New York Latin Kings Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyxTCn5l_lANew York Latin Kings Part 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qy27cBxvLw&feature=relatedNew York Latin Kings Part 3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kONY74DNNWI&feature=relatedNew York Latin Kings Part 4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81xq8kKmdA&feature=relatedNew York Latin Kings Part 5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIxuuOR1cPQ&feature=relatedThe Latin Kings are said to be the largest and most organized Hispanic street gang in the United States of America [1], which has its roots dating back to the 1940s in Chicago, Illinois [2]. Latin King documents reveal that Gino Gustavo Colon (a.k.a. "Lord Gino") is considered the "SUN" of the Almighty Latin King Nation in Chicago—and has been for a long time. Currently he is serving a life sentence in federal prison due to a 25-count indictment, which includes charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other drugs. Latin King headquarters is located on Beach and Spaulding in Northwest Chicago.Luis Felipe (a.k.a. King Blood) started his own chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation with the permission of his superiors in Chicago, the "motherland". He designated himself as Inca and Supreme Crown of New York State. In 1995 Antonio Fernandez (a.k.a. King Tone) was designated Inca and Supreme Crown of New York State and New Jersey, and the ALKQN once again began a transformation.[1][2]Chicago Latin KingsThe Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN, ALKN, LKN) is the largest Hispanic street gang in the United States. Unlike MS-13 and 18th Street gang—whose great portion of gang membership exists in Mexico, Central and South America—the majority of Latin Kings reside within the United States. The ALKN has over 25,000 members in the city of Chicago, with another ten to fifteen thousand members in the surrounding suburbs of Illinois. They also have organized chapters of Latin Kings in over 41 states and several Latin American and European countries: Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, Canada, Italy, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom and others. Latin Kings are mostly of Latino descent, with some Black, White, Asian and Middle Eastern members as well.Organizational structureThe Latin Kings have a hierarchical organizational structure, and they have sets in numerous states across the country. These sets are referred to as "chapters" or "tribes", with each reporting to an Inca, Caciqa, Enforcer and Regional Officer. The head (or heads) of the entire criminal organization are known as "Coronas" (crowns in Spanish).HistoryThe Almighty Latin Kings first emerged in Chicago in the 1940s after several young Puerto Rican males organized into a self-defense group to protect their community and to unite all Latinos into a collective struggle against "oppression"[3]. Their goal was to help each other overcome the problems of racism and prejudice that newly arriving Puerto Rican and Mexican immigrants were experiencing and to serve as a vanguard for their communities.Like the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, and so many other groups that struggled for political empowerment, the Latin Kings were broken as a movement [4]. They lost touch with their roots and grew into one of the largest and most infamous criminal gangs in America. The group's members became involved in crimes including murder, drug trafficking, robberies and other organized criminal activities.Violence is the hallmark of the Latin Kings. In their beginnings, when they were not great in size, their brutal history and propensity for violence distinguished them from other Latino gangs in Chicago, making them equal players with the larger Black "Super Gangs", such as the Gangster Disciples, the Almighty Vice Lord Nation and the Black P. Stones. They also played an equal role in the formation of the People Nation. In recent times, the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation has grown to be the second largest gang in size and has hitherto been recognized as the most violent street gang in the Chicagoland area—-the Gangster Disciples being the largest.Markings A member of the Latin Kings showing tattoo of a crowned lionThe Latin King colors are black and gold; gang markings consist of a 5 or 3-point crown, writings of LK, ALK, ALKN, ALKQN abbreviations (or the whole words), and drawings of the Lion and/or the King Master. Latin King symbolism is usually accompanied with the name and number of the chapter, region or city of the gang. The Latin Kings are of the People Nation, and therefore, represent everything to the "left" in opposition to the "right", which is representative of the "Folk Nation".KingismThe Latin Kings teach Latino pride and all members are encouraged to live in accordance with the principles of KINGISM (a moral driven awareness of social oppression and the desire to uplift their people to their rightful place: "amongst the thrones of Kings and Queens"). The Latin Kings operate under strict codes and guidelines that are conveyed in a lengthy constitution [5] and follow the teachings of the ALKQN Manifesto [6], which was written by highly intellectual Latin Kings (these documents are referred to as the "King Manifesto/Constitution" or "KM/C" for short). In this manifesto you can find traces of Marxism, Christianity, Confucianism and other revolutionary/historical world-views which when combined make up the ideology and morality of "KINGISM". These teachings are centered around the upliftment of the poor (the "Oppressed Third World People") and the struggle against the oppressive social, political and economic existing order of things.To begin their meetings, members may face the East, which is where the sun rises, and recite one of the various Latin King prayers to Yahve (The Almighty Father and King of Kings) and pledge to be ever faithful to the Nation. These meetings are also used by members to discuss recent events, dues, retaliation, position responsibilities and elections. When compared to most street gangs, the Latin Kings are generally more structured and organized. The gang's rules are strictly enforced and some members celebrate January 6 as "King's Holy Day" and the first week in March as "King's Week" [7][edit] CultureDue to the organizations contradictory history, it is often debated about whether they are a criminal organization or a positive force in the community (as they have obviously taken on both roles at different points in time, as well as simultaneously). For example, in 2000 there were approximately 1600 self-admitted Latin Kings in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and these accounted for over half of all the recorded violent acts on prison personnel and other inmates, making the ALKN the most violent prison gang in Illinois (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fiscal Report, 2000).But their "apparent contradictions", the Latin Kings may argue, can be better understood when viewed through the lens of their teachings. Once a member of the Almighty Latin King Nation, according to the "Latin King Manifesto", a member naturally passes through three stages of consciousness:(1) the Primitive Stage, wherein the neophyte member is expected to be immature and to be involved in such activities as gang-banging and being a street warrior without the full consciousness of Kingism ;(2) the Conservative or Mummy Stage, which is where a member tires of the street gang life but is still accepting of life as it has been taught to him by the existing system that exploits all people of color, dehumanizes them, and maintains them under the conditions and social yoke of slavery;and (3) the New King Stage, where the member recognizes the need for a revolution of the "mind". According to the Manifesto, "The New King is the end product of complete awareness, perceiving three-hundred and sixty degrees of enlightenment; his observations are free and independent; his thoughts are not clouded by any form of prejudice...For him there are no horizons between races, sexes and senseless labels", including gang labels for recognition. The New King no longer views the rival warriors as the cause of his ills and seeks world unity for the sake of humanization and freedom for all the "Oppressed Third World Peoples".Therefore, as appropriately expressed by their own teachings, a great majority of Latin Kings live a criminal lifestyle while a select few seek to better their communities and fight against social oppression and injustices.