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.