Secret Street Code of Snitchin’
DURHAM Back in 1988, Hip Hop artist, Dr. Dre issued the stunning proclamation that America was about to “witness the strength of street knowledge.” Although different variations of the phrase still exist today, very few people have a clue as to what it really means.
In pop cultural theory “street knowledge” is an unwritten code of the streets only to be understood by Black and Brown youth initiated into the street life or middle class White kids who invested thousands of dollars in allowance money on gangsta rap cd’s from the 90’s to vicariously , live the hood life from the comfort of their suburban neighborhoods with the white picket fences and manicured lawns.
In reality, the street code has its roots in the underground black freedom movement starting with Harriet Tubman instructing her fellow enslaved Africans how to escape the plantation and threatening to bust a cap in anyone who dared sabotage the mission.
One of the main components of the street code is the “no snitching” rule. While this is currently propagated as a warning not to rat on those who terrorize their own communities with the collateral damage being little girls caught in drive-bys, snitching can be traced back to the COINTELPRO Program of the FBI. Kenneth O’Reilly, in this book, Racial Matters, reveals a “ghetto informant” program launched in 1968, that sent agents (now known as opps) into hood liquor stores, pawnshops, black bookstores, etc to spy on militants.
Also, during this period, the Black Panther Party set up a 10 point program to protect the black community, resulting in the movement being mostly neutralized by the mid 70’s.
The destruction of the Black Panther Party created a void in the black community that was filled by street gangs which, according Mike Davis in his book, City of Quartz, were originally created to protect the black community from white racist gangs such as the “Spook Hunters.”However when cities such as Los Angeles were flooded with crack and military-like weapons , allegedly with government assistance, the gangs turned on each other.(Read Gary Webb’s book Dark Alliance.)
During the 90’s , John Potash in his work ,The FBI War on Tupac Shakur and Black Leaders, wrote that Shakur ,along with his stepfather and former Black Liberation Army soldier Mutulu Shakur, developed the Code of THUG LIFE to revolutionize the various street gangs. Some have suggested this was behind the persecution of Tupac by law enforcement.
More recently, Hip Hop artists who tried to help the hood like Nipsey Hustle, ironically, also lost their lives due to street violence.
Today in Durham NC, the Black Hoodie Brigade uses G.A.N.G. as an acronym to mean “Getting Academics Not Guns” as the movement stresses cultural and political education for the hood.
So with a combination of Fed involvement and entertainment industry politics, in 2024 what Dr. Bobby E Wright referred to as ‘street sense’ in his work, The Psychopathic Racial Personality. “generally, prepares Blacks to deal with each other in destructive ways and the Whites wipe out the winner.”
Kwame Ture once said that “every Negro is a potential Black man.” So, it appears that the real secret behind the street code is that every gang member is a potential revolutionary.
Min. Paul Scott is Minister of Information of the Durham NC based Black Hoodie Brigade. He can be reached at (919) 972–8305 email minpaulscott@yahoo.com X/Twitter @truthminista
Courtesy of Militant Mind Media
