inmates were moving into public housing projects in these suburbs. There were also Chicago families moving to these suburbs and many were very low-income. Gang members were advancing into the Marion Jones projects in North Chicago, the Hebron projects in Zion, the Barwell Manor of Waukegan, Armory Terrace in Waukegan, and Whispering Oaks in Waukegan. Both Black Gangster Disciples and Conservative Vice Lords were the two main gangs that took over the majority of all these projects. Both gangs have been at heavy odds in these projects since 1979 and still have a presence in these communities.

CVLs of Maywood and Bellwood

Beginning in 1976, the suburbs or Maywood and Bellwood became ripe with the presence of the Latin Kings of Maywood’s northeast side where Mexican people from Chicago moved in. Bellwood was an all-white suburb until the early 80s and Maywood was always a mix of white and African American, while being mostly white until the later 70s. African American youths always had issues with white youths from Maywood, Bellwood and Melrose Park, especially when they tried to cross the tracks in Melrose Park, now the Latin Kings were the ones keeping African Americans out of Melrose Park. Since 1976, African American youths were complaining about being racially attacked by Latin Kings. In the September 10, 1978 Chicago Tribune, African American youths were interviewed and specifically spoke that the “Latin Kings” were pulling guns on them. These events led up to African American gangs from Chicago moving to Maywood like Black Gangster Disciples, Black P Stones, Insane Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords. The CVLs that established themselves in Maywood would become deep and permanent fixtures on these streets but many CVLs would eventually calm down in this suburb and in Bellwood, CVLs are deep in both suburbs.

CVLs of Kane County

When the 1979-1982 Illinois prison release program began in 1979, Kane County was not immune to ex-con Chicago gang members moving into these suburbs among migrating African American and Hispanic families. Between 1979-1980 several African American and Hispanic families moved into certain sections of Aurora and Elgin as racial discrimination and new crime plagued these families. Many youths from Chicago found that they were left out of normal activities for children and this caused many youths to look up to the ex-cons that were full of gangbanging stories. In the public housing projects of Aurora African American families filled these buildings as did the Black Gangster Disciples and Conservative Vice Lords in the early 1980s. CVLs fell into gang wars with Black Gangster Disciples and Maniac Latin Disciples in both Elgin and Aurora as all four of these gangs infiltrated Elgin and Aurora. CVLs have had a storied presence in each suburb in the present years.

The EL Rukn sanctions: 1979-1981

In the year 1979, Jeff Fort and the EL Rukns had reached the peak of their frustrations with Black P Stones. Each organization was being credited or discredited for actions they did or didn’t commit as law enforcement and the public pinned certain actions on one group or another when the other group was the actual perpetrator.  There were actions EL Rukns took against adversaries or violators of their street laws that the Black P Stones were being accredited for which took away law from the EL Rukns. There were also violent incidents the Stones were committing that EL Rukns had nothing to do with and wanted nothing to do with but police and federal agents were knocking on Jeff Fort’s door with questions. This infuriated Jeff Fort as he was already rather disgusted with the Stones and preached that now that he was no longer in charge the Stones didn’t exist; however, Fort played nice about it and co-existed with the Stones and embraced certain branches of the Stones like Gangster Stones and Maniac P Stones for example. In 1979, Fort could no longer tolerate Stones accept for his 7 Tribes exceptions that included Gangster Stones and Maniac P Stones. Jeff Fort declared law/sanctions to the BPSN not only declaring their existence was not legitimate but also that if they carried on with the Stone name they would be killed. Many Stones feared the wrath of Jeff Fort while others had leaders that respected Jeff Fort and left their section to close.

Origin of the south side Vice Lords and the Oriental Theater: 1980

For decades the Oriental Theater at 24 W. Randolph St located on Randolph Street between State Street and Dearborn Street served Chicagoans some of the finest theater in the downtown Loop. Beginning in the 1960s, the theater became seedy and became a haven for Chicago gang members to watch old gangster movies. The issue escalated when west side Vice Lords began having it out with EL Rukns from the south side attending the same theater. Issues were brewing in this theater so much that undercover police officers got involved. On December 8, 1980, approximately 75 or more gang members were gathered which resulted in a shooting that left one man dead. The Black P Stones had interest in this conflict because they were at war with EL Rukns. Some members of the Conservative Vice Lords, Four Corner Hustlers and Black P Stones put together a squad of killers and robbers. Much of this knowledge came to me from talking to an old school Black P Stone from the east and the shooting in 1980 is documented, the shooting was the event that caused the theater to close until it was re-opened in the 1990s.

75^th and Cottage Grove: 1981

The Greater Grand Crossing community on Chicago’s south side is filled with Gangster Disciples and Black P Stones. Disciples and Stones have claimed these streets since the 1960s but when the Pistoleros formed and the war with the EL Rukns raged on the Black P Stones invited the Conservative Vice Lords nearby to 75^th and Cottage Grove. Black P Stones were just west of this area keeping these allies close by. Conservative Vice Lords made 75^th and Cottage Grove home which would become known as “5^th City” and became the south side headquarters of the CVLs. This is why the CVLs have always been deep in the 75^th and Cottage Grove area since 1981 when they started. CVLs were already established in Roseland (Wild 100s) since 1976 but the main command now arrived in 1981 at 75^th and Cottage Grove, this is the event that supercharged south side CVL presence. Eventually CVLs and Black P Stones would go to war over territory now that both gangs were big in certain south side areas.

