| Founded | 1966 |
|---|---|
| In | US San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California |
| Founded by | George Jackson, W.L. Nolen |
| Years active | 1966 – present |
| Territory | Most US prisons |
| Ethnicity | African American |
| Membership | 50,000 |
| Criminal activities | Drug Trafficking,[1] Auto theft,[1] Burglary,[1], Homicide[1] |
| Allies | Nuestra Familia,[2][3] Bloods,[2] Crips,[2] Black Liberation Army, People Nation, Nation of Gods and Earths, Latin Kings[2] Symbionese Liberation Army,[2] Weather Underground,[2] Black P. Stones,[2] Gangster Disciples,[2] Black Disciples, Zoe Pound Gang,[2] United Blood Nation, La Raza Nation, KUMI 415,[3] D.C. Blacks, TAP Boyz, Nortenos, Wah Ching and Dead Man Incorporated |
| Rivals | Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Brotherhood,[2] Mexican Mafia, Surenos, Public Enemy No.1,[2] Texas Syndicate,[2] Mexikanemi[4] |
The Black Guerrilla Family (also known as the Black Family or the Black Vanguard) is a prison and street gang founded in 1966 by George Jackson and W.L. Nolen while they were incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco.[5]
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Inspired by Marcus Garvey, the Black Guerrilla Family was characterized as an ideologically based African-American Marxist revolutionary organization composed of prisoners. It was founded with the stated goals of eradicating racism, maintaining dignity in prison, and overthrowing the United States government.[5]
BGF was associated with a number of leftist groups, including the Black Liberation Army, Symbionese Liberation Army, and Weather Underground.[5] The group is strongly organized on both the East and West coasts, and cooperates with Zoe Pound Haitian Mafia, MS13, Latin Kings, the Bloods, the Crips, the Vice Lords, and the Gangster Disciples. Both Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood consider Black Guerrilla Family to be their main rival. Ten people reputedly BGF members were indicted in July, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland including a prison guard for various crimes committed in prison and on the streets. The Black Guerilla Family have a large population on the streets in Oakland, California and most recently Baltimore, and New York City. Black Guerrilla Family members wear colors black and grey. Black Guerrilla Family graffiti have been found as far south as Florida.[6]
On August 22, 1989, co-founder and leader of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, Huey P. Newton was fatally shot on the 1400 block of 9th street in West Oakland by 24-year-old Black Guerilla Family member, Tyrone Robinson.[7] Relations between Newton and factions within the Black Guerilla Family had been strained for nearly two decades. Former Black Panther members who became BGF members in jail had become disenchanted with Newton for his perceived abandonment of imprisoned Black Panther members and allegations of Newton's fratricide within the party. Newton was addicted to crack cocaine, and his extortion of local BGF drug dealers to obtain free drugs added to their animosity.[8]
Robinson was convicted of the murder in August 1991 and sentenced to 32 years for the crime.[9]
in 1979 former BGF lawyer Fay Stender was shot six times by recently paroled Black Guerrilla Family member Edward Glenn Brooks for what Brooks said was Stender’s betrayal of George Jackson. Brooks forced Stender to state: "I, Fay Stender, admit I betrayed George Jackson and the prison movement when they needed me most" just before he shot her.[10] Stender was left paralyzed below the waist and in constant pain by the assault and committed suicide in Hong Kong shortly after she testified against Brooks. [11]