By Pam Walatka
 Williams |
Supporters of San Quentin death row inmate Stan “Tookie” Williams held an Oct. 30 rally to advocate for saving his life. The event also featured a sceening of a 2004 movie based on the life of the former gang member.
Williams, scheduled for execution Dec. 13, fielded questions from prison during the event. The co-founder of the “Crips” gang in Los Angeles has authored anti-gang books and is the subject of “Redemption,” starring Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx.
Brother to Brother, Steel Urban and Imagine That Entertainment co-sponsored the rally.
Williams is the author of nine books aimed at de-romanticizing violence and prison. Critics claim his books don’t achieve that end, but legions of young people said he has saved their lives. He has done extensive work from prison, mentoring public school principals and at-risk youth.
The rally supported the growing movement to save Williams from execution because of his work counseling youth against violence and their concern that his conviction (by a virtually all-white jury) was based on the testimony of questionable witnesses, with no physical evidence pointing to him.
Gwen Watkins Jones, former Los Altos Hills resident, helped sponsor the rally through Yeshua’s Second Chance Foundation. The rally featured the unveiling of the presidential Call to Service Award that honored Williams’ anti-gang writings and their use in schools.
“Children are reading his books on how not to become a gang member,” Jones said. “He has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize. This man could be more of an asset alive. The execution of Tookie Williams is breaking my heart.”
Los Altos resident Wendell Rooks, volunteer chaplain at Elmwood Correctional Facility, attended the rally. Rooks is more sympathetic now to William’s situation than he was 20 years ago, because “I was not aware that he didn’t get a fair trial. A man is supposed to be tried by his peers. Technically speaking, you can’t say he was tried by his peers. Also, he is not the same guy that he was. In my work at the jail, I see that happen a lot - where guys have dramatically changed.”
Adrian Castillo, speaking for the Brother to Brother club at Foothill College, offered: “To punish him at that level is to punish those who benefit from his work.”
A clemency petition to stop Williams’ execution and replace it with a sentence of life without parole has been forwarded to Gov. Schwarzenegger. There are more than 30,000 signatures on the petition submitted Nov. 7.
