Ebony Vice Lords

I am not entirely clear of how the Clay brothers ended up hooking into the Vice Lord nation but one thing for sure is the Clay family moved to the far east side of the River West community in the year 1968 at the address 933 North Willard Court.  This was in between the intersection of Willard Court and Augusta and Willard and Milwaukee Ave.  I am not completely positive that this is where the Ebony Vice Lords began but I would say it is extremely likely because Artur Clay is the founder of the Ebony Vice Lords and he was only 14 years old which is the very youngest age any Vice Lord has become founder of a branch.  I personally believe Artur Clay joined the Vice Lords in a different neighborhood before the family moved to Willard Court and was part of another VL branch.  I also cannot even say for sure if Artur Clay started this branch in the year 1968 but I can say it is very possible because this was perhaps the first time Vice Lords had settled in this area.  There was a Vice Lord section nearby in the Cabrini Green projects and there was a group of CVLs in nearby Wicker Park at Evergreen and Hoyne so the Clay’s could find fellow VLs not far away.

I do believe this Vice Lord branch began at Willard and Augusta as soon as the Clay family settled in the area they created it.  I have heard once that the original name was the “Harlem Mafia Vice Lords” but I can’t confirm that, nor have I ever found any evidence to support that.  I don’t believe they were ever called Harlem Mafia Vice Lords, I think they have always been Ebony Vice Lords since day one and that first day was in 1968.  David Clay Senior, who was 38 years old when the family moved on Willard Court and he became a landlord that owned the 933 N. Willard building.  He would eventually purchase four other buildings at the Augusta and Willard intersection and became the landlord.  David Senior was a known drug dealer by police, and this is how his sons got involved in the business.  Roosevelt Clay was 13 years old back in 1968 and was a co-founder alongside his brother and so was the eldest brother David Clay who was 16 years old at the time.  Melvin Clay was 8 years old at the time and perhaps was brought right into the nation alongside his brothers.  Two other brothers were Eddie Clay and Harold Clay, but I have no information on them.  This Vice Lord faction whether it was named Harlem Mafia Vice Lords or Ebony Vice Lords was approved by Vice Lord Supreme Chief Samuel “Madhi” Smith.

The Overall Vice Lord nation was making positive changes on the west side of Chicago, but Cabrini Green and West Town Vice Lords were not near these areas and were doing their own thing which sometimes involved dealing drugs and this was what the Clay family was involved in since at least 1968.

The Clay brothers also were heavily involved in armed robberies as they traveled the Chicago area and even into Indiana and Michigan for robberies.  A big incident happened on April 25, 1975 where brothers Roosevelt Clay and David Clay were asked by Frank Love to do a favor for a friend of his.  The favor was for a Delores Townsend who was a recently fired office manager at the doctor office of Doctor Lawrence Gluckman.  Townsend wanted Love to find people to kidnap Dr. Gluckman to obtain a ransom and that is when Love consulted with David Clay.  David Clay then made the plans with some other men and Roosevelt Clay walked in on the meeting and wanted in it all according to court documents.  When the men arrived at Gluckman’s office at 2409 W. Warren Ave they demanded Gluckman get in the vehicle as they held him at gunpoint, Gluckman refused because of his heart condition so the men forced him into the vehicle into the trunk alongside two of his female patients.  The men then went for a ride and when they arrived at their destination, they found that Gluckman had died of a heart attack.  The plan had then gone south and didn’t go according to plan.  Since the plan failed, they needed to execute both the women and that’s when Willie Carter said to the women, “Which one of you bitches wanna die first?” then he shot both of them in the head execution style according to court documents.  The men were then arrested for these murders, but no convictions stuck at that time (Source: People vs. Clay).  Roosevelt Clay and David Clay were arrested a few months later for possible involvement in a different robbery/murder in South Bend Indiana that they were not convicted for.

In the year 1978, Melvin Clay joined in on the family drug game, or at least police began to identify him as a drug dealer at that time.  Melvin Clay would eventually become very pivotal in the Ebony Vice Lords in later years.

