Mau Maus

For the Kenyan rebellion in the 1950s, please see the Mau Mau Uprising. Mau Maus is the name of both a vicious street gangs in New York during the 1950s and a fictitious political hip-hop group in the Spike Lee film Bamboozled.

Gang

Nicky Cruz would later write a book about his experiences called Run, Baby, Run. In this book, Cruz talks about the two forms of initiation to the gang. the prospective gang member could either stand against a wall without flinching while a gang member threw a knife at him or be beaten up by five of the gang members without fighting back.

Salvador Agron was another member of the Mau Maus who later led another gang called the Vampires. On the night of 29 August 1959, Agron led the Vampires in stabbing local teenagers in Hell's Kitchen killing two of them. The murders would become known as the Capeman Murders after the costume worn by Agron. Paul Simon would write a musical called The Capeman which appeared on Broadway but was a flop.

Fictional Rap Group

The Mau Mau's were also a fictitious political hip-hop group in the 2000 Spike Lee film Bamboozled starring Damon Wayans. In the film, the Mau Mau's consisted of:

• Big Blak, played by Mos Def;
• Double Blak, played by Gano Grills;
• 1/16th Blak, played by MC Serch;
• Mo Blak, played by Canibus;
• Smooth Blak, played by Charli Baltimore;
• Hard Blak, played by Mums; and
• Jo Blak, played by MC Scratch.

Further References

• Article on the Cross and the Switchblade

• David Wilkerson's account on the conversion

• Story on initiation ceremony for the Mau Maus

• Talkin Broadway feature on the Capeman featuring Agron's poetry

• Midtown Media article on the Capeman murders

• Pop Matters article on the Mau Mau's

  See also

• Nicky Cruz