Altgeld Gardens: 1981

In the year 1981, the Altgeld Gardens public housing projects entered a new stage of plight following the rise in crime in these projects in the 1970s. In 1981, significant gangs from deeper into the inner city made their way into these projects and the Black Gangster Disciples and Conservative Vice Lords became the biggest settlers among the inner city gangs. Conservative Vice Lords took over the 1,2,3,5,6,7,11,17 blocks which consisted of nearly half the blocks in the projects. CVL territory ran from 133^rd Street to 134^th Street and from Corliss to Langley. Most the rest of the buildings belonged to BGDs while some buildings were for Black P Stones and Traveling Vice Lords. CVLs even had important meetings for all of the south side branches in these projects making them very important buildings. CVLs held it down tight through the 1990s and even Chief Terrell “South side Rell” was appointed Chief of all south side CVL operations in his early 20s and he started as a Altgeld Gardens CVL. A vicious gang war began in the early 90s with the Black Disciples as they began encroaching upon these buildings. The war with the BDs was costly and caused many CVLs to go to prison which allowed BDs to flip many CVLs in these projects. CVLs still hold down some buildings in these projects.

South Chicago: 1981

The year 1981 began a new and explosive era on the streets of South Chicago. What started as mostly fighting gangs in the 60s and 70s turned into shootings, drug dealing and violence. After the steel factories downsized and closed South Chicago’s value plummeted in value triggering the flight of the white, black and Hispanic middle class which ushered in lower-income families from around the city. The neighborhood became an almost even mix of Hispanics and African Americans but both races often did not get along and many youths drew racial lines within the gangs. Black P Stones had been on these streets since at least the late 60s but now Black Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords packed in. Conservative Vice Lords became a big mob in South Chicago as they were recruited right off the main leadership of the south side CVL nation. It started with the “Triple Bs” at 81^st and Muskegon and soon spread into a nice sized area around 81^st and Muskegon then there are the “Death Row” CVLs of 85^th and Escanaba area. These CVLs had retained this land for decades and may remain forever.

West Englewood: 1981

Once the CVLs began spreading all over the south side, West Englewood became a prime area for CVLs to settle near Black P Stone turf. “June” was the founder of these CVLs at 60^th and Winchester. These CVLs held it down strong in the 80s and the 90s but are an old school group and are not as active as the past.

Leclaire Courts: 1981

In the year 1981, Conservative Vice Lords, Black P Stones, Four Corner Hustlers and Mafia Insane Vice Lords moved into the grassroots and quiet projects in a majority white Midway area neighborhood and these mostly old school gangsters from the west side and south side settled in these projects following the 1979-1982 Illinois early prison release programs as they often lived with relatives or their girlfriends. For over a half decade these People allied gangs lived mostly in peace in these buildings. They existed so well that they immediately met the approval of the mostly white Insane Popes gang that ruled the neighborhood. There was such strong approval that CVLs drafted the Popes into the People alliance in 1981 bringing a tight alliance between CVLs and Popes. CVLs eventually engaged in crack cocaine wars of the late 80s but still held these streets down until the buildings were torn down. CVLs did not completely leave these lands as they now dwell within the apartments at 45^th and Lavergne to 44^th.

45^th and Cottage Grove: The Washington Park projects

The now torn down Washington Park projects that were once located along 44^th and 45^th from Cottage Grove to Evans once housed the most big time gangsters from the five point star gangs. Big time King Cobras, Mickey Cobras, Insane Vice Lords, Mafia Insane Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords claimed these buildings. Once south side Vice Lords began in 1981, CVLs filled these buildings until they were torn down in 2002.

Rockwell Gardens: From grass roots to VL paradise

Starting in 1981, the Rockwell Gardens projects became dangerous, deteriorating and gang infested. Multiple gangs came to Rockwell Gardens in the early 80s like Gangster Stones, Imperial Insane Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords and Renegade Vice Lords, but no one was as deep as Traveling Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords. CVLs in the Rockwells were money makers and so focused on money that they would shared project buildings with TVLs and RVLs but these CVLs were also quick to kill for drug profits. CVLs ruled in these projects until they were razed in the 2000s.

Kankakee Vice Lords

In north-central Kankakee in the early 80s, the many factory workers that lived in this area of the city lost their jobs and quickly left the area seeking employment in other towns or closer to Chicago during the early 80s recession. As these families exited African American and Hispanic families from Chicago migrated to Kankakee seeking much cheaper housing despite a lack of employment. Alongside this migration wave came several Chicago gang members that included Conservative Vice Lords that recruited well in this area of Kankakee by 1985. Since at least 1985, CVLs have been a impact presence in Kankakee.

Hanover Park CVL

In the year 1985, the lower income apartment complexes of the more affluent Hanover Park suburb. These apartments became lower-income and affordable for Chicago African American and Hispanic families. One of the more hard core Latin Kings groups started in the suburb and they teamed up with Conservative Vice Lords in Hanover Park to take over these apartments from Gangster Disciples, Maniac Latin Disciples and Spanish Cobras. At one time, CVLs were quite deep and ruthless in this suburb and still have a presence in the community.

