"Sose the Ghost," a self-described former member of the Crips street gang, current member of a 1% ("outlaw") motorcycle club, black Puerto Rican, talks about why he loves and respects Donald Trump.
This is not what you've been told to expect.
7 comments:
Tom
said...
What is a "1%" club? I noticed the Gunfighters MC specifically state they aren't one. And what does "outlaw" mean in this context?
So, way back in 1947 a bunch of war veterans in newly-formed motorcycle clubs attended an American Motorcycle Association rally in Hollister, California.
"The Hollister riot, also known as the Hollister Invasion,[ was an event that occurred at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)-sanctioned Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally in Hollister, California from July 3 to 6, 1947.
"Many more motorcyclists than expected flooded the small town to watch the annual rallies, as well as to socialize and drink. A few of the motorcyclists caused a commotion in the town.
"The incident, known afterwards as the Hollister riot, was sensationalized by the press with reports of bikers "taking over the town" and "pandemonium" in Hollister. The strongest dramatization of the event was a photo of a drunken man sitting on a motorcycle, possibly staged by the photographer by surrounding the scene with discarded beer bottles. It was published in Life magazine and it brought national attention and negative opinion to the event. The Hollister riot helped to give rise to the outlaw biker image."
This event was so famous that Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin made a movie about it, called The Wild One. That movie was so famous, in return, that decades later the Hells Angels were dressing like Lee Marvin's character -- if you watch "Hells Angels Forever," their home-grown documentary about the club, the New York chapter president is always in a striped shirt just like the Marvin character.
In any case, after the "riot" (or party, or whatever), the AMA released a statement to the effect that '99% of motorcyclists are just good people who obey the rules, it's just this 1% causing trouble.' Some of the wilder clubs took it on themselves to proclaim that they were, in fact, part of that 1%.
Thus, a "1% club" is a club that defies the AMA rules and norms. The term largely overlaps with "outlaw clubs." One of the most common ways to tell if a club you encounter is a 99% club or a 1% club is based on the formation in which they ride. AMA-compliant clubs ride staggered, so that each bike has the whole width of the lane to itself, as well as more room up front in case they need to make a sudden stop. Outlaw clubs usually ride 'two up,' side by side.
1% clubs also sometimes wear a diamond-shaped patch that says "1%" inside it, though that is not always the case.
Note that there's a distinction between 'outlaw motorcycle clubs' and 'the Outlaws Motorcycle Club," which is a very old motorcycle club (and the largest in the world). They are both Outlaws and outlaws, as it were.
There's also a connection to Outlaw Country music. David Allan Coe was a member of the Outlaws MC at one time. Most of the rest of them were associated with the Hells Angels, as Waylon and Willie operated out of a part of Texas where HAMC was big, and the Angels provided security for them. Willie Nelson wrote a song about nursing a biker back from an accident called "Angel Riding Too Close to the Ground." Johnny Paycheck spent a lot of time with them too. Paycheck wrote a song called "Angel of the Highway" dedicated to them, and another song called "Ride on, Sonny," which was dedicated to HAMC Berdoo chapter President Sonny Barger.
I find his Noo Yawk accent interesting. I was used to Italians and Jews- whites- speaking in it- though the accent is dying out. I spent my freshman year at a school that had a lot of NYC people. Most didn't have the Noo Yawk accent. My roommate didn't, but his father did. Sports journalist Stephen A. Smith is another example of a nonwhite with a Noo Yawk accent.
A long time ago I was coming home from overseas, landed in California, and decided to drive the old Route 66 home to OK instead of flying. I made a wrong turn in Arizona and was driving out in the desert. At some point I realized I wasn't on the right road, but I was enjoying the drive and kept going. I had time.
Anyway, there must have been a dip in the road or something, because seemingly out of nowhere probably 50 or so bikers passed me going the other way in a column of 2s.
I just remember thinking, "Man, that looks like fun." The memory is still vivid, and now I think they must have been an outlaw club from their formation.
About 1972 I was driving cross country and was on a remote desert road- we had just stopped for "supplies" and had a case of beer ice cold in the back seat. Summer- it was hot.. Coming up from behind I saw a bunch of bikers and figured they might like a beer, so happily handed them out a brew each as they passed. Fun times.
