Clemency for Tookie Williams!

One thousand anti-death penalty advocates rallied at the gates of San Quentin prison near the San Francisco Bay on Nov. 19 to stop the scheduled Dec. 13 execution there of Stan “Tookie” Williams. Williams, who years ago was a gang leader in Los Angeles and is now an outspoken African American advocate for positive alternatives to street crime, is the author of several books for young people discouraging them from joining gangs. Nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, Williams was supported by speaker after speaker at the gathering.

Although few people expect right-wing California Gov. Arnold Schwarz enegger to grant Williams clemency of his own choice, the governor has found it necessary to schedule a hearing for Williams’ appeal.

Young people of African origin and Latin@s told of the influence Williams’ compelling books had on their own lives. One young woman, formerly in a gang in Southern California, told how she now reads Williams’ books to her own daughter.

Local Nation of Islam leader Minister Tony Muhammad, representing the Millions More Movement, said, “Stan Tookie Williams has done more good on death row than many of us” on the outside. World-famous rapper Snoop Dogg spoke about his past gang membership and the impact Williams’ books had on him, redirecting his life and goals. Snoop Dogg ended his remarks by leading a chant: “Change gonna come.”

Barbara Becnel, a co-author of Williams’ books who has also helped draft some of his legal appeals, spoke, as did Fred Hampton Jr., son of the Black Panther Party leader executed not by the courts but by the Chicago police in December 1969. Hampton pointed out that the rally was taking place “out in front of the concentration camp where George Jackson was murdered” and urged the crowd to “organize or die.”

—Story and photo by Joan Marquardt