Editing Gangster Disciples (section)

== History ==
The origins of the Gangster Disciples began in [[Englewood, Chicago|Englewood]] (in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]'s [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]]) in [[1964]], when then 13-year-old Larry 'The King' Hoover joined a small street gang called the 'Supreme Gangsters'. For years, the Supreme Gangsters had an outstanding war with the Black Disciples Nation, led by David Barksdale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Gangster Disciples |url=http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/BGD/bgdnhistory.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031206035544/http://www.gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/BGD/bgdnhistory.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=December 6, 2003 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=gangresearch.net}}</ref> In 1969, Hoover and Barksdale agreed to a [[ceasefire]]. This resulted in the creation of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Gangster Disciple Nation |url=https://www.chicagoganghistory.com/alliance/black-gangster-disciple-nation/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=Chicago Gang History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2017 |title=Black Gangster Disciples Nation |url=https://unitedgangs.com/black-gangster-disciples-nation/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> By the early 1970s, the BGDN dominated the Chicago gang scene. Barksdale died of kidney failure in 1974, at the age of 27.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1, 2018 |title=David Barksdale (1947–1974) • |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/barksdale-david-1947-1974/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> Following his death, Hoover assumed full control of the Black Gangster Disciples.

=== Folks Nation ===
{{See also|Folk Nation}}
In 1978, the BGDN began to splinter into three distinct factions: Black Gangsters, Black Disciples and Gangster Disciples; however, Hoover (at the time incarcerated on murder charges) prevented it by quickly setting up an alliance of all street and prison gangs in his interest into one family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=George |title=Gang Threat Analysis: The Black Disciples |url=https://www.ngcrc.com/ngcrc/bdprofile.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118123603/https://www.ngcrc.com/ngcrc/bdprofile.html |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=National Gang Crime Research Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Folk Nation |url=https://www.chicagoganghistory.com/alliance/folk-nation/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=Chicago Gang History |language=en-US}}</ref>

The alliance consisted of Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Satan Disciples, [[Maniac Latin Disciples|Latin Disciples]], [[Spanish Gangster Disciples]], Ambrose, Two-One Boys, Two-Two Boys, Two-Sixers/Two-Six Boys, [[Simon City Royals]], North Side Insane [[Popes (gang)|Popes]], [[La Raza Nation|La Raza]], [[Spanish Cobras]], Imperial Gangsters, Harrison Gents, and the [[Latin Eagles]].

=== Expansions ===
The Gangster Disciples are active in over 100 cities and 50 states, predominantly in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] and [[Southeastern United States]], and remnants also maintain a significant presence in the U.S. [[prison]] system.<ref name="The Gangster Disciples" /><ref name="Cartels and Gangs in Chicago" /> The gang had between approximately 50,000 and 90,000 members.<ref name="doj1">{{cite web|title=National Gang Threat Assessment 2009 – Appendix B. Street Gangs |url=https://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs32/32146/appb.htm |publisher=National Gang Intelligence Center |date=January 2009 |access-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228194543/http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs32/32146/appb.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The gang had expanded through the North and [[West Side, Chicago|West Sides]] of Chicago, as well as [[Indianapolis]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], [[Detroit]], [[Milwaukee]], [[Cincinnati]], [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]], and co-founder Hoover's birthplace of [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]]. They first emerged in significant numbers in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] in the 1980s, the first modern street gang to do so.<ref>[http://www.covingtontn.com/gang-task-force.html Gang Task Force] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305130226/http://www.covingtontn.com/gang-task-force.html|date=March 5, 2021}} covingtontn.com</ref><ref>[https://www.wdam.com/story/35935119/on-your-side-investigation-the-city-of-hattiesburgs-gang-problem/ On Your Side Investigation: The City of Hattiesburg's gang problem]</ref>

=== Splintering of the Black Disciples ===
In 1989, Hoover's attention of the Black Gangster Disciples began to die down as he focused solely on the Gangster Disciples, enraging parts of the BGDN's subsets and the Folk Nation.<ref name=":0" /> Members of the Black Disciples decided to splinter from the Black Gangster Disciples, resulting in the reinvention of the original gang name and the incorporation of the new Gangster Disciples. Other members who felt disrespected by Hoover's declining orders decided to get his attention again by instigating gang-related shootings toward the new GD's.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pick |first=Grant |date=June 9, 1994 |title=Once a Gangbanger |url=http://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/once-a-gangbanger/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago Gang War Stories |url=http://www.nealirc.org/Chicago/GangWarStories.html |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=www.nealirc.org}}</ref> Two noted shootings that related to the dispute between the two Disciple gangs was a drug-related shooting that killed some members of the Gangster Disciples and the 1991 revenge murder of Black Disciple leader Mickey "Bull" Johnson.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Black Disciples |url=https://www.chicagoganghistory.com/gang/black-disciples/ |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=Chicago Gang History |language=en-US}}</ref>