"Free Larry Hoover" Highlights Black America's Self-Defeating Prophecy

This past weekend, Kanye West and Drake put their petty differences aside to host a benefit concert for Larry Hoover, the incarcerated founder of the Gangster Disciples street gang.

Some live streams of the concert were circulating online, but I had zero interest in watching the show. It is hard to watch Ye these days. He is in a peculiar place in his life: he is having a spiritual battle within himself; he is fighting tooth and nail to get Kim K back; he is also walking around with prosthetic masks of white people.

Likewise, Drake is in an aberrated period in his career. As masculinity and red pill philosophy become more appreciated, his pro-feminism, blue pill music does not seem to be resonating as much as in previous years. Also, his tough-guy raps fall on deaf ears. Pusha T exposed him a few years ago.

Their joint concert in the Los Angeles Coliseum drew attention from the original alphabet boys. Not the BLMLGBTQ mafia, the FBI. Federal officials are "surprised" that Ye and Drake would want Larry Hoover freed.

I'm not. The black community has an unhealthy idolatrous relationship with the bottom-feeders of society.

Larry Hoover was running the streets of Chicago at age 13 as a member of the Supreme Gangsters. There is very little information on his parents, which likely means they were not significant influences in his life. The streets was his mother and the gang was his daddy. He rose to power within the Supreme Gangsters and formed an alliance with rival gang member David Barksdale. The Black Gangster Disciple Nation was born.

Hoover took sole control of the GDs in 1969 after David Barksdale was shot. (David eventually succumbed to his injuries in 1974.) Under Hoover's leadership, the Gangster Disciples took over the drug trade on Chicago's south side. The money was rolling in. Power in the palm of his hand.

The tide turned in 1973 when Hoover and another Disciple, Andrew Howard, were charged with the murder of a rival gang member, William "Pooky" Young. The two Disciples abducted and killed him in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. To make an example and discourage further gang violence, the judge hammered Hoover and Howard each with 150-200 year sentences.

Like any ambitious gangster, prison would not stop Larry Hoover. He continued to recruit new gang members and expand his drug empire. Hoover helped form Folk Nation, a large conglomerate of black and Latino street gangs. The Black Disciples, Ambrose, Aztecas, Crazy Insanes, Harrison Gents, Krazy GetDown Boys, Latin Eagles, Two Six, Two-Two Boys, Latin Dragons, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Universal Latin Lovers, North Side Popes, and Satan Disciples were some of the dozens of gangs representing Folk Nation. By 1993, Hoover's drug operation had expanded across five states with over 15,000 gang members.

With its leader behind bars, the street gangs eventually ran amok, resulting in deadly shootouts across the country. One incident in Chicago resulted in several gang member and civilian fatalities. According to urban legend, the spikes in gun violence and Mayor Richard Daley's biography inspired Hoover to change his ways. He rebranded GD to stand for Growth and Development. Hoover ordered all gang members to go to school, learn a trade, and become productive members of society.

The media ate it up, making Hoover a humanitarian celebrity behind bars. Law officials, though, were not buying it. They believed it was a ploy to get released from prison early and continue his life of crime. But, after a five-year undercover investigation, Hoover was found guilty of drug conspiracy charges. In 1997, he was sentenced to six life sentences.

Today, the "Free Larry Hoover" movement is picking up steam. But, just like the litany of similar movements from years past, Free Weezy, Free Yayo, Free Sigel, blacks continuously support these criminals because they share the same skin color.

Larry Hoover is precisely where he should be. His actions helped ignite an epidemic of gang violence and drug use within the black community. How many future electricians, architects, scholars, doctors, engineers, military personnel, and scientists were killed because of Larry Hoover? How many fathers did Larry Hoover contribute to killing in his selfish quest for infamy?

A lack of fathers in the home is one of the direst issues in the black community. The consequences are far more severe than COVID. Growing up in a single mother home almost guarantees a young black child will live in poverty. The burdens of raising a child, working, and trying to have some semblance of a social life are far too much to ask of the mother alone. Impoverished neighborhoods are breeding grounds for violence and illegal drug activity, which result in higher incarceration rates.

According to a study from George Fox University School of Business, there is a direct correlation between single motherhood, incarceration rates, poverty rates, and unemployment percentages. The more children raised in single-mother households, the higher poverty, incarceration, and unemployment rates regardless of skin color and location. However, the problem is highly acute in black America.

In addition, America has the highest rates of single-parent homes. Roughly a quarter (23%) of all American children are raised with one parent, more than any other nation in the world.

Larry Hoover's debaucherous impact can be felt, or heard, today. Hip-Hop glamorizes criminal activity. The ascent of the Black Gangster Disciples, Folk Nation, and gang culture correlates closely with the rise of Hip-Hop. Both were gaining traction around the early 1970s. Gangsta rap started gaining prominence in the late 1980s, around the time Hoover's drug and gang empires expanded. NWA's "Fuck tha Police" was blaring out of car stereo systems everywhere. Fast forward to today, Chicago's Drill music scene is both a source of inspiration for rappers nationwide and an extension of Larry Hoover's legacy.

Free (insert rapper name here) movements are especially damning to the image of black America. It makes the black community at-large look desperate and bottom-feeding. We have such low self-esteem that we will celebrate when OJ Simpson gets away with a heinous double homicide. We wear "Free Yayo" shirts cheering the release of rapper Tony Yayo, who went to jail for felony weapons charges and bail jumping. White people did not come to the defense of white rapper G-Easy when he was arrested after a bar fight earlier this year. White people do not turn to entertainers or criminals for representation. Neither do Hispanics. How many of them herald Tekashi 6ix9ine as a cultural icon?

Larry Hoover should be remembered for the destruction he caused in his community. He sold out his own people for personal riches, glory, and power. The real victims in the Larry Hoover story are his children and grandchildren, who have and will grow up without him in their lives.

Hoover should not be a free man. He should remain in his Colorado prison cell for the remainder of his days.