7 comments:
What is a "1%" club? I noticed the Gunfighters MC specifically state they aren't one. And what does "outlaw" mean in this context?
So, way back in 1947 a bunch of war veterans in newly-formed motorcycle clubs attended an American Motorcycle Association rally in Hollister, California.
"The Hollister riot, also known as the Hollister Invasion,[ was an event that occurred at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)-sanctioned Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally in Hollister, California from July 3 to 6, 1947.
"Many more motorcyclists than expected flooded the small town to watch the annual rallies, as well as to socialize and drink. A few of the motorcyclists caused a commotion in the town.
"The incident, known afterwards as the Hollister riot, was sensationalized by the press with reports of bikers "taking over the town" and "pandemonium" in Hollister. The strongest dramatization of the event was a photo of a drunken man sitting on a motorcycle, possibly staged by the photographer by surrounding the scene with discarded beer bottles. It was published in Life magazine and it brought national attention and negative opinion to the event. The Hollister riot helped to give rise to the outlaw biker image."
This event was so famous that Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin made a movie about it, called The Wild One. That movie was so famous, in return, that decades later the Hells Angels were dressing like Lee Marvin's character -- if you watch "Hells Angels Forever," their home-grown documentary about the club, the New York chapter president is always in a striped shirt just like the Marvin character.
In any case, after the "riot" (or party, or whatever), the AMA released a statement to the effect that '99% of motorcyclists are just good people who obey the rules, it's just this 1% causing trouble.' Some of the wilder clubs took it on themselves to proclaim that they were, in fact, part of that 1%.
Thus, a "1% club" is a club that defies the AMA rules and norms. The term largely overlaps with "outlaw clubs." One of the most common ways to tell if a club you encounter is a 99% club or a 1% club is based on the formation in which they ride. AMA-compliant clubs ride staggered, so that each bike has the whole width of the lane to itself, as well as more room up front in case they need to make a sudden stop. Outlaw clubs usually ride 'two up,' side by side.
1% clubs also sometimes wear a diamond-shaped patch that says "1%" inside it, though that is not always the case.
Note that there's a distinction between 'outlaw motorcycle clubs' and 'the Outlaws Motorcycle Club," which is a very old motorcycle club (and the largest in the world). They are both Outlaws and outlaws, as it were.
There's also a connection to Outlaw Country music. David Allan Coe was a member of the Outlaws MC at one time. Most of the rest of them were associated with the Hells Angels, as Waylon and Willie operated out of a part of Texas where HAMC was big, and the Angels provided security for them. Willie Nelson wrote a song about nursing a biker back from an accident called "Angel Riding Too Close to the Ground." Johnny Paycheck spent a lot of time with them too. Paycheck wrote a song called "Angel of the Highway" dedicated to them, and another song called "Ride on, Sonny," which was dedicated to HAMC Berdoo chapter President Sonny Barger.
I find his Noo Yawk accent interesting. I was used to Italians and Jews- whites- speaking in it- though the accent is dying out. I spent my freshman year at a school that had a lot of NYC people. Most didn't have the Noo Yawk accent. My roommate didn't, but his father did. Sports journalist Stephen A. Smith is another example of a nonwhite with a Noo Yawk accent.
If you want to watch that HAMC documentary I mentioned, by the way, you can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXrFdEN5kIE
Cool. Thanks for the lesson!
A long time ago I was coming home from overseas, landed in California, and decided to drive the old Route 66 home to OK instead of flying. I made a wrong turn in Arizona and was driving out in the desert. At some point I realized I wasn't on the right road, but I was enjoying the drive and kept going. I had time.
Anyway, there must have been a dip in the road or something, because seemingly out of nowhere probably 50 or so bikers passed me going the other way in a column of 2s.
I just remember thinking, "Man, that looks like fun." The memory is still vivid, and now I think they must have been an outlaw club from their formation.
About 1972 I was driving cross country and was on a remote desert road- we had just stopped for "supplies" and had a case of beer ice cold in the back seat. Summer- it was hot..
Coming up from behind I saw a bunch of bikers and figured they might like a beer, so happily handed them out a brew each as they passed. Fun times.
I said MClubs had a choice to make when there was a story that they were working with the state to collect road tolls.
Not something that guy is doing, likely.
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