Streamwood CVL

CVLs landed in Hanover Park in 1985 but as far as I know, they didn’t come to neighboring Streamwood until 1988. Between 1988 and 1996, CVLs were one of the biggest gangs in Streamwood and once dominated the McKool Avenue townhouses along the Hanover Park and Streamwood border. McKool Avenue was a dangerous place for nearly a decade and the CVLs were so wild here that the police targeted them heavy and busted their leaders for drugs and guns in 1996, thus, shutting down CVL operations in Streamwood for good; however, the legacy is something to not be forgotten. What we need to not forget is that these townhouses were left to neglect by the village as racial boundaries were forged and most of the village forgot about McKool Avenue and isolated it until the street made the news too much and scared residents in both Hanover Park and Streamwood.

Glendale Heights CVL

Since the early 2000s it has become difficult to fathom that the quiet suburb of Glendale Heights used to be gang land. From 1985 until between 2000-2002, Glendale Heights was ripe with gang activity, especially between 1985-1995 peaking in the early 90s. During the peak of gang activity came Gangster Disciples and Conservative Vice Lords that often battled each other over the same apartment and townhouse complexes. CVLs were not the deepest in this suburb but were deep enough to number in the dozens and make a lot of noise in this unlikely Du Page county suburb. CVLs no longer exist in this community but their legacy needs not be forgotten.

Cicero CVL: 1992

Cicero was always a town not welcoming of African Americans until white flight became major in 1992. Mostly Hispanics flooded the streets of Cicero in an already gang infested town. The gangbanging was started by mostly whites that ran with Twelfth Street Players, Noble Knights and Arch Dukes, but by 1992 the Dukes left and Players and Knights were recruiting Hispanics to stay afloat. African Americans were mostly still leery about moving into Cicero but some families made that move. Among the small population of African Americans the Conservative Vice Lords settled in the village to give African American kids a chance to join a gang for blacks. CVLs built up a strong presence in Cicero for a long time and I think they are still active in the suburb.

The VL function

Vice Lords have multiplied into having well over 25,000 members nationwide and that is only a small estimate.  This number if for the entire Vice Lord nation that accounts for all the individual branches in combined forces but doesn’t account for the fact that Vice Lord factions operate and govern as separate gangs.  The only time Almighty Vice Lord nation becomes law is when members are behind bars then your faction is almost stripped as all Vice Lords must operate as one and follow the nation of the Peoples alliance strictly.  On the streets you cannot simply claim you are a “Vice Lord” because the factions are mostly in a war state and have been for a very long time.  Even when the wars were not as bad in the 1970s and some of the 1980s Vice Lord factions still operated more individually than any other organization in the city.  Sure, you will hear about factions of Gangster Disciples, Factions of Black P Stones, factions of Latin Kings etc…but those organizations still don’t function as separately like the Vice Lords do and the VL factions have the most ferocious wars between them.  With any other mob on this site I do not break down faction histories, but the Vice Lords will have the exclusive page where I break down as many of the factions as I can all on this page and tell all their stories. 

Vice Lords as a nation, are not really hung up on the Folk and People thing and really don’t start many problems with gangs over simple issues like colors and Folk identity.  Vice Lords are about making money and will clique up with any faction of any gang as long as they come in peace and don’t interfere with Vice Lord operations.  Vice Lords have unusual alliances with Folk gangs like 47th and Damen Two Six and Kostner and Congress Gangster Disciples.  The entire Vice Lord nation makes moves alongside their biggest Hispanic allies the Latin Counts.  This unity is so close that Vice Lords will not associate with enemies of the Counts like Bishops, many groups of Latin Kings (especially on the south side).  Vice Lords are also tight with Insane Unknowns especially the Unknown Vice Lords.  Because of this Vice Lords don’t get along with Spanish Lords due to the alliance with Insane Unknowns.  The Folk Hispanic gangs Vice Lords absolutely will not deal with are: La Raza, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Satan Disciples, Brazers and Ambrose.  Because of Latin Count alliances with South Side Insane Popes and Saints Vice Lords are also cool with them.  Because of the old alliance the Counts have with the Latin Brothers the Vice Lords are real cool with Latin Brothers too.  There is no entire black gang the Vice Lords have 100% beef with.

 In conclusion

the Vice Lords and all the branches within the VLN have morphed into major criminal organizations on the streets, however, according to true Vice Lord doctrines and beliefs the Vice Lord Nation is not built upon criminal activity and condemns such acts at least since the late 1960s.  Each member of the Vice Lords and each branch or section can choose a violent or drug dealing lifestyle, but it is not backed by Vice Lord true beliefs. The criminal behaviors of the Vice Lord Nation have often been used as somewhat of a necessity for young black youths growing up in violent and disadvantaged communities.  This is what the original Vice Lords saw as they got older in the mid-1960s a world crumbling all around them and they blamed themselves for such actions but sought to turn a new leaf and set aside their hatreds of the government or the white man and work with these institutions and the white race if needed.  Vice Lord leaders developed a maturity within their higher ranks and achieved much success in steering frustrated young black youths away from destructive behavior.  CVL Inc worked perilously to rebuild their destroyed community and became the father figures to black youths that otherwise had no father figures to look up to.  Even during the violent times before 1964, the elder Vice Lords still provided direction and discipline to boys and girls that were otherwise lost on the streets and even at home.  It was then in 1964, that the leaders realized they could exert control over these young boys and girls and perhaps turn them around in another direction.  Of course, not all branches were on board with the change, hence, one of the reasons why the VLN was broken into factions when CVL was re-established in July 1964, but at any time the other branches could still pitch in and set aside their criminal behavior and help out with the greater good.  Maybe for once put down the pistol and pick up a spoon and feed soup to the poor residents of the community.

