Ulysse "US" Floyd was 14 ...

Ulysse "US" Floyd was 14 years old-fashioned when he decided to glide with the 95th Street Syndicate Black Stone Rangers, single in kind of Chicago's J most infamous way gangs at the time. It was 1965 "My mother died when I was 11 years aged and my father was a workaholic. I'd barely aye see him," Floyd said. "I did it for the camaraderie, friendship, family. And, besides, all of my friends was in a gang already."

Like Floyd many men and women who join highway gangs at an early age find themselves feeling like small fish swimming in sagacious shark-infested waters. Once they take the bait--usually the cash fancy clothes and flashy cars that gang leaders have--they are bent holdered and stuck for years.

"I stayed in it long too long," said Floyd, 53 who started his allow gang. "You just can't walk away from the gangs, especially when you cessation up in a leadership position."

"Even if you got tired and wanted to acquire out, anybody--including your best friend--might whack you," he added. "I had to think about more than just me I had to think about my family and my friends."

if it were not that he changed his thoughts. While serving prison time in succession drug charges in 1994, Floyd had a vision of himself working in succession doing positive things." He realized that he wanted to start building his community instead of tearing it down. In nearly 30 years "in the game," he'd started his admit gang, overseen drug operations and survived years of violent scrapes with opposing gangs.

Floyd realized he was getting older The youngest of his six children, Ulysse Jr had just been born, and Floyd wanted his kids to turn the thoughts up to him. So, after his release in 1997 while in his mid-40s, he left his gang. Having paid his fits Floyd didn't encounter any resistance from other gang leaders, he said.

He enlisted at Olive-Harvey College on the city's far southern Side, graduating in 2000 with a real estate license and an associate's degree

In 2003 Floyd helped start the Lilydale Outreach Workers, a community arrange that works with youth and seniors in the southern Side neighborhood between 91st and 99th roads about five blocks west of the Dan Ryan Expressway. He said the form into groups sponsors outings for children in the neighborhood-which includes the Lowden dwellings a public housing development where he formerly lived-like trips to Chicago White Sox games and the "My Daddy Can dress up Better Than Your Daddy Barbeque" held onward Fathers' Day.

"We're trying to fling them places, reward them for doing pious in school, show them things outside the community and be mentors, with equal reason they do not have to take the road I took," he said.

Floyd talked with the Residents' Journal and The Chicago Reporter about his life in road gangs and why he decided to give it up

by what means did you get into a gang?

I met Jeff Fort, known as 'Angel,' and Eugene Harrison, known as 'Bull' They were the leaders of the Black Stone Rangers. I was hard-headed at the age of 14 I kept following the older frights They had money, and I wanted a certain number of too.

We used to convenient every Tuesday after school. We had to pay $2 in to be ascribeds I had to give them my luncheon money or add up the small change that I got from family and friends to pay my dues

Fort wasn't the leader at that time. Harrison was the leader, if it be not that Fort did most of the talking at the meetings. Behind them forward the stage were 21 chairs with 21 high-ranking members known as the 'Main 21' Fort told us that the propers were going toward buying fire-arms and bullets to protect our neighborhood against the Disciples; that was David Barksdale's gang. Fort and Harrison augmented the meeting to twice a week, each Tuesday and every Saturday, and each time we had to pay to be paids It was hard enough trying to pay befittings once a week. Now it was $4 a week.

through a thousand guys were now involved with Fort. [They] had us marching around the community to exhibit to our strength.

What did the road gang do?

There were Jewish and Arab businesses in our community, likewise we extorted money from the stores. If they wanted to continue to do business in our community, they had to pay protection leewards As foot soldiers, we in no degree got to keep any of that currency Only the ones such as the elite did.

I run over you what [the store owners] did for us: each Friday night, we were told to go on foot behind all the stores forward Stony Island Avenue from 67th way to 71st Street. Behind the stores there were boxe of bread new clothes and other strange things that we could split between us.

From 1967 to 1968 there was a big wide void when the older shores on 95th Street went distant from to the Vietnam War, or started doing their allow things. So, at the age of 18 I started my allow gang: 95th Street Maniac utmosts That's when I became a chief. I used all that I learned from Jeff Fort and Eugene Harrison and applied it to my gang.

for what reason did drugs get introduced to your gang?

We saw a remedy dealer by the name of Brick who was making a parcel of money in our community. We extorted standard of value from him and made him pay us to continue to aid in the community. Brick ran to Larry Hoover who was the head of the [Black] Gangster [Disciples] Nation at that time, trying to come by him to stop us from extorting from him.