Brotherhood of Street Racers

Who I'd like to meet:

Supporters and Members How do I become a member? To be a member you don't sign up, you don't pay dues, you either are a brotherhood of street racer or your not. Its that simple. Brotherhood members try to find a better way to race, weather blocking off a street completely. Getting tracks to do street racer events. Even trying to getting cities to open a track just for street racers. The Los Angeles Police Department created us to use street racers to solve the street racing problem. It worked. Stiffer laws failed. Strick enforcement failed. Fed Grants failed also. Tomiko's Memorial Book .. 'BIG' WILLIE ROBINSON AND THE "BROTHERHOOD OF STREET RACERS" As the Sixties drew to a close, the social upheaval seen in other spheres of society influenced drag racing as well. In the wake of the 1965 Watts riots, legendary street racer Big Willie Robinson figured out a way to use drag racing to change society. An imposing, muscular 6'6" Vietnam vet with a badass Hemi Daytona Charger and trademark bowler hat, Big Willie was the undisputed king of the late '60s- '70s East L.A. street racing scene. In response to the growing influence of drugs and street gangs, Big Willie and his wife Tomiko organized the 'Brotherhood of Street Racers' as a way to channel the energy of South 805 youth away from crime and violence -- "peace through racing," as he put it. Working with local officials and police, Big Willie was the driving force behind the building of Brotherhood Raceway Park on L.A. harbor's Terminal Island. Before it closed in 1995, BRP was a popular destination for young South Cental racers and is widely regarded as the birthplace of import drag racing -- the 'Fast and Furious' scene. Efforts are now underway to reopen BRP, hopefully extending Big Willie's legacy to another generation of L.A. gearheads of every ethnicity.