For the Kenyan rebellion in the 1950s, please see the Mau Mau Uprising. For the band formed by Rick Wilder, please see The Mau-Mau's. Mau Maus is the name of a vicious street gang in New York during the 1950s. The film, The Cross and the Switchblade covered the origins of its most famous leader, Nicky Cruz. Its name was featured in a Spike Lee film, Bamboozled in 2000. History The Mau Maus were a Brooklyn Puerto Rican gang operating from at least late 1954 to around 1962. According to Israel Narvaez, he and some fellow friends broke from their gang called the Apaches and created the Mau Maus. The Apaches had succumbed to heroin and Israel Narvaez and some of the others were more interested in fighting. They also asked permission from a rival gang called "the Chaplins", if they could start a Puerto Rico gang in the area. Eventually the gang was called Mau