Beginning on September 11, 1967 CVL Inc went miles in the right direction when they were incorporated but leaders knew there was so much further they needed to go before they could save their community.  After saving North Lawndale, CVL wanted to save all the west side then every black ghetto in Chicago and perhaps America.  They even developed the far-reaching goal saving all the poor people of all races; Hispanic, Asian and even white.  Leaders learned the white man was not the enemy and perhaps all those racist wealthy white folks were just uneducated about what was going in their community and that’s why there were always open houses on 16^th Street.  Come one, come all to see the changes and the positivity the Vice Lords have created!  Sadly, many important people refused to attend the open houses including the most influential person of all, Mayor Richard J. Daley who never answered all those letters for more help, and he wouldn’t visit the cultural centers and job fairs the Vice Lords were setting up.  Perhaps if he would have showed up he would have been blown away, or perhaps that is why he didn’t show up, he didn’t want to be wowed, he didn’t want to have to admit that a street gang had saved each other and their community where women and children could now stroll in the streets and play even at night without harassment or being robbed.  Mayor Daley perhaps didn’t come to the open house because he had many cronies heavily invested on where the city plans and taxes really needed to go, in the pockets of self-interest of the corporations trying to make changes in the city to their benefit.  A tax flow to assist disadvantaged communities to a group that knows how the money should be spent would be dangerous for big business and the government because the funds would actually go to where they should go and our government perhaps knew this and kept it only in their hands to distribute how they felt fit. In either case, CVL Inc received thousands of dollars in grants from mostly private corporations but it still fell short especially since some of the money was siphoned by other groups that used the money as they felt fit.

Two years of receiving government funding was not enough time, not even close to the amount of time needed to fix the woes of the west side.  In 1969 the war on gangs that Mayor Daley declared caused all gangs to be classified under one umbrella regardless of the actions of the individual organizations and the Vice Lords were swept under the same umbrella as the Black P Stone organization and the government looked to lesson what the Vice Lords could do accept for coming down to pay a visit to the Vice Lord open house or to chat for a while with CVL leaders, this was a grave mistake that only ended up costing our society dearly.

Even after 1969 when our city began to slowly turn their backs on CVL Inc the CVLs still kept trying to keep it going in the early 1970s and tried to keep up the goals that were laid forth beginning in 1964 but as time went on it became an impossibility and with the end of Alfonso Alford in 1974 CVL Inc came to an end.  The once popping 16^th Street full of CVL owned businesses guarded by sentries looking out for the community and helping anyone from the community that stopped by in need had turned into a desolate slum with several patches of vacant lots and old vacant buildings that once were full of smiling faces and dreams of progress now exchanged for bleak vacancy as dope peddlers now patrolled the streets as some even flash the “V” sign.  The sentries that once guarded the community affixed with berets now were replaced by sentries guarding dope spots. 16^th Street that was once full of strips of businesses were now torn down replaced by trash filled empty lots unsafe for small children.  This is the land CVL was left with as the organization now realized this was the fate that was to be accepted.

Sure, you can blame the community for allowing the conditions to deteriorate but what you must realize, it takes money to renovate and maintain a community.  You may see the trash littered on the streets of North Lawndale and shake your head, but you must understand that every community is bombarded with trash but communities that do not have a tax drain can clean those streets and maintain them.  You may shake your head at the dilapidated homes and abandoned buildings, but you must understand it costs money to renovate your home, money that many homeowners and landlords receive as loans but with redlining tactics certain neighborhoods are zoned with this red tape to not allow those loans.  Even though redlining is now illegal you can bet it still is done under the table and many know this but can’t prove it.  You may shake your head at the high unemployment of the residents of the west side of Chicago and scream to them “Get a job!” Even though there is some laziness in the community there are many if not most that want jobs badly but do not have the means to get that job due to geographical location.  Think about this, if a smaller employer or even mid-sized employer looks at an application and sees the location where the applicant is from, they may pass judgement secretly. This is a practice I myself have witnessed behind closed doors and using another excuse not to employ someone can cut through the red tape.   Many in these communities have been raised in a world that is lost on how to blend in with the outside society and will lack basic skills in interviewing, applications or even sometimes basic work ethic.  These behaviors are often classified as laziness but in reality, the desire to obtain employment is there.

I have witnessed over time how ex-gang members that even have multiple felonies rehabilitate themselves and obtain decent employment.  You may ask how do these former hard-core gang members obtain this type of living despite their background.  The answer is they often obtain those skills from two different methods.  One being rehabilitation programs from the penal institutions as tax dollars pay for inmates to receive these programs.  It is sad that these men need to do time to receive this type of training that isn’t often offered in their communities.  The second method is straight out being in a gang.  Yes, being in a gang can help these men learn job training skills.  You may think I’m crazy saying this but within the older and sometimes harder and more organized element of the gang, high ranking heads teach other members how to obtain employment or perhaps they simply use connections they have through organized crime syndicates or connections through the city to help get others jobs.  Many times, the jobs are a guise to conceal illegal activities just like how the syndicates have done for years.  The practice of gangs helping youths or younger gang members obtain employment by methods ranging from teaching them how to create a resume, interviewing skills, work ethic all the way up to connections has been a practice since the 1960s.  The Vice Lords especially got heavily involved in helping members obtain employment and even fought for more opportunities in the city in the late 1960s, which was one of the biggest goals of the L.S.D coalition as they marched on the city demanding equality.  This is how the Vice Lords had become a valuable asset to the west side of Chicago but on the downside some Vice Lords only have chosen many of the evils of society to engage with such as selling drugs and shooting but often that cycles many Vice Lords through the penal system to get job training skills and G.E.Ds or get connected within the syndicate element of the VLN that can teach young Lords to fit into the rest of society in order to conduct more serious nation business.

