[Antiracism] The Death of Tookie Williams

[Mary]

>From: "Nick Camerota" <wmassiac at hotmail.com>
>To: mbombardier at hampshire.edu
>Subject: The Death of Tookie Williams
>
>-------------------------
>>From the Los Angeles Times (December 13, 2005):
>"Barbara Becnel, Williams' close friend who led the campaign to save his
>life, said she was making the [funeral] arrangements today.
>
>"She said she and others were planning a major, public funeral for an
>unspecified church in Los Angeles. Becnel said she anticipates the ceremony
>will be on the scale of the local memorials for Rosa Parks, the civil rights
>leader who died earlier this year...
>
>"Becnel, who believes Williams did not commit the four murders for which he
>was executed, said the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has promised her its
>resources in proving Williams' innocence.
>
>"Becnel witnessed the execution.
>
>"'He suffered,' she said. 'He was writhing, lifting his head up and fussing'
>at the guards for taking so long. 'It was horrible. To me, it was torture.
>It took 35 minutes to kill him.'"
>-------------------------
>RACISM TRUMPS REDEMPTION: The Death of Stanley Tookie Williams
>[written December 13, 2005]
>
>Decent people reacted to the state's premeditated murder of Stanley Tookie
>Williams with unequal measures of outrage, sadness and disgust. The  9th
>U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals provided cover for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
>finding no "clear or convincing evidence of [Williams'] actual innocence."
>
>Never mind that three new witnesses stepped forward last week ready to offer
>testimony which might have cast further doubt on the state's case. The
>Terminator simply echoed the appellate court's opinion, saying the "facts do
>not justify overturning the jury's verdict or the decisions of the courts."
>Clearly, Schwarzenegger was not about to consider any plea for a stay of
>execution by defense attorneys.
>
>Knowing Tookie intended to maintain his innocence to the end, Schwarzenegger
>made an admission of guilt by Williams a condition for commutation. What is
>the likelihood that Schwarzenegger -- who openly questioned Williams'
>"redemption" and wondered if "it was just a hollow promise" -- would have
>actually granted clemency?
>
>The "apology and atonement" Schwarzenegger demanded were apparent when
>Williams began writing books for young people to help them avoid the sort of
>life he lived as a co-founder of the Crips. In his "Tookie Speaks Out"
>series, Williams cautioned elementary school children about forming
>friendships wisely, staying clear of drugs, and much more. Williams'
>Internet Project for Street Peace influenced youth wordwide, doing more good
>than all of those who sought his death.
>
>Tookie spoke out for years but the cops, the courts, and vote-hungry
>politicians like Schwarzenegger simply refused to listen. If they are
>listening to anything now, it's for rumblings of "civil unrest" in the wake
>of Williams' execution. LA city councilors have, as newspapers often put it,
>"called for calm" and the LAPD assured the public and anxious officials that
>they will remain "vigilant." No pressing need for a city-wide tactical alert
>... yet. If a paroxysm of violence had erupted, Tookie Williams wouldn't
>have been responsible. Look instead to those who denied him justice.
>
>Tookie succeeded in redeeming himself; the racist system that put him to
>death is beyond redemption.
>.........................................
>Nicholas Camerota is a professor of philosophy & political theory at
>Springfield Technical Community College, and the former WMass coordinator of
>the International Action Center's organizing committee. He was the campus
>chairperson of the Dec. 1st Rosa Parks Day Commemoration and is  working to
>enhance the college's diversity and community outreach programs. He would
>like to hear from anyone offering suggestions or other assistance.
>Phone: 413-755-4806 Email: camerota at stcc.edu
>-------------------------
>FOR MORE on Tookie Williams, access this pdf fact sheet at
>http://www.tookie.com/tookie_fact_sheet_10.18.05.pdf which disputes the
>grounds for his conviction. Also visit 'Tookie's Corner,' which features an
>extensive collection of his writings at http://www.tookie.com and SAVE
>TOOKIE at http://www.savetookie.org
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>REPORT ON DEC. 1 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. ROSA PARKS DAY EVENT
>Teach-In Honors Local Civil Rights Leaders
>By L. Denis
>
>In the city described by civil rights leaders in the 1960s as "the Selma of
>the North," the mayor and city council of Springfield, Mass. issued two
>separate proclamations honoring Rosa Parks. These tributes and others were
>read during a teach-in at Springfield Technical Community College, located
>in the heart of the city's African American community.
