Founded October 1993 Type 501 (c) 3 | Location Chicago, Illinois Membership 2,000 | |
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Founder Ken 'Dream Maker' Thomas Purpose | ||
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 their patch. It is one of the biggest Black motorcycle clubs in the USA and the biggest African American motorcycle club in Chicago, with 97 chapters as of 2012, with over 2000 members across the USA.
Contents
History
The first club chapter was founded by Ken Thomas, a Chicago policeman, in 1993 or 1994.
The National Association of Buffalo Soldiers/Troopers Motorcycle Clubs (NABSTMC) was formed c. 1999.
Activities
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; fundraising for victims of the 2010 Tennessee floods, highway adoption and adopting a nursing home for monthly visits in Clarksville, Tennessee; and mentoring jail inmates in Alexandria, Virginia. They also have a historical educational program concerning the contributions made by their namesake Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. Army.
The group is enrolled as part of an official motorcycle safety mentorship program in cooperation with the United States Army.
Rallies
The group also is an organizer of the National Bikers Roundup, a national motorcycle rally that draws tens of thousands of participants who spend millions of dollars at the rally (estimated $10 million in 2004).
The annual Buffalo Thunder Rally from Maryland suburbs to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington D.C. started in 2002 or 2004. Some riders stay to participate in the subsequent Rolling Thunder Run motorcycle rally. About 1,500 riders participated in 2013.
Membership and organization
An academic paper on the organization and its context in African-American culture described it as a "unique recreational, service, and educational organization".
The national headquarters official website states "we are not a 1% club and we claim no territory." 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.
Membership includes African-American men and women, mostly active-duty and retired military, law enforcement and professionals. Identification as member of a particular race is not a membership requirement.
The national organization is composed of several regional/geographic "frontiers" in the United States: Northeast, Southeast, Great Lakes, Central, and Western. 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. 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.