As you see, the Vice Lords are a product of a neighborhood where gangs controlled everything and divided the neighborhood making youths have a hard time using all the public facilities as this gang controlled that and this gang controlled this.  The Vice Lords set forth to conquer everything and everyone so the Vice Lords could have it all for their members, this eventually morphed into a philanthropy that set out to fulfill the needs of the whole community then eventually the whole west side that was not just geared for Vice Lords to benefit from.  The long-term goals were to eventually help the whole balck community city-wide and then eventually help people of all color in dire situations all over the city as well.  Even though this all seemed to fall into dissaray many Vice Lord leaders are still law-abiding men that preach to the young about being productive men and women and living by the old doctrine. The spirit has not completely died in the VLN it is just not in the newspaper and not talked about or barely funded because we have been informed that the VLN has the goals to kill and sell drugs, which is a blanket statement and generalization without hearing out what the many elder spokesmen have in mind.

I highly recommend the book “A Nation of Lords” written by David Dawley as he did an autobiography on the stories told to him in the words of the founders and original leaders like Peppilow Perry.  These are their words that I have interpreted and used as a reference to build up the nation history from the start.  I have also done extensive research piecing together articles and court cases to bring you the histories to the best of my knowledge.  I also have been told many street stories (my favorite reference) to intertwine it with the articles and court cases.  I hope that you as the reader can gather a better understanding about what the Vice Lords have built and what their true goals are despite the harsh roads many factions and individual members have chosen.

The Vice Lord nation has spread all over the United States and has rooted itself heavily in all the Chicagoland suburbs, even in mostly white and affluent suburbs.  I hear about it all the time of middle-class families complaining their children joined a gang and you can see it in suburbs like Naperville, Westmont, Downers Grove or Villa Park; young white boys screaming out “Vice Lord!” as they sometimes wreak havoc.  This was something that was warned about long ago by one of the Vice Lord original members Kenneth “Goat” Parks.  Parks warned, and I quote him, “They gonna wake up one morning and there gonna stand the dragon.  You know, spittin’ that fire, and they gonna be throwin’ the buckets of water, but it’s gonna be too late.”  This is a quote from the A Nation of Lords and in the next chapter of the book they expand on that dragon spitting that fire is smoking crack cocaine, is gang members shooting automatic weapons with the police outnumbered and parents fearing for the safety of their children.  This is all a product of the 1980s drug craze that bleded into the present day as gang members found the best way to make the money was to go out on your own and get it as now there was no waiting for the government to cooperate with CVL Inc or any other organization as that was pulled back during the war on gangs.  The kids in the suburbs have eyes and ears and hear all about the bravado on the west side and want to be a part of the nation of Vice Lords or any other of the gangs that are doing the same gangbanging as many of the youths in the city are misguided and often dirt poor and surrounded by negativity.  Now, that young suburban middle-class kid will pick up a gun and join the nations that originally had nothing to do with them or didn’t even want them in the old days.  Now they can be of use, to help move drugs through suburban outposts or to break into homes and steal firearms for organizational use or for trade.  The dragon’s fire has spread as the needs were not met in the old days and the west side ghettos were left to stand on their own.

Known decks of Vice Lords past and present:

Albany Park neighborhood 1990s -present years

Decks of Albany Park

Argyle to Lawrence, Lawndale to Central Park Ave

Central Park & Leland (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Argyle & Kedzie

Carmen & Spaulding

Argyle & Spaulding

Wilson & Hamlin (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Monticello & Leland (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Auburn-Gresham neighborhood

Decks of Auburn-Gresham

Sangamon from 77th to 79th (CuttaGang)

79th & Seeley

82nd to 83rd, Morgan to Green (3rd Ward)

78th & Carpenter

79th from Hoyne to Winchester (Terror Dome)

Austin neighborhood, established 1968

Decks of Austin

Cortland to Wabansia, Central to Long (C4 Mob)

Jackson to Harrison, Lockwood to Leamington

Gladys & Central (Former Outlaw Lunatic Traveling Vice Lords)

Jackson & Lockwood

Central Ave from Monroe to Gladys (VL City, shared with Traveling Vice Lords)

North Ave & Lorel

Chicago Ave & Laramie

North Ave & Vine (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers, Neighborhood Commons)

Austin & Madison

Back of the Yards neighborhood Early 2000s-present years

Decks of Back of the Yards

54th to 55th, Winchester to Wolcott (Tytoland)

51st& Laflin

Calumet Heights neighborhood

Decks of Calumet Heights

87th & Jeffrey

91st & Colfax

Chatham neighborhood

Decks of Chatham

89th to 89th Place, Langley to Cottage Grove (Nuke Side)

