We had an interesting version of prison gangs in Michigan.
The blacks had two pseudo-religious gangs, one was banned probably 10 years ago, and other is still running shit. The banned one called themselves Melanics, and they all referred to themselves with the last name X (ie Chris X, Bobby X, etc) and they all called each other as "Solar" (pronounced So-Larr - no idea why). They were blatant with their shit and although loosely based on some bullshit cult, they were really just an extremely racist group of violent individuals. The MDOC finally got wise to their shit and banned them, or rather banned their religious services where they would plot shit and organize their criminal endeavors.
The second, and more interesting group call themselves Moabites. Their "religion" is officially called The Moorish Science Temple of America, and they use a modified Quran with a fucking 7 on the cover as their official religious text. It's really just a ridiculous 50 page pamphlet though about how the black man is the original man and how white people were the creation of a failed lab experiment by a brilliant Doctor named Yacub or some shit, but it was apparently enough for prison officials to grant them status as a religion:
On the one hand, this is genius because it prevents the prison officials from infringing on their religious freedoms in prison, and they use that cloak of religion to organize and to maintain their power. On the other hand, real Muslims despise their perversion of Islam. But this being Michigan, the prisons are heavily populated by some real winrars from cities like Detroit, Flint, Inkster, Saginaw, Benton Harbor etc., and they far outnumber the more peaceful Sunni's.
Notice how I said "Sunni's" and "more peaceful" in the same sentence? Yeah, so the Moabites are some real fucking snakes. They split themselves up into two types - the "Bey's" and "El's", and they are referred to by their last name with the appropriate term appended to the end (Sanders-Bey or Morris-El for instance). In general, the Bey's are the proselytizers, pseudo-intellectuals, organizers or pretty much the default group within the Moabites. The El's are the dangerous motherfuckers. You knew when an El came on the yard that he had to be watched. It wasn't uncommon for an El to be transferred in from another prison specifically to fuck someone up or straighten out some business by providing muscle. Not that the Bey's were bitches, but a lot of scared black kids that just didn't know what to do when they got to prison would end up as one by default.
There were enough whites where they generally didn't need a gang from level 2 on down, but they certainly had AB's in level 4. I was never in a gang, I've always considered gang membership to be a sign of weakness. I've seen Cali prisons on TV so maybe if I had to do time there I would reconsider, but it was never an issue in Michigan. Plus, the easiest way to get into shit in prison was to be in a gang. Fuck that, I'd rather fight my own battles than some fucking retard that can't get his shit together.
Also, everything was segregated inside. Every joint I was in had two dining halls, or two sides and you ate on your side. This wasn't prison policy, this is 100% self-segregation. Same goes for cellmates, everything had to be balanced. In a two man cell you almost never had a black and white together. In joints that had 6-man cubes it was 3-3 or 4-2 with an ongoing effort to balance it back to 3-3. Blacks and whites probably made up over 90% of the prisons in Michigan, and the Hispanics grouped together but generally segregated with the whites, and I don't recall what the handful of asians I ever saw did.
Sports were not generally segregated though - we all played ball together, especially pick up games. But come tournament time, me and the 4 other best white dudes were obligated to field a respectable white team. The Moabites ran (and officated) the tournies and the league (if we had one) at every joint I was at, and they took that shit seriously. One year, we won the first round - no big deal. Then we won the 2nd round which would have put us in the Championship game, but we had an "official" come pay us a visit and convince us that we should probably replay the game since there was a disputed call. It wasn't worth the racial issues that would have arisen if it were a white team vs black team in the Championship game, so we agreed to replay the game and lost. Fun times.
There are some basic rules in prison that will eliminate a lot of potential issues. Never "gamble on ass". In other words, don't gamble on credit. In fact the only gambling I ever did was playing football tickets, which you paid up front and either won or lost. Anything else can put you in a bad position if you end up in debt.
Also, never gossip. That was an easy one for me since I'm not a particularly talkative person, but some guys would get to talking and the next thing you know they've said some shit they shouldn't have said. Big no-no.
Another easy one for me, don't fuck with the sissies. They were like women in there and some of those guys would fall in love and end up stabbing somebody just because "his girl" was a prolific cocksucker. And just like some women, those sissies would instigate shit like you wouldn't believe. It was amusing to me seeing them with their Kool-aid makeup and their black shoelace hair extensions though lol. Anyway, I was happy to jerk off alone in the shower so I never had any problems.
Other than that, you just watch TV, read, and give some thought to how you can avoid ending up back inside.
