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More info:

(From National Drug Intelligence Center)

Five Percenters

The Five Percent or the Nation of Gods and Earths, founded in 1964 by Clarence Edward Smith Jowers upon his expulsion from the Nation of Islam, is a loosely knit organization made up mostly of African Americans. The name Five Percenters, derived from the "Mathematics" of the Nation of Islam "Lessons," is symbolic of members believing they are the true five percent gods of the universe with the knowledge and wisdom to deliver the black man from the home of the devil. Five Percenters do not consider their beliefs a religion and teach Islam as a righteous culture for black individuals. They believe that a black man with the knowledge (the Five Percent) is a god of himself as well as his people and that the "eurogentiles" have deceived the whole world causing it to honor and worship false gods and idols. Understanding this philosophy is essential for those who encounter Five Percenters. In its hierarchy, a Five Percenter male is a god with the highest status, followed by black males in the masses, earths (Five Percenter females), black females in the masses, white males, and white females. Some members do not believe they are accountable for the crimes they commit because of their status as gods or earths. Many members formed loosely organized sets that distribute drugs and commit violent crimes, including against each other. Some Five Percenters profess their beliefs through the lyrics of popular rap and hip-hop music.

Several street gangs are involved in drug distribution and violent crime throughout the state. Survey responses to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Street Gang Survey Report 2000 illustrate that most of the 19 reported street gangs in New Jersey distribute drugs and commit violent crimes, including assaults, drive-by shootings, and homicides. The Bloods, Latin Kings, and Ñetas street gangs and Five Percenters, a cultural group, are the most prominent (have the most chapters). (See text box.) All distribute cocaine, heroin, and marijuana from Jersey City and Irvington, New Jersey. The Latin Kings and Ñetas street gangs and Five Percenters cultural group also distribute in Camden, while the Bloods distribute in Eatontown.

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New Jersey has known about the Five Percent for decades. Ron Holvey, the state's top prison investigator, estimates the state's prisons hold at least 1,000 Five Percenters and perhaps several times that.

What was a loose, disorganized gang changed in recent years, Holvey said. "We started to see a different level of organization within the Five Percenters," he said. "More acts of violence within the prison, more assaults on inmates, more assaults on staff.

In January, New Jersey prison authorities said they caught eight members of the group ready to attack and kill guards. Lives, officials said, were saved by an informant's tip.

New Jersey put 80 members in its gang management unit after that. Federal prisons classify the group as a gang, though they haven't been singled out for special punishment.

Although authorities say they know the threat the Nation poses in prisons, few can talk with firsthand knowledge of its work on the streets. One is Detective Louis Jordan. Once a teen-age gang member, now he's a gang expert in the prosecutor's office in Monmouth County; N.J.

There are two sides to the Five Percent, he said, those who are serious about the lessons and those who use the name to hide criminal activity There are the five Percenters and the "jive percenters," as he puts it.

In his jurisdiction, he figures there am 400 or so real Five Pereenters. Then there's a gang of about 60.