| In | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Jeff Fort and Eugene Hairston |
| Years active | 1959-present |
| Territory | Chicago, Illinois |
| Ethnicity | African American |
| Membership | 30-42,000, in Chicago "Black P. Stone Nation (National)," National Gang Threat Assessment 2009, United States Department of Justice, January 2009.</ref> |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, murder |
| Allies | People Nation gangs, Vice Lords, Bloods, Latin kings, Zoe Pound Gang, Black Guerilla Family |
| Rivals | Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Folk Nation, Crips, Most Mexican/Hispanic Street Gangs,and white supremacist groups |
The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation (often abbreviated BPSN or BPS) is a Chicago-based street gang estimated to have more than 30,000 members. The gang was originally formed in the late 1950s as a civil rights organization called the Blackstone Rangers. In later years, an Islamic faction of the gang emerged, naming themselves the "El Rukn tribe of the Moorish Science Temple of America" (or simply El Rukn). The Blackstone Rangers' founder and 'religious leader' is Abdullah-Malik (born Jeff Fort).[1] The BPSN finances itself through a wide array of criminal activities and are part of the large Chicago gang alliance known as the People Nation.[2]
The Black P. Stones originated, and is based, in the South Side of Chicago in the Woodlawn neighborhood.[3] Their main rivals are the Gangster Disciples (GD), and to a lesser degree, the Black Disciples (BD).
Rivals include the entire Folk Nation alliance and white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Brotherhood. Their allies are the Vice Lords, Latin Kings and other People Nation gangs, Black Separatist groups, the Five Percenters, and Los Zetas. There are 7 BPS branches in Chicago: Gangster Stones, Jet Black Stones, Rubinite Stones, Familia Stones,Corner Stones, and Black P. Stones. All these branches have many factions.
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The Blackstone Rangers were founded at the St. Charles Institution for Troubled Youth by Jeff Fort and Eugene Hairston as a community organization for black youth in the Woodlawn area of South Chicago. In the 1960s they evolved into one of the most dangerous and powerful gangs in Chicago. Fort seized upon the gang's changed mission, renaming it the Black P. Stone Nation. He transformed the BPS into a black nationalistic group, and continued to involve the gang in street crime and drug trafficking.
BPSN founding member Eugene Hairston was incarcerated on drug charges on June 6, 1966,[4] and Fort was arrested for mismanagement of government grants totaling $927,000 from the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity in March 1972. Fort was released in the early 1980s, but was later re-incarcerated on drug charges. At some time in the 1980s, Fort converted to Islam and imbued the BPS with Islamic overtones. It was then that he adopted the name of Abdullah-Malik and the rank of "caliph."[5] Following meetings during 1986 with Libyan operatives from Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's government, Fort was charged with buying weapons to commit terrorist acts on behalf of the Libyan government. In 1987, Fort was tried and convicted for conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism by use of COINTELPRO type methods. He was sentenced to 80 years imprisonment and transferred to the USP Marion, the federal supermax prison in Marion, Illinois.[6][7][8] In 1988, Fort was also convicted of ordering the 1981 murder of a rival gang leader and was sentenced to 75 years in prison to be served after the completion of his terror conspiracy sentence.[9][10]
While Abdullah-Malik continues to exercise considerable influence over the BPSN from prison, the various Black Stones splinter groups suffer from rampant infighting without a clear leader. There are two major groups that have split with the BPSN. The Mickey Cobras were supporters of Mickey Cogwell, a co-founder of BPS killed by Jeff Fort. The Titanic Stones were supporters of Eugene Hairston who had a falling-out with Fort.
The Black P. Stone Nation now has a strong Islamic character, which can be attributed to the Moorish Science Temple of America. BPS first started to embrace Islam in the late 1970s when Jeff Fort was released from prison and changed his name. He also renamed the Black P. Stones as El Rukn. El Rukn adopted their Islamic principles from the Moorish Science Temple - also the forerunner of black Muslim groups such as the Nation of Islam and the Five Percenters. They take inspiration from the historic black African Moors who came from north and west Africa and conquered Iberia in the Middle Ages, and who were Muslims.
Even though Abdullah-Malik created an Islamic identity for BPS, nowadays that ideological underpinning is not solid. Although a significant number of Stones are Muslims, Islam now has little to do with the organization's day-to-day operations. The vast spreading of chapters throughout the United States has served to dilute any Islamic identity. Many Chicago based and influenced BPS in the Midwest, East Coast, and in the South embrace Islam, but just as many do not (especially BPS Bloods/Black Stone West). BPS Bloods/Black Stone West does not embrace Islam as it emerged in 1969, before Fort overhauled the mainstream BPS organization.
The Fort-Hairston schism left a significant number of groups adhering to Hairston's principles, and thus have no religious character. Belief in Islam is in many cases a prerogative of individual members. Most 'Stones' in the South don't personally acknowledge Islam, but many on the East Coast do, and in Chicago more than a quarter of BPS is Muslim. Islam has also brought negative attention from federal law enforcement because of BPS's ties to domestic and international Islamic terrorism. There were declared a threat to homeland security after the September 11 attacks. El Rukn has virtually no street presence any longer, with the religious/political body of the BPSN now existing as the Masjid Al Kabah under Abdullah-Malik and his Islamic clergy.