The Crips: The African-American Social Movement

Imagine being famous living the American dream. Imagine being famous for the wrong reason. Imagine starting an organization to help the good of the African- American people, but then that organization becomes one of the biggest target in the eyes of police, and white America. Imagine having to take on the hatred of millions, with havoc and disaster being sparked out of the organization created for the good of the people. What was asked to be imagined has already happened right here in America. The Crips is one of America's largest black organizations. This gang initially was a part of an African-American social movement in 1969 that had a huge lasting impact on America in several ways. The Crips’ goals, actions, and influence all shaped America
The organization was built off of the ideas of the Black Panthers. The Black panthers were created in 1966, by Huey Newton to protect the black community from police brutality. The Crips, which stands for Community Resource for Independent People, was to carry out the same goal as the Black Panthers. The Crips organization was started around the time of the African-American civil rights movement, where blacks were being even more so oppressed then today's time. This explain the reasoning for why the black community needed protection from the Crips organization. Police brutality was a colossal issue then, as it still is today. The goals of the Crips were hindered because of the corrupt system within the U.S Government. Ever since the 13th amendment stated, “abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime”. The crime rate has been increasing tremendously. Before 1970, the men being sent to prison were around 200,000 (M.White 1). Now there are well over two million being sent to prison annually (M.White 1). America is the home country to 5% of the world population, but is responsible for 25% of the prison population (M.White 1). African American males make up 6% of the American population, yet they make up 40% of the prison population in America (M.White 1). The CSA profits 1.7 billion from the inmate's (M.White 1). Around the time of the 1970s, the
In 1970, there were 30,000 gang members in Crips or Blood, in LA alone. Crips are generally aligned with folk nation sets, Folks are other gang sets and this is another reason why Crips have so many members. The music industry exemplifies the lasting impact Crips have on America. Since the time Crips started till now, there has been thousands of famous rap artists, and celebrities that claim to be Crip. Gangster rap started around the mid 80’s era. It was used as a outlet for African American artists to show how they feel about police brutality. It also tells a relatable story of reality to African Americans. Rap groups protested through there music for an example NWA came out with a song called “F**k the police”. Artist such as Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, and Schoolboy Q, which are crip members themselves, promote Crip mentality behavior. One might assume the mentality to be extremely bad, but people are ignorant of the Crips history, and how their reputation was manipulated into what they are portrayed as. The Crip celebrities in America get a lot of attention, and have a huge influence on African American kids. With children looking up to Crip celebrities, it influences children to want to join the Crips. Children from ages 12- 18 become a part of the Crip organization for a number of other reasons as well.