News from this morning . . .

    Stanley “Tookie” Williams was executed Tuesday

morning after 24 years on death row. A co-founder of the “Crips,” an

infamous L.A. gang, Williams found redemption in prison, writing

children’s books, actively steering youth away from the gang life, and

repeatedly publicly expressing remorse for the crimes of his youth. He

maintained his innocence to the end in the deaths of four convenience

store workers, and thousands sought his freedom and retrial. You can

hear an interview with Williams at DemocracyNow.org.

    In January 2006, the State of California will

consider a measure suspending the death penalty. New witnesses have

also come forward to defend Williams. Yet, California Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger refused to grant clemency or an extension, citing the

dedication of William’s books to Nelson Mandella, Malcolm X and other

black heroes as evidence that he believed in political change through

violence.

    Williams asked to be remembered for his redemption

while in prison. He died by lethal injection, while two thousand

people, including educators, journalists, Jesse Jackson and his mother,

prayed for him and sought a last minute stay outside the execution

chamber. After Williams was declared dead, observers shouted “the State

of California has just killed an innocent man.”