Each gang has a signature color (the Crips, blue the Bloods, red), hand signs, and a dance: the Crip Walk the Blood Bounce. The gang operates in 221 cities and 41 states, and their rivalry with the Bloods - who have 5,000-20,000 members in 123 cities and 33 states - has raged since the 1970s. Their membership of 30,000-35,000 is organized in 800 sets, with violent infighting amongst factions. The Crips are among the largest, most violent gangs in the U.S. Gang members are responsible for 50-90% of the violent crime in the country. Including other gangs, there are about 1.4 million gang members and about 33,000 gangs in the U.S., according to the FBI. Four guards and three inmates were injured and sent to the hospital. Just this past Friday, for example, a bloody 45-minute long brawl broke out between the notorious rival gangs - the Crips and the Bloods - in New York's Rikers Island prison.
The dance may have thoroughly migrated into the mainstream, but its connotations are still real, dangerous, and relevant. In "The Next Episode," Snoop Dogg raps, "Crip walk if you down with the set." In the music video for "Drop it Like It's Hot," he C-Walks and raps, "I keep a blue flag hanging out my backside, but only on the left side, yeah that's the Crip side." There is a song called "C-Walk" by rapper Kurupt, with a chorus, "Get cha' walk on, C-Walk, homie." Rapper Ice-T, who is known to whip out the occasional C-Walk, says that rapper WC ("Dub-C," seen below) was the original Crip Walker. Today, the dance step - which involves quick, intricate footwork - has integrated seamlessly into pop culture (though at one time, MTV banned music videos featuring it.) The Crip Walk, or C-Walk, was popularized in Compton, Calif. In Williams' defense, it's easy to forget that a bout of fancy footwork could denote something quite serious: a nod to 35,000 violent gangsters. "As a stupid and insensitive celebration that dampened the crowning moment, or as a joy-filled nod to her roots."
Fox News wrote, "There was Serena - the tennis legend - Crip Walking all over the most lily-white place in the world." Williams' Crip Walk could be interpreted two ways, Fox wrote. Unsurprisingly, she was criticized for her celebratory move of choice, as the dance's origins lie with the infamous Crips gang. When Serena Williams won the 2012 Summer Olympics tennis tournament against Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-1, she did a victory dance.
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