Clearing neighborhood

Decks of Clearing

61st & Neenah

Edgewater neighborhood

Decks of Edgewater

Clark & Thorndale

Clark & Ridge

Englewood neighborhood

Decks of Englewood

74th to 75th, Aberdeen to Racine

Gage Park neighborhood, established 1997-present years

Decks of Gage Park

57th & Artesian (Ace Block/Boogie World) Established 1997

Garfield Ridge neighborhood, established 1979-2011

Decks of Garfield Ridge

49th & Lockwood

52nd & Lockwood

Mafia Insane Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords-43rd to 47th, Cicero to Lavergne (Leclaire Courts projects shared with Four Corner Hustlers, 43rd and Cicero was 4CH and CVL, 45th and Leclaire was MIVL and CVL, South End Conservatives) Established 1979-2011

Grand Boulevard, established 1981

Decks of Grand Boulevard

Conservative Vice Lords and Mafia Insane Vice Lords-44th & Evans (Washington Park projects)

Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, established 1981-present years

Decks of Greater Grand Crossing

76th & Ellis

74th to 76th, Martin Luther King Dr to Ingleside (KTS, formerly know as 5th City)

Kenwood neighborhood

Decks of Kenwood

47th from Ellis to Drexel (The Low End)

Lincoln Park neighborhood

Decks of Lincoln Park

Clybourn & Sheffield

Marshall Square neighborhood 90s-present years

Decks of Marshall Square

25th to 26th, California to Rockwell (Lawndale Gardens projects shared with Black P Stones)  90s-present years

Morgan Park neighborhood

Decks of Morgan Park

107th & Racine

Near North Side neighborhood, Established 1962-present years

Section of the Near North Side

Evergreen to Goethe, Cleveland to Sedgwick

North Ave & Vine (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Hudson & Evergreen (Marshall Field Apartments) Established 1985-present years

500-502 Oak Street, Oak & Hudson (Cabrini Green) Established 1962-1998

Near West Side neighborhood, Established 1960-present years

Decks of the Near West Side

Lake & Wood (Henry Horner projects, The Hornets, shared with Four Corner Hustlers) Established 1960-2010

Madison & Rockwell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Four Corner Hustlers and Renegade Vice Lords) Established 1960-2006

Jackson & Campbell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Four Corner Hustlers and Renegade Vice Lords) Established 1960-2006

Noble Square (West Town) neighborhood 90s, 2000s

Decks of Noble Square

Milwaukee to Division & Noble (Noble Square Cooperative apartments, Gangster Lords, shared with Gangster Disciples) 90s, 2000s

North Center neighborhood Established 1992-2011

Decks of North center

Diversey & Clybourn (Lathrop projects) Established 1992-2011

North Lawndale neighborhood, Established 1958-present years

Decks of North Lawndale

21st & Trumbull (No Worse)

16th to Cermak, Pulaski to Homan (Holy City) Established 1958-present years

Ogden to Cermak, Central Park Ave to Trumbull (No Worse)

Roosevelt from Francisco to Mozart

Roosevelt & Sacramento

Conservative Vice Lords and Undertaker Vice Lords-16th from Kedvale to Komensky

19th & Avers

19th & Ridgeway

21st & Hamlin

21st & Homan

Cermak & Millard

Pullman neighborhood

Sections of Pullman

100th to 101st and Cottage Grove (London Towne, shared with Black P Stones)

Riverdale neighborhood, Established 1981-present years

Decks of Riverdale

Conservative Vice Lords and Traveling Vice Lords-130th to 133rd, Langley to Corliss (Altgeld Gardens projects) Established 1979-present years

River West (West Town) neighborhood, established 1998 as Ebony Vice Lords-2010s

Decks of River West

Augusta & Willard (Former Ebony Vice Lord turf) Established 1998-2010s

Roseland neighborhood, Established 1976-present years

Decks of Roseland

107th to 108th, Parnell to Stewart (Lordsville)

112th to 113th, Stewart to Wentworth (Aero City)

107th & Champlain (share with Four Corner Hustlers)

107th & Eggleston

112th & Perry

111th & Michigan

South Chicago neighborhood, Established 1981-present years

Decks of South Chicago

81st to 83nd, Muskegon to Exchange (Triple Bs)

84th to 86th, Escanaba to Commercial (Deathrow)

81st & Manistee (shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

82nd & Escanaba

83rd & Burnham

82nd & Escanaba (shared with Black P Stones)

83rd & Peoria (3rd Ward)

South Deering neighborhood Established 1981-2000s

Decks of South Deering

107th & Bensely (Trumbull Park projects) Established 1980-2000s

Uptown neighborhood Established 1969-present years

Decks of Uptown

Sunnyside to Hutchinson, Sheridan to Clarendon (Uptown Lords)

Wilson to Montrose, Broadway to Clarendon (Uptown Lords) Established 1969-present years

Agatite & Hazel Established 1969-present years

Windsor & Hazel (shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Conservative Vice Lords and Traveling Vice Lords-Leland & Magnolia

Washington Heights neighborhood E

Decks of Washington Heights

Conservative Vice Lords-91st to 93rd, Laflin to Loomis (Macheteville)

West Englewood neighborhood Established 1981-present years

Decks of West Englewood

55th to 58th, Hamilton to Damen (Lordsville/Chrisville)

Winchester from 59th to 60th (June Town/J-Town)

71st & Winchester

74th & Racine

63rd & Wolcott

West Garfield Park neighborhood 

Decks of West Garfield Park

Madison to Harrison, Kilbourn to Kostner

West Humboldt Park neighborhood Established 1975-present years

Decks of West Humboldt Park

Augusta to Chicago, Karlov to Pulaski

Crystal to Grand, Homan to Kedzie

Chicago to Ohio, Hamlin to Central Park Ave (CCG)

