In April 1978, Black Gangster Disciple leader Larry Hoover organized a work stoppage among prisoners in Stateville prison. The reason for the stoppage was prisoners being served rotten food and overall being treated poorly. Most prisoners agreed with Larry Hoover even his rivals were on board. In the aftermath of the protest, Larry Hoover, the Black Gangster Disciples and their allies began to form an unofficial brotherhood behind bars. By 1979, this brotherhood now had a name called “Folks.” In 1980, this Folks brotherhood became official and was organized behind bars which caused issues for groups outside of this circle. Gangs within the Folks could now team up against the others. This brought Latin Kings, El Rukns, Black P Stones and Vice Lords together in their own loose coalition.
In 1981, the Folk alliance was to be spread to the streets and this is what prompted the allies against or not within Folks to make their own coalition official. The El Rukns were front runners of this new coalition in collaboration with Jeff Fort of the El Rukns. The El Rukns invited Black P Stones, Mickey Cobras, Vice Lords and Latin Kings to a get together/celebration in “The Fort” which was the headquarters of the El Rukns. The alliance was established at this meeting and Islamic doctrines were blended with Christianity beliefs to form the “People” alliance. The People alliance had a spiritual aspect to it.
The People Nation alliance has quite a bit less gangs so they made up for it by keeping their alliance tight all throughout the 1980s while the Folk Nation gangs started to engage in more Folk on Folk violence by the late 1980s in certain parts of the city. There were only small disagreements and skirmishes that the Latin Kings were involved in against the Insane Deuces, Latin Counts, Puerto Rican Stones and Ghetto Brothers Organization; however, the gangs were at peace the vast majority of the time until war broke out with Insane Deuces in 1989 that would never end. In 1990, war would break out between Latin Kings and Ghetto Brothers Organization.
By 1991, the Latin Kings were at war with the Latin Counts and as the decade progressed the Latin Kings were at war with many other People Nation gangs. Factions of Black P Stones, Vice Lords and Mickey Cobras began engaging in wars in certain parts of the city. Bishops and Latin Counts went into a bloody war in 1996 and eventually the People Nation became as fractured as the Folk Nation.
Below is a original complete list that I know of for the organizations that joined People in 1981:
Arch Dukes
Bishops
Black P Stones
Cullerton Deuces (Flipped to Folks in 1994)
El Rukns
Four Corner Hustlers (also declared part of Vice Lord nation while incarcerated)
Gaylords
Ghetto Brothers Organization/Yates Boys Organization
Insane Deuces (flipped to Folks in 1992)
Insane Popes (South Side)
Insane Unknowns
Latin Brothers
Latin Counts
Latin Dragons (Flipped to Folks in 1997)
Latin Kings
Mickey Cobras
Morgan Deuces
Noble Knights
Playboys
Puerto Rican Future Stones
Puerto Rican Stones
Spanish Lords
Spanish Vice Lords
Twelfth Street Players
Uptown Rebels
Vice Lords
Villa Lobos
Warlords