I have heard once before about an entity known as the “Gangster Stone Vice Lords” that supposedly existed in the 1980s.  Supposedly this branch of Vice Lords was tied in with the EVLs and this was the new name for a while and that a “Lord Casper” was somehow pivotal in this creation.  I have never found any evidence of a Lord Casper or the Gangster Stone Vice Lords.  I only saw the GSVLs listed once on a website long ago and there has been nothing since.  Only on Chicagogangs.org is there information on GSVL and I can say first hand, since I am the one who wrote what that site posted, that I was mistaken, and I can’t even recall where I got that info from anymore, but it was only one source. If I recall, the Chicagogang.org guy gave me the email he received on them and I ran with it.  I would ask the Chicagogangs.org guy to resend it again but he went M.I.A years ago. I do think there could have been a Gangster Stone Vice Lords, but I theorize it was an alliance built between Gangster Stones and Vice Lords but was never actually a gang, it was also obviously very short lived.

By the early 1980s, the EVLs had purchased a lot of the Willard Court block and they had an established headquarters at 937 N. Willard Court that was known by police.  Artur Clay was co-owner of the headquarters building and police witnessed drug trafficking day and night on the block.  It was also said that Ebony Vice Lords and Clay brothers had strong connections to Italian organized crime syndicates according to court documents.  In 1983, Roosevelt Clay was taken to jail and charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery then in 1985 he was convicted of murder for a murder committed in Wisconsin which got him put in prison until at least 2038.  According to court documents Roosevelt Clay used to work with infamous Chicago Outfit member Mike Switek as they dealt cocaine together (Source: People vs. Clay).

On December 18, 1984, the headquarters at 937 N. Willard was raided by Chicago police as Artur Clay was arrested for having an unregistered hand gun and marijuana.  Police raided the headquarters because they were tipped off that the buildings were used to sell drugs and stolen goods.

On September 14, 1988, the EVLs suffered a major blow as police raided all their properties.  By this time, Marvin Clay was running most of EVL operations while Roosevelt and Artur were in prison.  Marvin Clay now purchased 933 and 935 Willard Court at Willard and Augusta.  He also owned three building all at nearby Augusta and Racine from 1220 to 1226 w. Augusta.  Police said to the Chicago Tribune that sentries stood out day and night with walkie talkies and pagers guarding these buildings that were distrusting cocaine, marijuana and heroin.  In the article, it describes how the Clay family had been selling drugs in this area for 20 years and that Melvin Clay had been involved for 10 years and now was facing tax evasion charges.  On September 14^th David Clay Senior was arrested at 58 years old on cocaine and weapons charges at his home at Racine and Milwaukee.  The drug business was said to have brought in $30,000 a week and there were constantly people hanging out in front of the properties while the sentries guarded these establishments.  It seems clear that the Ebony Vice Lords were running the whole area in River West from just east of the Dan Ryan Expressway all the way to Halsted Street and up to Elston and Division.

In the 1990s, it seems as if the convictions of EVL leaders had taken their toll on the organization as now this branch of the Vice Lords was less talked about on the streets, however, the EVLs were not extinct and were still active at Augusta and Willard.  The offspring of the Clay brothers were now taking leadership especially Jerry Clay who was the son of one of the older Clay brothers.  Willard Court was still popping with EVLs and Jerry Clay was residing at 933 N. Willard and some EVLs lived at 929 N. Willard with their grandmother.  Jerry Clay and Roosevelt Clay Junior planned an armed robbery at 2303 S. Ashland Ave in Pilsen at a Currency Exchange according to court documents.  The robbery ended up not going all the way according to plan because one of the men, Tony Williams allegedly shot an armored truck guard point blank in the head killing him instantly then took all the money he was carrying.  The Clay’s apparently objected to the killing but Williams said he had to do according to court documents.  When convictions were handed down Roosevelt Clay Junior was charged with involvement in a murder while Tony Williams and Jerry Clay were charged with murder (Source: People vs. Clay).  After these convictions the Ebony Vice Lords seemed to have went extinct in Chicago as nothing more has ever been heard since the take down of leadership.  It appears they went extinct in 1998 after the robbery.

The Ebony Vice Lords were a family ran operation and with all family members being incarcerated it took away the core of this organization because it was so invested in the Clay family.  The territory in River West for EVLs was completely renovated in the 2000s decade and turned into upper class housing mostly for yuppies, thus, removing EVL turf.  The Ebony Vice Lords were perhaps one of the most hard-core Vice Lord factions in history and left quite a 30+ year legacy.

River West (West Town) neighborhood, established 1968 as Ebony Vice Lords-1998

Decks of River West

Ebony Vice Lords- Augusta on the north, Milwaukee Ave on the south, Elston on the east, Willard Court on the west (933-937 N. Willard Court) Established 1968-1998