Savage Skulls

{{Infobox criminal organization

|name = Savage Skulls

|image =

|image_size =

|caption =

Founder/Supreme President = Felipe Blackie Mercado

|founded = December 12th 1969 Bronx, NY

|years_active = 1969 to present

|territory = Hunts Point, Bronx, New York

|membership =

|activities =

}}

The Savage Skulls are a mostly Puerto Rican and African American street gang started in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx during the late 1960s, gaining popularity in the 1970s.[http://jplaffont.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/SAVAGE-SKULLS/G0000USe.oF74Mu0/I0000AUx27q0aRlY Savage Skulls 1972]. The gang declared war on the drug dealers operating in the Hunts Point area in the early 1970s, and was also involved in a number of running battles with rival gangs, including the Seven Immortals, Savage Nomads, and Dirty Dozen.{{cn|date=February 2020}}

The gang was photographed by Jean-Pierre Laffont in 1972[http://glitteratiincorporated.com/blogs/the-click/26983428-jean-pierre-laffont-the-savage-skulls Jean-Pierre Laffont: The Savage Skulls] (2015) at Glitterati Incorporated.com. and were the subject of the 1979 documentary film 80 Blocks From Tiffany's.[http://dangerousminds.net/comments/savage_nomads_and_savage_skulls_1979_documentary_on_street_gangs_of_the_sou 1979, Gary Weis].{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:324~T0 |title=AllMovie | Movies and Films Database | Movie Search, Ratings, Photos, Recommendations, and Reviews |publisher=allmovie.com|access-date=2016-03-29}}{{cite web|work=BlackBook|title=Director Gary Weis on His Influential, Long-Lost Doc '80 Blocks from Tiffany's'|url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/director-gary-weis-on-his-influential-long-lost-doc-80-blocks-from-tiffanys-1.35700|first=Alexandra|last=Phanor-Faury|date=October 25, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118083812/http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/director-gary-weis-on-his-influential-long-lost-doc-80-blocks-from-tiffanys-1.35700|archive-date=January 18, 2012}} The leader of the gang was Felipe Mercado.David Gonzalez, [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/18/nyregion/about-new-york-ex-gangster-on-new-path-with-advice.html About New york, ex-gangster on the new path with advice]. New York Times 18 October 1997. Like the Savage Nomads, gang members would appropriate Nazi symbolism to project "how menacing and terrible they were." This included wearing swastikas, wearing Nazi helmets and having positions called "Gestapo" within the gang's ranks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/21/kanye-west-once-wore-the-confederate-flag-what-does-he-think-about-it-now/|title=Kanye West once wore the Confederate flag. What does he think about it now?|date=June 21, 2015|access-date=February 11, 2020|website=The Washington Post|author=Soraya Nadia McDonald|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518162312/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/21/kanye-west-once-wore-the-confederate-flag-what-does-he-think-about-it-now/|archive-date=May 18, 2019}}