Author
Ytzhak
...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....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 ... Is racial jury-rigging a 'minor' thing?
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/46564.php
!*"Tookie: From Chaos to Consciousness" by Mumia Abu-Jamal
TOOKIE: FROM CHAOS TO CONSCIOUSNESS
======================================
[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!
Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM:
A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South
End Press (http://www.southendpress.org); Ph.
#1-800-533-8478.]
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