Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs

by Johann Hari

That’s when a girl called L.A. approached Chino and told him he could be Blooded in—if he was prepared to work for it. Chino discovered the Bloods were a gang who originated on the West Coast out of the wreckage of the Black Panther Party and its revolutionary goals. The Bloods were “the bastards of the party,” a nickname so pervasive there’s even a movie with that title. To become a Blood he had to learn this history and all their ethical codes, which are written down like laws. You don’t steal from your supplier. You don’t drop a dime (that is, talk to the police) if you get caught. You don’t do fucked-up shit when you are flagging—that is, when you are wearing your official Blood colors. If you break these rules, there are very clear punishments, from lashes to death. Once he learned the codes, nine Bloodettes crowded into a cell to watch Chino take the oath. It began with the words: “Blood is 410 percent gangster.” Now he was Blooded, he had an extra layer of protection. From this day on, when he was locked up and severed from his crew, he had all the other crewless Bloods in the prison watching his back.