Huron to Kinzie, Pulaski to Hamlin

Evergreen & Homan

Division & Lawndale

Iowa & Springfield

Conservative Vice Lords (Former Insane Vice Lord territory)-Chicago Ave from Keystone to Lawndale (The Ave)

Conservative Vice Lords and Unknown Vice Lords-Chicago Ave from Homan to Kedzie (The Ave)

Chicago Ave from Pulaski to Lawndale (Bogus Side shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Chicago & Lawndale

Unknown Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords-Chicago Ave from Homan to Kedzie

West Pullman neighborhood 

Decks of West Pullman

117th & Normal

Wicker Park (West Town) established Established 1962-present years

Decks of Wicker Park

Evergreen to Crystal, Leavitt to Hoyne (Eastville, shared with Black P Stones) Established 1962-2010s

 

Suburbs

Addison

Arlington Heights 1985

Aurora Established 1980

Bellwood

Blue Island

Bolingbrook Established 1980

Bloomington

Burbank

Calumet City

Champaign

Chicago Heights

Cicero

Danville

Decatur

Dolton

East St. Louis

East Chicago, Ind

Elgin

Evanston

Evergreen Park

Ford Heights

Galesburg

Gary, Indiana

Glen Ellyn

Glendale Heights

Hammond, IND

Harvey

Hoffman Estates

Joliet Established 1980 for CVL

Justice

Kankakee

Maywood Established 1980

Normal

Oak Park

Ottawa

Peoria

Rockford

Riverdale, IL

Robbins

Skokie

Summit-Argo

Waukegan 1980

Westmont

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           

Known decks of Vice Lords past and present:

Albany Park neighborhood 1990s -present years

Decks of Albany Park

Argyle to Lawrence, Lawndale to Central Park Ave

Central Park & Leland (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Argyle & Kedzie

Carmen & Spaulding

Argyle & Spaulding

Wilson & Hamlin (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Monticello & Leland (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Auburn-Gresham neighborhood

Decks of Auburn-Gresham

Sangamon from 77^th to 79^th (CuttaGang)

79^th & Seeley

82^nd to 83^rd, Morgan to Green (3^rd Ward)

78^th & Carpenter

79^th from Hoyne to Winchester (Terror Dome)

Austin neighborhood, established 1967

Decks of Austin

Cortland to Wabansia, Central to Long (C4 Mob)

Jackson to Harrison, Lockwood to Leamington

Gladys & Central (Former Outlaw Lunatic Traveling Vice Lords)

Jackson & Lockwood

Central Ave from Monroe to Gladys (VL City, shared with Traveling Vice Lords)

North Ave & Lorel

Chicago Ave & Laramie

North Ave & Vine (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers, Neighborhood Commons)

Austin & Madison

Back of the Yards neighborhood

Decks of Back of the Yards

54^th to 55^th, Winchester to Wolcott (Tytoland)

51^st& Laflin

Calumet Heights neighborhood

Decks of Calumet Heights

87^th & Jeffrey

91^st & Colfax

Chatham neighborhood

Decks of Chatham

89^th to 89^th Place, Langley to Cottage Grove (Nuke Side)

Clearing neighborhood

Decks of Clearing

61^st & Neenah

Edgewater neighborhood

Decks of Edgewater

Clark & Thorndale

Clark & Ridge

Englewood neighborhood

Decks of Englewood

74^th to 75^th, Aberdeen to Racine

Gage Park neighborhood, established 1997

Decks of Gage Park

57^th & Artesian (Ace Block/Boogie World) Established 1997

Garfield Ridge neighborhood, established 1979-2011

Decks of Garfield Ridge

49^th & Lockwood

52^nd & Lockwood

Mafia Insane Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords-43^rd to 47^th, Cicero to Lavergne (Leclaire Courts projects shared with Four Corner Hustlers, 43^rd and Cicero was 4CH and CVL, 45^th and Leclaire was MIVL and CVL, South End Conservatives) Established 1979-2011

Grand Boulevard, established 1979

Decks of Grand Boulevard

Conservative Vice Lords and Mafia Insane Vice Lords-44^th & Evans (Washington Park projects)

Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, established 1979

Decks of Greater Grand Crossing

76^th & Ellis

74^th to 76^th, Martin Luther King Dr to Ingleside (KTS, formerly know as 5^th City)

Kenwood neighborhood, established 1979

Decks of Kenwood

47^th from Ellis to Drexel (The Low End)

Lincoln Park neighborhood

Decks of Lincoln Park

Clybourn & Sheffield

Marshall Square neighborhood 90s-present years

Decks of Marshall Square

25^th to 26^th, California to Rockwell (Lawndale Gardens projects shared with Black P Stones)  90s-present years

Morgan Park neighborhood

Decks of Morgan Park

107^th & Racine

Near North Side neighborhood, Established 1962-present years

Section of the Near North Side

Evergreen to Goethe, Cleveland to Sedgwick

North Ave & Vine (Shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Hudson & Evergreen (Marshall Field Apartments) Established 1962-present years

500-502 Oak Street, Oak & Hudson (Cabrini Green) Established 1962-1998

Near West Side neighborhood, Established 1960-present years

Decks of the Near West Side

Lake & Wood (Henry Horner projects, The Hornets, shared with Four Corner Hustlers) Established 1960-2010

Madison & Rockwell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Four Corner Hustlers and Renegade Vice Lords) Established 1960-2006

