Bloods

More than just a simple street gang, the Bloods started as a way to unite against the Crips and lead to a collection of gangs in Los Angeles, eventually growing into a nationwide organization.

In 1972, the Piru Street Boys in Compton, a street gang, had a conflict with the Crips which turned into a rumble in the street. The Piru Street Boys were outnumbered, and sought out protection with other gangs to combat the increasing amount of Crips. The Pirus, Brims, Athens Park Boys and Pueblos decided to unite against the Crips and formed the Bloods. These gangs stopped wearing blue bandanas, as that was the color of the Crips, and started wearing red as their symbol.

In 1993, the United Blood Nation was formed in the New York City prison system on Rikers Island. Throughout the early 90s, the Latin Kings was the most organized gang in system. This group, made up of mostly Hispanic members, were attacking African American inmates. A group of poeple decided to establish a defense to help out other African Americans. This group was a prison gang that emulated the street gang the Bloods.

The United Blood Nation set out to recruit people throughout New York City. The original Blood sets were the Mad Stone Villians, Valentine Bloods, Nine Trey Gangsters, Gangster Killer Bloods, One Eight Trey Bloods, Hit Squad Brims, Blood Stone Villains, and Sex, Money, and Murder. These gangs spread out across the country, and additional gangs joined under the name Blood.

The Bloods are less organized than the Crips. There are two distinct groups, the West Coast Bloods and the East Coast Bloods. This gang group is also more violent then the Crips, and their initiation rite is the slashing of a victim during a robbery.

In 2000, there was a meeting between the East and West Coast groups and a supposed unification took place. The unified gang refers to itself as Damu, which is Swahili for Blood.