[1] The gang began to spread from the Bronx to Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Rochelle, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut by the late 1980s.

Under the leadership of the original president David Brockington, who was a member of the Nation of Islam, the Spades organized to fight against the racism and bigotry in the Soundview, Clason Point, Parkchester, Castle Hill, and Throgs Neck neighborhoods of the Bronx.

The 1st division Black Spades policed and protected Bronxdale Houses from the rise in crime, drug dealers, and heroin addicts who began to take over the community.

The Black Spades also included a women's division that started in Clason Point housing and Junior High School I.S.

Reasons for this decline included violence and drug use as well as a move to the burgeoning hip hop culture in park jams, block parties and clubs.

In early 2022, a resurgence of Black Spades members have risen in the River Park Towers housing complex of the West Bronx.