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TOOKIE: FROM CHAOS TO CONSCIOUSNESS
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[Col. Writ. 11/20/05] Copyright '05 Mumia Abu-Jamal

The name Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, is both famous and infamous.

Infamous because of his multiple murder convictions in California, which led him to Death Row; Famous because of his works while there, and the growing movement to spare his life, and perhaps achieve his freedom from California’s notorious San Quentin prison.

Those works include the writing of several, award-winning anti-gang and anti-violence books, many of them written especially for young folks, which have turned many away from the perils and pitfalls of gang life.

They respond to Tookie, because they know that he knows what he’s talking about. Tookie is one of the founders of the Crips gang, which has spread all across the nation. As one of the founders of Cripdom, his words have a resonance that others, either in government or the church, simply can’t match.

Tookie’s life example is also known to us through the acting of the Oscar-winning Jamie Foxx, who portrayed the muscular former gangbanger in a tele-drama called, “Redemption”. Foxx, the man and celebrity has joined the call to California’s Governor, fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to commute his death sentences to life. Just recently, Foxx was joined by his fellow actor, Will Smith, and rapper Snoop Dogg, who has echoed Foxx’s call.

Several months ago, the anti-death penalty publication, *The New Abolitionist* (published by the Chicago-based Campaign to End the Death Penalty) published a brief letter from Tookie in which he addressed the issues of both his innocence and his sincerity. He wrote:

"My detractors in the media and elsewhere have questioned my redemption. Their doubt is driven largely by my open apology (....at http://www.tookie.com) to Black folks and others who might have been offended by the fact that I helped create the Crips youth gang in Los Angeles 34 years ago. My detractors argue that I could not be redeemed because I have not apologized to the family members of the victims that I was convicted of killing.

"But please allow me to clarify. I will never apologize for capital crimes that I did not commit -- not even to save my life. And I did not commit the crimes for which I was sentenced to be executed by the State of California.

"Being a condemned prisoner, I am viewed among the least able to qualify as a promoter of redemption and of peace. But the most wretched among society can be redeemed, find peace and reach out to others to lift them up. Redemption cannot be faked or intellectualized. It must be subjective, experienced, and shared. In the past redemption was an alien concept to me. But from 1988 to 1994, while I lived in solitary confinement, I embarked on a transitional path toward redemption. I underwent years of education, soul-searching, edification, spiritual cultivation, and fighting to transcend my inner demons.

"Subsequently, the redeeming process for me symbolized the end of a bad beginning--and a new start.”
[From: *The New Abolitionist*, Aug. '05, p. 2]

Stanley 'Tookie' Williams has been nominated several times for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, for his work in support of street peace, and in anti-gang efforts. He has written nine anti-gang and anti-violence books, and created the Internet Project for Street Peace, which connects youth globally in support of that end.

That said, Tookie has a date with death: December 13, 2005!

What makes Tookie’s case doubly disturbing is that the State played fast and loose with jury selection, by kicking off 3 potential Black jurors, resulting in a virtually all-white jury to decide both his guilt and whether he should live or die (there were 10 Caucasians; 1 Filipino and 1 Latino).

Is racial jury-rigging a 'minor' thing?

Just recently, in Philadelphia, a man who had been on Death Row for over a decade, for multiple murders, had his retrial. His original conviction was tossed because of a violation of the *Batson* rule (which forbids the removal of Black jurors). A racially mixed jury acquitted him of *all* charges.

It can be said that Tookie didn’t receive a fair trial, by any standard. How can he then face death?

The death penalty has been losing steam for years, largely because of cases which were 'won' by unfairness.

With the support of the people, that may be ending, as the fight for the life of Tookie begins!

Question: What is the actual ideal behind the death penalty? Is it "pay for taking a life with your life" or "you're a danger to society and will likely kill again so you have to be killed"?

I ask because in this whole death penalty thing you may be convinced that a person is rehabilitated but then think, "what about the family of the person(s) he killed....if I were them I'd still want justice."

So the whole debate about this guy kind of hinges on what the purpose of the death penalty actually is.

Personally, I've never truly made up my mind if i'm for or against though I lean towards against.

__________________
"A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool's paradise."
-Brother Valentino

I know I am straying off the topic of the death penalty which I am not quite sure I am a proponent of. However, I read the heading of the article “From Chaos to Consciousness” by Mumia and I was left to wonder if the title expresses the totality of the founders and the organization. Let me also state that this is by no means an attempt by me to vindicate the crimes committed. I just wondered how many people know about the origins of this organization. But even before I venture into the history of this organization let’s be clear that gangs existed since…well since…in fact the word, “Thug” I read prior, “dates back to India in the year 1200 AD and it refers to a gang of criminals (Thugz) that roamed the country pillaging towns in their course. These Thugz had their own symbols, hand signs, rituals and slang. In the United States, we grew up with tales of our own form of thugs like pirates and gangsters, therefore, gangs, undoubtedly, are not a new concept”. Every immigrant group that entered these shores had gangs. Look at the movie Gangs of New York!

The Crips were starting point was intended to mirror the Black Panthers on a political and social level after the Panthers demise. In fact, I understand from some sources the claim that C.R.I.P. was initially an acronym for Community Revolution in Progress. However, at some point the organization strayed away from its’ initially framework and became the street thugs that we know today. Is it a case that it grew rapidly grew out of control? I am not sure.

Excerpt (the history):
Raymond Washington, a 15-year-old student at Fremont High School, started the first new street gang in 1969, shortly after much of the Panther power base was eliminated and as other social and political groups became ineffective in Los Angeles. Washington, who was too young to participate in the Panther movement during the 1960s, absorbed much of the Panther rhetoric of community control of neighborhoods (Baker 1988:28) and fashioned his quasi-political organization after the Panther’s militant style, sporting the popular black leather jackets of the time. Washington got together a few other friends and started the first new black gang in Los Angeles on 78th Street near Fremont High School called the Baby Avenues.
In addition to emulating the Panther appearance, Washington also admired an older gang that remained active throughout the 1960s called the Avenues. He decided to name his new quasi-political organization the Baby Avenues, to represent a new generation of black youths. They were also known as the Avenue Cribs[later to be morphed into Crips], and after a short time they were referred to as the Cribs, which was a comment on their youthfulness. Their initial intent was to continue the revolutionary ideology of the 1960s and to act as community leaders and protectors of their local neighborhoods, but the revolutionary rhetoric did not endure. Because of immaturity and a lack of political leadership, Raymond Washington and his group were never able to develop an efficient political agenda for social change within the community.

… By 1972, most Cribs had been completely transformed into the Crippin’ way of life, which often led into criminal activities. For example, the acquisition of leather jackets by unemployed black youths was accomplished by committing robbery and strong-arming vulnerable youths for their jackets…
http://www.streetgangs.com/history/hist01.html