“Dragons of the East Gulf” — a gang of black bikers from the 50s

East Gulf Dragons was founded in 1958 by Toby Levingston, a black car enthusiast who moved to California from Louisiana. Initially, it was really a community of motorists, and its goal was to fence young people from street gangs. For a while, the club successfully coped with its task, but after a couple of years, ironically, it became another street gang. Around the same time, “Dragons” switched from cars to motorcycles.

Soon, the members of the East Bay Dragons became one of the main targets of the local police. Armed clashes began with other gangs, illegal firearms appeared, and gang members engaged in illegal activities. In general, it was not possible to save the guys from the street, but now the streets of Oakland had to be saved from black bikers.

In the 70s, the Dragons developed strong ties with the Black Panther radicals. It got to a partial confusion: many of the bike club went to underground fighters “Panthers”, and many “Panthers” switched to bikes.

The interest in “Black Panthers” among black motorcyclists is understandable — racial barriers in the middle of the 20th century were still strong, including among bikers. Suffice it to say that Oakland Harley Davidson stores simply refused to sell new motorcycles to African Americans.

Some of the bike clubs were neutral towards blacks, but a significant part — with aggression. So the “Eastern Gulf Dragons” had to fight both black gangs and white “fellow” bikers. In general, these were tough guys who were drawn into politics against their will.

All the more surprising is the further fate of the club. It still exists, and some veterans of the movement live. But over the past decades, black bikers have become much softer and nicer. They no longer rob and sell meth (at least most of them decided to quit with the habits of youth). “Dragons” still adore motorcycles, but they do not gather for fights with other gangs, but for a family barbecue or helping orphans and those in need.

East Bay Dragons have long appeared on the pages of newspapers not for crimes, but for their charitable work. Not bikers, but Timur and his team.