The Black P. Stone East or Black Stone East are a group of individuals, often described by law enforcement as a large criminal street gang, operating on the East Coast of the United States that is a splinter group of the original Almighty Black P. Stones Nation (BPSN) based in Chicago.

History and Character

The Almighty Black P (Peace, Philosophy, People) Stone Nation traces its roots to the St. Charles state reform school in Chicago, Illinois during 1960, where it was formed by Eugene Hairston and Jeff Fort under the name Blackstone Rangers. This original group spread throughout the United States, resulting in numerous sub-sets, or families, that maintain loose cultural affiliations with the original Chicago gang while operating under individual leadership. The so-called Red Family is the revolution that is credited with creating the Black Stone East, with the acronym R.E.D. standing for "Revolution Enlightens us Deeply" or "Revolution Escapes Destruction". Later, the Red family (R.E.D. Revolution) expanded and developed into the BPS-East, with "East" meaning "Enlightenment About Stone Teachings". Although leadership tends to fluctuate, Abdul Geebil Wekundu Kaaba (an African-American Muslim) from Chicago is respected in the Red Family known as Black Stone East. It is alleged that he founded the east coast set of BPSN along with twenty other members he "enlightened" into the Stone teachings. The Black P Stone East are not part of the nationwide Bloods gang (unlike Black P Stone splinter groups in Los Angeles, who are Bloods), although they are both considered a part of the People Nation.<ref>The Black P Stones, Jungle and Bity subgroups who arrived to Los Angeles in the 1969, are considered part of the larger "Bloods" gang</ref>

On the east coast, Black P. Stone East members wear everything to the left and consider their gang as part of a larger religious movement. An accurate estimation of BSE activity has been difficult for law enforcement to determine, parcially because BSE are often confused as members of the Bloods gang which has established a large presence on the east coast in recent years. There are also brothers with the predominately Hispanic gang the Latin Kings, with whom they have an alliance and share the color yellow (gold).<ref>George W. Knox, Gang Profile Update, The Black P Stones</ref>

Two members of the BSE were arrested and charged for murder after a shoot out which resulted in the killing of five members of the Dominicans Don't Play (DDP) gang in New York. They were apprehended by New York police while driving a green Mazda, wearing red, yellow (gold), green, brown and black bandana's on their head, left pockets and left wrist also, red, black and green Islamic prayer beads. The practice of incorporating Islamic religious symbols and concepts has been a common phenomena among several African-American street gangs since the 1970s, many of whom were influenced by Malcolm X or the Nation of Islam. The majority of the original BPSN leadership from Chicago have assumed Muslim names and use Islamic rhetoric in their correspondences, despite engaging in criminal activity which contradicts orthodox Islamic theology.

Notes

<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>