I guess another apology is fitting for my no-show last week. I must admit in the last 5/6 year of writing this year has by far been the most difficult. I struggle to find information and finding time to put it all together has also proven a bit of a mission, but that’s all to change soon. I invested in a personal computer at home, no work firewalls, so I have no excuses. For those web crawlers amongst us, my home email address is yawzie@gmail.com, MSN chat name is yawzar@hotmail.com and from the old times my AIM screen name is yawpi.

So it comes to the end of the year I am sure tomorrow the 15th Dec is a lot of people’s last day at work, at least here in SA with the 16th being Reconciliation Day as we call it. So I’ll make this the last email for the year. And did I struggle to get a topic for this week. How is this for coincidence? Earlier this week I am watching CNN in the morning and I hear of a man called Stanley Tookie Williams, who the Governator (Mr Arnie) ‘allowed’ to die. I caught the tail end of it and it sounded interesting, I wanted to know more, but that was the end of my interest, I got up did whatever I needed to do and got to work. Later in the day/the next day, I get an email from my main man Sean Harps and what is it? It’s a link and whats the topic? Yip you guessed it Stanley T Williams. An interesting story it was I tell u

Born to a 17 year old mother in the currently underwater city of New Orleans. He spent his informative years running the streets of South Central LA…on the West Side. In 1969 Raymond ‘Truck’ Washington formed the eastern side Crips gang. In 1971, Williams joined Washington and he formed the western side Crips gang. The gang was initially started to root out all the other gangs and to keep the streets safe, reduce violence and police brutality (well so say many of the original members). Over time though, very short time it is reported, Crips morphed into the very thing they claimed to be acting against and Crips became one of the most feared gangs in LA if not America. The name Crips was derived from the term used to describe young men who were victims of crimes and were forced to walk with a cane.

The guy was one nasty piece of work. In Feb 1979 he and a couple of mates went to rob a Stop-N-Go, but some of his mates chickened out. Williams was bleak with them, he gave them a piece of his mind and then he told them we are going to do this, so they headed off to t nearby 7-11 where they successfully robbed the place of $120, yip that’s right $120 and in the process he shot a 27 year old store clerk in the process, just for s hits and giggles. He even laughed about how the guy Mr Owens, gargled or squirmed when he got shot, in the back at point blank range with a sawed off shot gun. This was the recorded beginning of Williams’ life of murder and violence.

It is recorded that after that Williams stormed into the Brookhaven Motel in March 1979 and murdered the 3 Taiwanese immigrants (a husband and wife and one of their children, who Williams referred to as Buddha-heads) who were working there, he emptied the cash register and fled the scene. This roberry netted him a whole $100. The law caught up to him and he was convicted of these 3 crimes and that of Owens and was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Williams maintained his innocence from the beginning of his sentence, his defense was based on lack of evidence, eye witness, fingerprints, prosecutorial misconduct, biased jury selection and a whole host of possible excuses as to why he was innocent.

He was incarcerated from 1979. He spent plenty days in solitary confinement in the early years of his sentence as a result of assaults on the guards and fellow inmates. Williams was a large guy who used to be an active bodybuilder. The streak of assaults lasted through most of the 80’s to early 90’s and this list ranged to beating up inmates, threatening to kill guards, inappropriate acts with female visitors, attacking guards with chemicals, stabbing inmates. In prison Williams continued as an active Crips member, hence why the violent behavior. This behavior earned him 6 and a half years in solitary confinement.

When he came out of solitary, Williams seemed a changed man. He gained much attention for his publication of children’s books advocating non-violence and alternatives to gangs. His autobiography Redemption was made into a movie that starred Jamie Foxx. He was instrumental in brokering a peace agreement in what is known as the deadliest gang war in the history of America between the Bloods and the Crips. He received a letter from George W Bush commending his social efforts, this letter and all his other accolades he had achieved in his post solitary days were noted during his appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals, but it was all in vain. His last option was to request clemency from the Governor of California.

He showed some remorse for his actions and what had become of Crips. In 1997, he made a public apology stating that he had no idea that Crips membership would grow as it did and spread across the nation and have as many copy cat gangs popping up in areas such as South Africa. He apologized for the role the gang had played in destroying the lives of many people, particularly the victims of their crimes and the young black men who were drawn into these gangs and the violence they inflicted on each other! He was apparently nominated for a Nobel Peace prize in every year from 2001 to 2005.
Below is an extract of his apology obtained from a website:
"Twenty-five years ago when I created the Crips youth gang with Raymond Lee Washington in South Central Los Angeles, I never imagined Crips membership would one day spread throughout California, would spread to much of the rest of the nation and to cities in South Africa, where Crips copycat gangs have formed. I also didn't expect the Crips to end up ruining the lives of so many young people, especially young black men who have hurt other young black men. Raymond was murdered in 1979. But if he were here, I believe he would be as troubled as I am by the Crips legacy.

So today I apologize to you all -- the children of America and South Africa -- who must cope every day with dangerous street gangs. I no longer participate in the so-called gangster lifestyle, and I deeply regret that I ever did.

As a contribution to the struggle to end child-on-child brutality and black-on-black brutality, I have written the Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence children's book series. My goal is to reach as many young minds as possible to warn you about the perils of a gang lifestyle.

I am no longer "dys-educated" (disease educated). I am no longer part of the problem. Thanks to the Almighty, I am no longer sleepwalking through life.

I pray that one day my apology will be accepted. I also pray that your suffering, caused by gang violence, will soon come to an end as more gang members wake up and stop hurting themselves and others.

I vow to spend the rest of my life working toward solutions.

Amani (Peace),

Stanley "Tookie" Williams, Surviving Crips Co-Founder, April 13, 1997"

Many citizens gave their support for a stay in execution prior to the defences case being presented to the Governator, many well know personalities including the Desmond Tutu, Jesse Jackson, Russell Crowe, Jessica Simpson, Gabriel Byrne, Danny Glover, Snoop Dogg, Ted Danson etc. After an hour long closed door clemency hearing, Williams was informed on the 11 December that his request for a stay in execution and the request to convert his sentence to life in prison without parole was unsuccessful.

On the 13th December, Stanley Tookie Williams was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in California. Was re reformed? I don’t know? Was he innocent, well the courts say he was. WE will never really know cos apparently till his death he pleaded innocence and his apology was only in relation to him starting the gang and his gang lifestyle and not the murders. He requested neither last meal nor any last words to the warden prior to his execution.

Birthdays
12th Lisa
13th Dom, Si, Claudia and Antonio
14th Lauren
15th Gamaliel
16th Bro Nana
18th Renier
21st Stephanie
22nd Sasha
23rd Mia
28th Mbumbu
29th Lephoi
30th Thabang

I know I have left someone out, please let me know if its you. “the world is one big classroom, where experiences are your teachers and choices are your tests. The answers are up to you.” – Rebecca Hilt

If you are travelling over this period travel safely. Otherwise I sincerely wish you and your families a peaceful and ‘restful’ festive season. All the best for the challenges that 2006 may throw your way.

RESPECT!!

Y