As families got settled and some reported a better life in the 1920s it brought more families until a lull happened in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The paper began circulation in 1916 and sparked the third wave of black migration which also became the first big wave. Blacks had been migrating from the south to Chicago since the 1860s but there was not much of a call for blacks to take the risk and travel up to Chicago until the Chicago Defender newspaper began sending issues of their paper down south informing black families about the success that some black families experienced after moving. There was not much representation for the black community in these years but there was plenty of representation for the white southerners in favor of these harsh treatments including the Ku Klux Klan that often roamed through shantytowns that blacks lived in and enforced these Jim Crown laws harshly. Blacks also often had to rent from slum lords that legally could neglect property and leave living conditions in shambles. This forced many blacks to work in jobs that whites didn’t want because of the very low pay and harsh working conditions. Employers could legally discriminate against hiring blacks and many Jim Crow laws even forbid blacks from owning their own property. Everywhere in the United States there was racism and hatred toward blacks but in the south, it was much more obvious as there were actual laws that explicitly commanded that blacks should remain segregated.

In the southern United States jobs were a lot scarcer for black families and many were still living in extreme poverty without many essentials like plumbing, adequate housing or even clean water to drink at times. In the early 1940s Skeiks and Shebas had migrated to the Maxwell Street Market area of the Near West Side neighborhood to assist newly arrived black southerners facing terrible discrimination as they settled along Halsted Street.īeginning in the very early 1940s, a new surge of black migration came to Chicago as the war industry opened up several jobs for Americans. These two gangs often acted as syndicates and fought against other black gangs or even white gangs. The oldest significant black street gangs in Chicago were the “Dirty Sheiks” and the “Wailing Shebas” that date back to deep into the early 20 th century before the year 1927 on the south side of Chicago. Many say the Vice Lords have origins that date all the way back to the 1940s, however, this does not mean any part of the nation was founded back in the 40s, it just means that members of older gangs ended up flipping to Vice Lords in later years and that many of the goals of the older gangs intertwined with the development of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation. What needs to be understood is there was barely any opportunity for black youths on the west side of Chicago and there was often only one way to go. The Vice Lords were positive for the North Lawndale community and had a very positive impact on the youth during this time period. There was a time in history where our country had faith in the Vice Lords and even offered assistance as a result, something positive and marvelous developed from it that helped west side youths live better lives.

Many think it is all about drugs and money but the real cause for the nation is not about drugs and money or not even about violence, but this is the behavior that often results from membership but the nation itself does not condone violence and criminal activity. The Vice Lord nation has grown so powerful because of the goals the nation has tried to accomplish over time. The Vice Lord nation is one of the largest gangs in the United States with chapters in every state in the nation and almost every city and town in this country. Playboy Bunny, Cane, Top Hat, Martini Glass, and Pyramid By Edwin Marion Perry, Toehold, Bobby Bonds, Ernest Wren, and Leonard Callowayīlack and gold 1958-present Black and red 1978-present

Unknown vice lord lit