Jackson & Campbell (Rockwell Gardens projects, shared with Four Corner Hustlers and Renegade Vice Lords) Established 1960-2006

Noble Square (West Town) neighborhood 90s, 2000s

Decks of Noble Square

Milwaukee to Division & Noble (Noble Square Cooperative apartments, Gangster Lords, shared with Gangster Disciples) 90s, 2000s

North Center neighborhood Established 1992-2011

Decks of North center

Diversey & Clybourn (Lathrop projects) Established 1992-2011

North Lawndale neighborhood, Established 1958-present years

Decks of North Lawndale

21^st & Trumbull (No Worse)

16^th to Cermak, Pulaski to Homan (Holy City) Established 1958-present years

Ogden to Cermak, Central Park Ave to Trumbull (No Worse)

Roosevelt from Francisco to Mozart

Roosevelt & Sacramento

Conservative Vice Lords and Undertaker Vice Lords-16^th from Kedvale to Komensky

19^th & Avers

19^th & Ridgeway

21^st & Hamlin

21^st & Homan

Cermak & Millard

Pullman neighborhood

Sections of Pullman

100^th to 101^st and Cottage Grove (London Towne, shared with Black P Stones)

Riverdale neighborhood, Established 1979-present years

Decks of Riverdale

Conservative Vice Lords and Traveling Vice Lords-130^th to 133^rd, Langley to Corliss (Altgeld Gardens projects) Established 1979-present years

River West (West Town) neighborhood, established 1998 as Ebony Vice Lords-2010s

Decks of River West

Augusta & Willard (Former Ebony Vice Lord turf) Established 1998-2010s

Roseland neighborhood, Established 1979-present years

Decks of Roseland

107^th to 108^th, Parnell to Stewart (Lordsville)

112^th to 113^th, Stewart to Wentworth (Aero City)

107^th & Champlain (share with Four Corner Hustlers)

107^th & Eggleston

112^th & Perry

111^th & Michigan

South Chicago neighborhood, Established 1979-present years

Decks of South Chicago

81^st to 83^nd, Muskegon to Exchange (Triple Bs)

84^th to 86^th, Escanaba to Commercial (Deathrow)

81^st & Manistee (shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

82^nd & Escanaba

83^rd & Burnham

82^nd & Escanaba (shared with Black P Stones)

83^rd & Peoria (3^rd Ward)

South Deering neighborhood Established 1980-2000s

Decks of South Deering

107^th & Bensely (Trumbull Park projects) Established 1980-2000s

Uptown neighborhood Established 1969-present years

Decks of Uptown

Sunnyside to Hutchinson, Sheridan to Clarendon (Uptown Lords)

Wilson to Montrose, Broadway to Clarendon (Uptown Lords) Established 1969-present years

Agatite & Hazel Established 1969-present years

Winsor & Hazel (shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Conservative Vice Lords and Traveling Vice Lords-Leland & Magnolia

Washington Heights neighborhood Established 1979-present years

Decks of Washington Heights

Conservative Vice Lords-91^st to 93^rd, Laflin to Loomis (Macheteville)

West Englewood neighborhood Established 1979-present years

Decks of West Englewood

55^th to 58^th, Hamilton to Damen (Lordsville/Chrisville)

Winchester from 59^th to 60^th (June Town/J-Town)

71^st & Winchester

74^th & Racine

63^rd & Wolcott

West Garfield Park neighborhood Established 1964-present years

Decks of West Garfield Park

Madison to Harrison, Kilbourn to Kostner

West Humboldt Park neighborhood Established 1976-present years

Decks of West Humboldt Park

Augusta to Chicago, Karlov to Pulaski

Crystal to Grand, Homan to Kedzie

Chicago to Ohio, Hamlin to Central Park Ave (CCG)

Huron to Kinzie, Pulaski to Hamlin

Evergreen & Homan

Division & Lawndale

Iowa & Springfield

Conservative Vice Lords (Former Insane Vice Lord territory)-Chicago Ave from Keystone to Lawndale (The Ave)

Conservative Vice Lords and Unknown Vice Lords-Chicago Ave from Homan to Kedzie (The Ave)

Chicago Ave from Pulaski to Lawndale (Bogus Side shared with Four Corner Hustlers)

Chicago & Lawndale

Unknown Vice Lords and Conservative Vice Lords-Chicago Ave from Homan to Kedzie

West Pullman neighborhood 

Decks of West Pullman

117^th & Normal

Wicker Park (West Town) established Established 1962-present years

Decks of Wicker Park

Evergreen to Crystal, Leavitt to Hoyne (Eastville, shared with Black P Stones) Established 1962-2010s

 

Suburbs

Addison

Arlington Heights

Aurora Established 1980

Bellwood

Blue Island

Bolingbrook Established 1980

Bloomington

Burbank

Calumet City

Champaign

Chicago Heights

Cicero

Danville

Decatur

Dolton

East St. Louis

East Chicago, Ind

Elgin

Evanston

Evergreen Park

Ford Heights

Galesburg

Gary, Indiana

Glen Ellyn

Glendale Heights

Hammond, IND

Harvey

Hoffman Estates

Joliet Established 1980 for CVL

Justice

Kankakee

Maywood Established 1980

Normal

Oak Park

Ottawa

Peoria

Rockford

Riverdale, IL

Robbins

Skokie

Summit-Argo

Waukegan

Westmont