>
>The overflow crowd of students, faculty and community members listened as
>aides representing State Senator Michael Buoniconti, Congressman Richard
>Neal and U.S. Senator John Kerry read similar tributes to Rosa Parks.
>Commissioner Cynthia Tucker of the Massachusetts Commission Against
>Discrimination also spoke at the two-hour event.
>
>STCC Professor Nicholas Camerota, campus chairperson of The Rosa Parks Day
>Organizing Committee, read a solidarity message signed by former U.S.
>Attorney General Ramsey Clark which urged the audience to join the struggle
>against poverty, racism, and war. The philosophy professor's own
>denunciation of the war drew an euthsiastic response. Camerota also
>acknowledged the efforts of Springfield Democratic City Committee chairman
>E. Henry Twiggs, who was unable to attend, saying "without E. Henry this
>program would not have been possible."
>
>The teach-in featured presentations by prominent Springfield African
>Americans active in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, among
>them State Representative Benjamin Swan, Chair of the Massachusetts Black
>Legislative Caucus, and Mrs. Ruth B. Loving, who was part of a delegation
>which welcomed Mrs. Parks to Springfield on November 12, 1956.
>
>The voices of a new generation of African American activists were also heard
>as STCC student Andrea Walker, who organized a protest against police
>brutality last year, pointedly told attendees to "get on the bus" for future
>anti-war and anti-racism protests. (Springfield has been well represented at
>national anti-war marches in New York and Washington, D.C.) Solobia Hutchins
>of Arise for Social Justice, a poor peoples rights group, said December 1
>was also World AIDS Day, and called attention to the devastating impact of
>HIV-AIDS on the people of color in the US and throughout the world.
>
>The teach-in ended on an emotional note as those assembled joined hands to
>sing "We Shall Overcome," the anthem of the Civil Rights struggle.
>
>Following the teach-in, which featured film clips from documentaries and
>performances by The Freedom Choir, a reception was held honoring the senior
>Civil Rights activists, including the leadership of the NAACP and the Urban
>League. The event received wide coverage by area media.
>
>Over 150 informational leaflets concerning the Sommerville 5 were picked up
>by the audience. Catherine Donaghy and other WMass IAC/Troops Out Now
>supporters were on hand to provide logistical support. Donaghy called the
>firsthand testimony by Civil Rights workers "highly informative, inspiring,
>and deeply moving," and noted the desire of community members to make the
>December 1 Rosa Parks Commemoration an annual event. Professor Camerota and
>others on campus will be meeting with community leaders and college
>administrators to discuss this and related matters, including teach-ins
>devoted to Haiti and Puerto Rico.
>
>Camerota said more progressive programs are being planned both on and off
>campus and a renewed spirit of activism is beginning to emerge "as people
>draw strength from a heroic past and sense greater possibilities in the
>present for coordinated action." Students and community members filled up
>several contact sheets for the newly formed Western Mass. Mobilization
>Against Poverty, Racism and War [for more information, email
>wmassmobe at hotmail.com].
>
>Last month, Western Mass. IAC donated $400 to send a representative of Arise
>to the National Conference to Reclaim Our Cities [*] in Detroit. Both
>organizations hope to co-sponsor a series of community-based educational
>programs during 2006.
>
>[*] For more on the Detroit conference, check out this report at
>http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2005/11/national-conference-to-reclaim-our.html
>--------------------------------------------------------
>EXCERPTS FROM 'PVTA honors civil rights icon,' Springfield Republican,
>December 2
>
>At Springfield Technical Community College, nearly 300 gathered to honor the
>day - Dec. 1, 1955 - that changed the face of the civil rights movement. The
>two-hour event featured words from local activists who worked with Parks,
>film showing the horrors of discrimination and songs from the Freedom
>Choir...
