I know I make mistakes. All the time.
But do you believe in redemption? I do.
And if there was ever a case made for redemption, it has been made for Tookie Williams.
A friend of mine, Van Jones, is doing incredible work on behalf of Tookie Williams. Please take a moment and add your voice to this debate. Also, please forward it.
Thanks,
Robert
Dear ColorOfChange.org member,
Momentum is building to save the life of Stanley Tookie Williams, a former gang leader turned world-renowned peacemaker. You can make a difference by adding your voice now.
We’re calling on Gov. Schwarzenegger to grant clemency to Tookie Williams. If granted, Williams will remain in prison but will be able to continue his important work. Williams is an asset our community cannot afford to lose. Killing Tookie will solve nothing. It will only serve to deprive our community of powerful force in helping to end the cycle of violence among our youth.
Next Tuesday, we’ll join Bruce S. Gordon, President of the NAACP, in hand-delivering all petitions gathered by that point to Gov. Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger has publicly said that he hasn’t made up his mind, so it’s critical that he hear from as many of us as possible. Please join us–it takes only a moment.
In the early ’70s, Tookie Williams co-founded the Crips–a street gang that went on to cause tremendous destruction in Black neighborhoods throughout the country. In prison, Tookie’s life took a 180-degree turn. First he repented and publicly apologized for the chaos that he helped create. Then he made it his life’s work to clean up the mess and change the lives of others. Tookie has helped countless youth turn away from gang life; he’s written numerous children’s books; and he’s won the praise of teachers, parole officers, and youth who’ve benefitted from his experiences. Because of his work, Tookie has been nominated for five Nobel Prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
Tookie is not the only one of us who has done wrong and gone astray. We have a lot of brothers and sisters who are messing up. The question is: what do we do when one of our own stands up, accepts full responsibility and truly changes his or her life and becomes a healing force–even from a death row cell? Do we turn our back on who’ve they become, regardless of their positive impact on society?
As a young man, Tookie helped set our communities ablaze with violence. But since then, Tookie has been the head of the bucket-brigade–trying to douse those flames.
Let’s make sure he gets to finish his work. And let’s make sure that all young men and women who have made similar mistakes know that, if they also take responsibility, there is a pathway home.
Thanks and Peace,
— James Rucker & Van Jones
ColorOfChange.org
November 29th, 2005
For more information, visit www.tookie.com and savetookie.com
December 2nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
funny how you seem to leave out the fact that he wiped an entire family off the face of this earth
December 7th, 2005 at 11:38 pm
Our government has been involved in wiping 100’s of thousands of families, innocent bystanders, off the face of the earth, in iraq, and is doing very little to build peace. Tookie was convicted of killing one family, but maintains his innocence. Either way, he’s spent the past 10-20 years saving many lives. We have a double standard about murder–in the name of the government, it’s fine. I would far prefer to support a man who had committed murder and then devoted his life to peace than a man who continues to call those who are different from him “terrorists” and feels justified in “destroying the village to save the village”.