On Fourth of July weekend 1947, around four thousand motorcyclists descended on a small California town called Hollister. The town had seven police officers. Life magazine ran a photograph — almost certainly staged — and the outlaw biker became a national myth overnight. The American Motorcyclist Association reportedly distanced itself by claiming 99% of riders were law-abiding citizens. The clubs that would become the Hells Angels, the Bandidos, the Outlaws, and the Pagans took the remaining one percent and turned it into a diamond patch worn on their chests. This episode traces what that patch actually means, how it's earned, and what happens to someone who wears it without the right. The three-piece colors. The prospect period. The unanimous vote. The tattoo that comes last, after everything else has already been decided. The designation given to members who leave badly. And the detail that sits at the centre of this world: the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation, which exists explicitly outside the law, has filed dozens of trademark and copyright lawsuits in federal court to protect its patches from being sold in costume shops. The one percent is theirs. They built a system to make sure only the right people get to say it.
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollister_riot en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_motorcycle_club
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