Chicago Gangs - The Satan Disciples

The Satan Disciples’ started in the year 1959 by “King Satan” at the street corner of 15th and Talman in the North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago’s west side (personally I think they formed back in 1958 but I have no evidence of that or testimony, I think this because most gangs started in this vicinity in 1958). They started on the east side of Douglas Park which was not a major African American neighborhood at that time. The vast majority of North Lawndale was African American by 1959 but the last of the white element was east of the park.

The Satan Disciples was founded mainly by Czechoslovakian and Polish white males and they took in Mexican youths too that made up about half the gang.

By 1960 the Satan Disciples had already expanded their turf into the Heart Of Chicago section of the Lower West Side neighborhood at 18th and Oakley along with 14th and Washtenaw in the North Lawndale area.

By 1962 the Satan Disciples were now found on 18th and California (Douglas Park) in North Lawndale as well as 24th and California in the Little Village section of the South Lawndale neighborhood. Right away in the early 1960s the Satan Disciples comprised of 50% or more Mexican members because the SDs were not a racist organization, they wanted the best they could find white or brown.

The original SDs fought against gangs like the Gaylords at 18th and Western, Ambrose at 18th and Throop or the Latin Counts from 18th street and Loomis. The Latin Kings did not have any territory or any foothold in any of the SDs sections back in the earliest years of the SDs existence; therefore, the show Gangland on history channel was not very accurate about SDs being formed because of the Latin Kings, it is total bullshit. The SDs did have conflicts with the Royal Kings of Little Village and the Near West Side, the Mexican Kings of Little Village and the Coulter Kings of Pilsen in the early 1960s that were all gangs that became Latin Kings by 1964, but the Latin Kings were not the number 1 reason for Satan Disciples coming together, there were larger threats from Ambrose, Latin Counts and Vice Lords that were much closer to SD turf.