Stanley "Tookie" Williams

Stanley "Tookie" Williams was executed early this morning because he wouldn't admit to a crime he said he didn't do. Although he has been nominated multiple times for the Noble Peace Prize because of his work with helping children understand the pitfalls of gangs, Arnold Schwarzenegger deemed that Williams had not reached any level of redemption so he had to die.

Several years ago my wife gave me a copy of Tookie's book Life in Prison, which I have read to my students at the beginning of every school year. The book talks about how Williams started the Crips street gang with a friend of his and how life in a prison is something that is harsh, rough, and unbearable. It was very difficult coming to school today and having to talk with students about Williams's execution and how redemption can be held at different standards for different people.

Tookie preached about the tragedies that can occur by joining the "gang life", and now that voice has been taken away. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "An eye for an eye makes everyone blind." I think that quote applies well to this sad event carried out today. Tookie's death opens up many issues, including whether redemption is attainable in our society, which happens to be bombing and forcing its dysfunctional democratic views on many other countries throughout the world. It opens up the question of whether the death penalty is a barbaric approach to our societal problems and whether our prisons serve no purpose but as a warehouse for prisoners.

America has become a society of "play it safe" mentalities. Decisions are made based on what doesn't rock the boat and then they are covered up quickly so they avoid anymore exposure. I guess it is our fault, too, because we let our shortened memory spans forget about injustices and prejudices that happen today. What about the Terence Garner case (Click here to see)? Is that now forgotten that the TV screens have faded on their coverage? Maybe Tookie will change that; I know for me I can never look at Schwarzenegger in the same light again.

http://www.tookie.com