December 15, 2005

Redemption unjustified. Tookie Williams. Executed!

First of all, this is in no way meant to condone nor excuse the actions of Tookie Williams. I'm not God, so there is no way to know if he was truly innocent or guilty of the crimes he was convicted on. I will say that it takes a brave soul to hold onto to their beliefs even it meana that it would ultimately end in their demise. This man KNEW w/o a formal apology or some sort of remorseful statement denouncing his diginity, thus admitting to CRIMES which he claimed innocence ... would end his life. To some extent, some may consider this foolish, but we all KNOW white folks need to feel like their important.. especially the powers that be! This was just as much a political statement as a moral one! There are several victims in this situation. A man was executed at the hands of our fellow man. I don't agree with that. I agree that there needs to be retribution & punishment. But aren't we sending the same message by murdering? I look back at the last 15 years of Tookies life and I feel THEY took away something great! Just last nite on the news there were reports showing an increase in gang related homicides. Tookie was an advocate of non violence. He was a man that these children could relate to. He was one of them .. or one of us I should say. I've grown up in a generation filled with murder and murderers. I sat next to these young men in elementarty school and watched them drop like bad apples from a tree as we grew into our teenage years. My very first crush.. murdered in cold blood. I can go on and on about the senseless killings of those I've known and those I didn't, but what is that going to change? What message did the state of California send by killing Tookie Williams? Should we revel in the theory of an EYE for an EYE. I read an article which contained a comment made by one of the victims step mothers.. she said, Justice was served... RIGHT! 26 years later and your son is STILL DEAD, THAT'S NOT JUSTICE!! If we're going to sentence one to death shouldn't that sentence be carried out immediately? Why did we allow this man to sit on death row for more than have of his life? I find that a cruel injustice. Although some may feel that he got what he deserved... 4 people were murdered! I know if someone murdered my son, my first reaction would be anger. That is a human reaction... I may even want to kill the person who did it... but what justice will it really serve? It wouldn't bring my son back... and it doesn't make me feel better.. it simply satisfies my instinctive need for blood... Aren't we as humans, supposed to be above that? I believe if Tookie did murder those people he was a different person then... a young man without any direction. Maybe prison provided him something he wasn't attaining on the streets. It grounded him and forced him to look into a mirror revealing a hideous reflection. I believe that he'd changed. It's been 26 years... over half of his life spent in prison. He didn't have to spend his time writing children's books.. he could've continued the gang life right there in prison. This is reality, nothing changes once you're in prison... except you can't leave... it's a society unknown to most.... but for those of us that have been there or have loved ones there... we know that NOTHING CHANGES. I believe Tookie started something real it's up to us to finish what he started. I plan to buy his books for my own son.... support the positive legacy he left behind.
Peace to the victims that were murdered and Peace to Tookie & his family.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What does "white" have to do with it?... and four people were murdered.... their families have the right to their opinions.... it's not your place or mine to decide if they feel justice was served... I'm glad tookie chose to finish out his days doing the good he did.... but I don't blame "white" people for his actions... and I don't blame "white" people for his execution.... he made his choices... and he's paid the consequences... it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that murder is wrong... I'm mixed... and I'll be damned if I'm gonna blame my dad cause he's white.... it ain't his fault tookie murdered four people.

princessdominique said...

I just don't really think the death penalty is 100% meaning if you can't prove it with zero doubt then you have to err on the side of caution. This is your blog so you are entitled to your own opinion.

Cherise said...

Princess,I don't agree nor support the death penalty... Myabe u misunderstood what I was saying.I wrote this from an objectional standpoint. If they wanted justice.. life in prison would have provided that in my opinion. And to anonymous.. White people make the laws that govern this country... This wasn't about examining the evidence or giving justice a bell to ring.. this was a political decision geared towards an election year.. being that the governor is a republician.. they are very set in their moral ways... he was looking for this man to give a formal apology.... and admit to something that he clearly did not do... (so he said) none of us know what really happened.. except the victims & Tookie..

Anonymous said...

True and I'm not mixed- I'm not going to say sorry for somthing I did not do! People don't see it that way - they think it's showing no pitty! sorrow etc.. I feel sorry for the people that were killed. But we will never know if he did it or not!

You got time yet?

Cherise said...

Time for what?? LOL LOL and who are u?

Anonymous said...

kay... just to clear things up, I'm the first anonymous... not the second ... lol

I've been reading your page for a long time Reese... because 99% of the time I can relate to what you say... alot of the time, I feel like we're both going through the same things... I've been where you are, and I've experienced what you've experienced... and I agree with you, the politicians in the united states are for the most part white.... but that doesn't mean whites in general had anything to do with tookie's execution, or with the reason he was put on death row in the first place... so I apologize for jumping the gun on what I thought you meant there.... peace.

Abreu, Jorge said...

Hey whaddup Reesie, what's good? I've gotta say, this post really brought some perspective to this whole Tookie debate. I never really thought of some of the angles you mentioned. That's whaddup... At the same time though, I mean c'mon. Everybody knows who's runnin things in this country n who how laws are carried out. Tookie knew that by gettin himself in that situation. I do agree with u when u speak of 25 years being a long time to simply kill a person too. WTF is that? Mad doe u spending to keep homie alive, for what? This is life as we know it.
P.S. Anonymous speakin a whole lotta strong words to be so anonymous... LOL!

Abreu, Jorge said...

By the way, thanks for stoppin by my site... I definetly see how we write n think alike...

Anonymous said...

I'm anonymous cause I'm anonymous... get over it.

Anonymous said...

I'm anonymous cause I'm anonyous....understand me and look at me and you will see who I am. Yes you know me, and I know you better than most. However I'm still anonymous.

Anonymous said...

You made some really deep statement and me being democratic and I am not a supporter of the death of penalty.. I fully understand where you are coming from. Good writing, Reese

Shamika