Buffalo soldiers

The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club(NABSMC) is a Black (African-American) motorcycle club in the United States, named for the historic African-American United States Army regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers, seen in theirpatch.[1][2][3][4] It is one of the biggest Black motorcycles clubs in the USA and the biggest African American motorcycle club in Chicago, with 97 chapters as of 2012,[5] with over 2000 members across the USA.[6][7]

HistoryEdit

The first club chapter was founded by Ken Thomas, a Chicago policeman, in 1993[8][9] or 1994.[2]

The National Association of Buffalo Soldiers/Troopers Motorcycle Clubs (NABSTMC) was formed c. 1999.[2]

ActivitiesEdit

Chapters participate in many charitable activities across the United States, including providing "Soldiers' Thanksgiving" Thanksgiving turkeys, hams and other necessities for poor families in Tacoma, Washington;[10]fundraising for victims of the 2010 Tennessee floods, highway adoptionand adopting a nursing home for monthly visits in Clarksville, Tennessee;[11] and mentoring jail inmates in Alexandria, Virginia.[12] They also have a historical educational program concerning the contributions made by their namesake Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. Army.[13]

The group is enrolled as part of an official motorcycle safety mentorship program in cooperation with the United States Army.[14]

RalliesEdit

The group also is an organizer of theNational Bikers Roundup, a nationalmotorcycle rally that draws tens of thousands of participants who spend millions of dollars at the rally (estimated $10 million in 2004).[3]

The annual Buffalo Thunder Rally from Maryland suburbs to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington D.C. started in 2002[8] or 2004.[15] Some riders stay to participate in the subsequent Rolling Thunder Runmotorcycle rally.[5] About 1,500 riders participated in 2013.[15]

Membership and organizationEdit

An academic paper on the organization and its context in African-American culture described it as a "unique recreational, service, and educational organization".[4]

The national headquarters official website states "we are not a 1% cluband we claim no territory."[9]Membership requires possession of a 750 cc or greater displacement motorcycle from any manufacturer, a valid drivers license, and insurance; anyone with a felony conviction is barred from membership.[8][16]

Membership includes African-American men and women,[17] mostly active-duty and retired military, law enforcement and professionals.[5][8] Identification as member of a particular race is not a membership requirement.[16]

The national organization is composed of several regional/geographic "frontiers" in the United States: Northeast, Southeast, Great Lakes, Central, and Western.[18] Within each frontier, there are local chapters; the first chapter in a state is designated the "mother chapter" with certain responsibilities for establishing new chapters.[19] A member who relocates to an "open state", or certain other conditions, is a "member-at-large", who is affiliated with the national group but not any local chapter.[19