Source: 7 years in the MDOC + 2 on parole
The blacks had two pseudo-religious gangs, one was banned probably 10 years ago, and other is still running shit. The banned one called themselves Melanics, and they all referred to themselves with the last name X (ie Chris X, Bobby X, etc) and they all called each other as "Solar" (pronounced So-Larr - no idea why). They were blatant with their shit and although loosely based on some bullshit cult, they were really just an extremely racist group of violent individuals. The MDOC finally got wise to their shit and banned them, or rather banned their religious services where they would plot shit and organize their criminal endeavors.
The second, and more interesting group call themselves Moabites. Their "religion" is officially called The Moorish Science Temple of America, and they use a modified Quran with a fucking 7 on the cover as their official religious text. It's really just a ridiculous 50 page pamphlet though about how the black man is the original man and how white people were the creation of a failed lab experiment by a brilliant Doctor named Yacub or some shit, but it was apparently enough for prison officials to grant them status as a religion:
On the one hand, this is genius because it prevents the prison officials from infringing on their religious freedoms in prison, and they use that cloak of religion to organize and to maintain their power. On the other hand, real Muslims despise their perversion of Islam. But this being Michigan, the prisons are heavily populated by some real winrars from cities like Detroit, Flint, Inkster, Saginaw, Benton Harbor etc., and they far outnumber the more peaceful Sunni's.
Notice how I said "Sunni's" and "more peaceful" in the same sentence? Yeah, so the Moabites are some real fucking snakes. They split themselves up into two types - the "Bey's" and "El's", and they are referred to by their last name with the appropriate term appended to the end (Sanders-Bey or Morris-El for instance). In general, the Bey's are the proselytizers, pseudo-intellectuals, organizers or pretty much the default group within the Moabites. The El's are the dangerous motherfuckers. You knew when an El came on the yard that he had to be watched. It wasn't uncommon for an El to be transferred in from another prison specifically to fuck someone up or straighten out some business by providing muscle. Not that the Bey's were bitches, but a lot of scared black kids that just didn't know what to do when they got to prison would end up as one by default.
There were enough whites where they generally didn't need a gang from level 2 on down, but they certainly had AB's in level 4. I was never in a gang, I've always considered gang membership to be a sign of weakness. I've seen Cali prisons on TV so maybe if I had to do time there I would reconsider, but it was never an issue in Michigan. Plus, the easiest way to get into shit in prison was to be in a gang. Fuck that, I'd rather fight my own battles than some fucking retard that can't get his shit together.
Also, everything was segregated inside. Every joint I was in had two dining halls, or two sides and you ate on your side. This wasn't prison policy, this is 100% self-segregation. Same goes for cellmates, everything had to be balanced. In a two man cell you almost never had a black and white together. In joints that had 6-man cubes it was 3-3 or 4-2 with an ongoing effort to balance it back to 3-3. Blacks and whites probably made up over 90% of the prisons in Michigan, and the Hispanics grouped together but generally segregated with the whites, and I don't recall what the handful of asians I ever saw did.
Sports were not generally segregated though - we all played ball together, especially pick up games. But come tournament time, me and the 4 other best white dudes were obligated to field a respectable white team. The Moabites ran (and officated) the tournies and the league (if we had one) at every joint I was at, and they took that shit seriously. One year, we won the first round - no big deal. Then we won the 2nd round which would have put us in the Championship game, but we had an "official" come pay us a visit and convince us that we should probably replay the game since there was a disputed call. It wasn't worth the racial issues that would have arisen if it were a white team vs black team in the Championship game, so we agreed to replay the game and lost. Fun times.
There are some basic rules in prison that will eliminate a lot of potential issues. Never "gamble on ass". In other words, don't gamble on credit. In fact the only gambling I ever did was playing football tickets, which you paid up front and either won or lost. Anything else can put you in a bad position if you end up in debt.
Also, never gossip. That was an easy one for me since I'm not a particularly talkative person, but some guys would get to talking and the next thing you know they've said some shit they shouldn't have said. Big no-no.
Another easy one for me, don't fuck with the sissies. They were like women in there and some of those guys would fall in love and end up stabbing somebody just because "his girl" was a prolific cocksucker. And just like some women, those sissies would instigate shit like you wouldn't believe. It was amusing to me seeing them with their Kool-aid makeup and their black shoelace hair extensions though lol. Anyway, I was happy to jerk off alone in the shower so I never had any problems.
Other than that, you just watch TV, read, and give some thought to how you can avoid ending up back inside.
Source: 7 years in the MDOC + 2 on parole
