Savage Skulls
FoundedDecember 12th 1969 Bronx, NY
Years active1969 to present
TerritoryHunts Point, Bronx, New York

The Savage Skulls are a mostly Puerto Rican and African American street gang started in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s.[1] The gang declared war on the drug dealers operating in the Hunts Point area in the early 1970s, and was also involved in a number of running battles with rival gangs, including the Seven Immortals, Savage Nomads, and Dirty Dozen.[citation needed]

The gang was photographed by Jean-Pierre Laffont in 1972[2] and were the subject of the 1979 documentary film 80 Blocks From Tiffany's.[3][4][5] The leader of the gang was Felipe Mercado.[6] Like the Savage Nomads, gang members would appropriate Nazi symbolism to project "how menacing and terrible they were." This included wearing swastikas, wearing Nazi helmets and having positions called "Gestapo" within the gang's ranks.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Savage Skulls 1972.
  2. ^ Jean-Pierre Laffont: The Savage Skulls (2015) at Glitterati Incorporated.com.
  3. ^ 1979, Gary Weis.
  4. ^ "AllMovie | Movies and Films Database | Movie Search, Ratings, Photos, Recommendations, and Reviews". allmovie.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  5. ^ Phanor-Faury, Alexandra (October 25, 2010). "Director Gary Weis on His Influential, Long-Lost Doc '80 Blocks from Tiffany's'". BlackBook. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012.
  6. ^ David Gonzalez, About New york, ex-gangster on the new path with advice. New York Times 18 October 1997.
  7. ^ Soraya Nadia McDonald (June 21, 2015). "Kanye West once wore the Confederate flag. What does he think about it now?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
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