>
>Parks died on Oct. 25 at the age of 92. Whatever else she accomplished in
>her life, nothing compared to the courage she displayed in the Deep South of
>overt racism and frequent lynchings on that December day...
>
>At STCC, students, faculty, staff and the public turned out to honor the
>woman described by those who knew her as humble, kind and strong of spirit.
>
>"She had a soft voice, and bright eyes that looked straight at you,"
>recalled Ruth B. Loving, who greeted Parks on her visit here in 1956, a year
>after her arrest on the 'Cleveland Avenue' bus in Montgomery.
>
>Loving said Parks was invited to meet with the local NAACP chapter, whose
>members wanted to take part in the growing movement. The visit, she said,
>was magical.
>
>"We had to see her. We had to listen to her. We were there by the hundreds,"
>said Loving, who is 91.
>
>State Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, also worked with Parks in the
>1960s, and met her many times over the years. Yesterday, he said the
>soft-spoken woman continues to inspire Americans.
>
>"She was a noble lady, a gracious and humble person," said Swan. "I think
>she touched a lot of people, as you can see by the gathering here."
>
>Loving, Swan and others spoke of the need to continue working towards Civil
>Rights, especially now, when budget cuts and political policies are eroding
>away at anti-poverty and other programs.
>
>"Things changed dramatically with Rose Parks," said Cynthia A. Tucker,
>commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
>
>"But unfortunately, things are changing now in the other direction. All of
>us took pause when she passed to see what we missed."
>
>STCC President Ira H. Rubenzahl made a commitment to improve diversity among
>faculty and staff at the college, where the student population is nearly
>one-third ethnic minority...
>
>For the full report, click
>http://www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/113351331326210.xml?nnmw
>--------------------------------------------------------
>ROSA PARKS RESOURCES:
>
>- The Rosa Parks Portal is intended to be the web resource directory for all
>Rosa Parks sites online, go to http://www.e-portals.org/Parks/
>
>- Montgomery Bus Boycott: The story of Rosa Parks, Civil Rights and the
>Montgomery Bus Boycott, Fred Gray, Ralph Abernathy,et al. Read 575 historic
>articles from the Montgomery Advertiser archives 1955-1957...at
>http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/frontpage.htm
>
>** EXCERPTS from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Address to First
>Montgomery (Alabama) Improvement Association Mass Meeting, Holt Street
>Baptist Church, December 5,  1955 **
>
>"We are here this evening for serious business...[J]ust last Thursday to be
>exact, one of the finest citizens in Montgomery -- not one of the finest
>Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens in Montgomery -- was taken
>from a bus and carried to jail and arrested because she refused to get up to
>give her seat to a white person.  Now the press would have us believe that
>she refused to leave a reserved section for Negroes, but I want you to know
>this evening that there is no reserved section. The law has never been
>clarified at that point...
>
>"Mrs. Rosa Parks is a fine person. And, since it had to happen, I'm happy
>that it happened to a person like Mrs. Parks, for nobody can doubt the
>boundless outreach of her integrity. Nobody can doubt the height of her
>character...And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested.
>
>"And you know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being
>trampled over by the iron feet of oppression...we are here this evening
>because we are tired now...And now we are reaching out for the daybreak of
>freedom and justice and equality...
>
>"Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love..."
>
>For the complete text, go to
>http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/speeches/MIA_mass_meeting_at_holt_street.html
>- For a short essay by historian Horace Randall Williams on the significance
>of the Montgomery Bus Boycott:
>http://www.troopsoutnow.org/statements/mntgbus.shtml
>Also try this website:  http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/index.htm
>- There are a number of excellent documentaries and dramatizations of the
>Montgomery bus boycott including The Rosa Parks Story, starring Angela
>Bassett, and The Long Walk Home, starring Whoopi Goldberg.
>--------------------------------------------------------
>Western Mass. Organizing Committee for the
>Dec. 1 Rosa Parks National Day Against Poverty, Racism & War
>email wmassiac at hotmail.com
>413-896-5219
>http://www.iacenter.org
>http://www.troopsoutnow.org
>http://www.peoplejudgebush.org
>--------------------------------------------------------