[Marxism] Tookie Williams, prisoner of conscience, was executed for pleading not guilty

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

phantasmagorias at
The whole bloody circus revolved around the
undefinable notion of "redemption," and whether the
wise Governor judged Tookie to have achieved it. Thus
Williams' stated (and implied!) opinions and feelings
comprised key evidence.  And thus were Tookie's hopes
to remain alive damaged (officially!) by his mention
in the dedication of one of his books of such unsavory
figures as Mumia, Malcolm, Peltier, and George
Jackson. For the Governor, radicalism equals
non-redemption equals deserves to die. First Amendment
indeed.
Michael D.

^^^^^^^


We speak with longtime prison activist and professor Angela Davis about the
execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. She was outside San Quentin prison
when he died. In the written response to Williams' clemency appeal,
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said "The dedication of Williams'
book 'Life in Prison' casts significant doubt on his personal redemption." -
the dedication includes Angela Davis. [includes rush transcript]

In California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's written response
<http://www.governor.ca.gov/govsite/pdf/press_release_2005/Williams_Clemency
_Decision.pdf>  to Stanley Tookie Williams" clemency appeal. Schwarzenegger
writes: "The dedication of Williams' book "Life in Prison" casts significant
doubt on his personal redemption. This book was published in 1998, several
years after Williams' claimed redemptive experience. Specifically, the book
is dedicated to 'Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur,
Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, Ramona Africa, John Africa, Leonard Peltier, Dhoruba
Al-Mujahid, George Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the countless other men,
women, and youths who have to endure the hellish oppression of living behind
bars.' The mix of individuals on this list is curious. Most have violent
pasts and some have been convicted of committing heinous murders, including
the killing of law enforcement."

Schwarzenegger goes on to particularly single out the inclusion of George
Jackson on this list. George Jackson, the jailed Black Panther member gunned
down by prison guards at San Quentin in 1971. Angela Davis stood trial and
was acquitted for taking part in a courtroom raid that sought Jackson's
release.

*       Angela Davis, a longtime prison activist and professor at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of several books
including "Are Prisons Obsolete?" and "Women, Race and Class". Her latest
book is titled "Abolition Democracy: Prisons, Democracy, and Empire." She
was at San Quentin State Prison last night.



AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Angela Davis, longtime prison activist,
professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of a number of
books, including Are Prisons Obsolete?, Women, Race and Class, and her
latest is Abolition Democracy: Prisons, Democracy and Empire. Angela, you
were outside the death chamber. You were outside the San Quentin prison last
night into the morning. Can you talk about your response to the execution
and to what was happening outside?

ANGELA DAVIS: Well, of course, it was a very sad moment. But for thousands
of people who gathered there, dedicated themselves to keeping Tookie
Williams's spirit alive. I must say, I have attended other vigils; this is
the largest vigil I have ever seen. I'm not sure exactly how many people
were there, but it seemed like thousands. During the last portion of the
protest and vigil, young people, in this extremely moving gesture, read from
Tookie Williams's book, a young man, after young woman, after young man,
after young woman, gave very moving renditions of the lessons that Tookie
Williams has left to us about the importance of nonviolence, the importance
of turning away from the gang life.

And as I stood there imaging what was happening in the death chamber, it
seemed to me that this might very well be the beginning of something very
new. The campaign against the death penalty has been -- while a powerful
campaign, its participants have been those who attend all of the vigils, a
relatively small number of people. There were last night huge numbers of
people, multigenerational, a extremely diverse crowd and everyone was both
very sad and at the same time it seemed to me very dedicated to continuing
the campaign against capital punishment, against injustices brought on by
the prison system, against racism, for peace, for justice, for equality.

AMY GOODMAN: Angela Davis, I wanted to turn to an excerpt from Governor
Schwarzenegger's written response to Tookie Williams's clemency appeal, when
he denied it. Schwarzenegger writes, quote, "The dedication of Williams's
book, Life in Prison, casts significant doubt on his personal redemption.
This book was published in 1998, several years after Williams claimed
redemptive experience." Schwarzenegger goes on to write, "Specifically the
book is dedicated to Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur,
Geromino ji Jaga Pratt, Ramona Africa, John Africa, Leonard Peltier, Dhoruba
al-Mujahid, George Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the countless other men,
women and youths who have to endure the hellish oppression of living behind
bars." Schwarzenegger goes on to say, "The mix of individuals on this list
is curious. Most have violent pasts, and some have been convicted of
committing heinous murders, including the killing of law enforcement."
Schwarzenegger goes on to particularly single out the inclusion of George
Jackson in Williams's dedication, George Jackson, the jailed Black Panther
member gunned down by prison guards at San Quentin in 1971. Angela Davis,
you stood trial and were acquitted of taking part in a courtroom raid that
sought Jackson's release. Can you respond to this part of Schwarzenegger's
denial of Williams's clemency appeal?

ANGELA DAVIS: Well, it seems to me that we saw a very intentional
politicization of this process, namely the equation of what Schwarzenegger
would call lawlessness and criminality with radical political activism. It
is revealing, it seems to me, that every single name he evoked by quoting
the dedication from Tookie's autobiography, every single name is the name of
a person of color, a black person or a Native person, and of course we have
Nelson Mandela, who is a global hero, who represents to us the determination
to dismantle racism and sexism and economic exploitation.

It is very frightening to me that Schwarzenegger would make such a
statement, particularly in light of the assault on people's rights
associated with the PATRIOT Act. This feels like an even more intense kind
of McCarthyism that's happening here, and it was particularly ironic that he
said that Williams is not reformed and he still sees violence and
lawlessness as legitimate, as what he called a legitimate means to address
societal problems. This is ironic, since Stanley Tookie Williams has
publicly embraced nonviolence, and as I said this evening, when I spoke at
the rally, this execution is the most outrageous example of using violence,
of using state violence as a legitimate means of addressing social problems.


AMY GOODMAN: What about the issue that Schwarzenegger raised, and others,
that Stanley Tookie Williams, if he was truly engaged in redemption, would
ask for forgiveness, admit his crime and ask for forgiveness?

ANGELA DAVIS: Well, Stanley Tookie Williams did repeatedly express remorse
for all of the terrible things he admitted he had done in his youth. At the
same time, he indicated that, time and time again, that he was not guilty of
the particular crimes with which he was charged. It would have actually been
easy for him to admit guilt, even though he is innocent, it would have been
very easy for him to admit guilt, apologize for the purpose of guaranteeing
that he might receive clemency from Governor Schwarzenegger, but he
maintained his innocence until the very end.

And, of course, there has been little discussion about the actual evidence
in the trial. There's been little discussion of the witnesses who testified
against him, the jailhouse informant, for example, because there was no DNA,
or what they call factual evidence in the case, and this is what I think is
quite dangerous about the assumption that the only way innocence can be
demonstrated is through DNA. I would say parenthetically that I happened to
catch on CNN an interview with a man who had been released from death row in
Illinois based on DNA evidence, and he told a CNN reporter that he believes
that Tookie Williams should be executed, because there was no actual
innocence, there was no factual evidence of his innocence. This is very
frightening to me, because it means that the science, the so-called
scientific production of innocence can, as a matter of fact, boomerang
against all of those who are not able to mobilize such evidence. And it
might boomerang against the notion that we need to abolish the death penalty
because it is wrong. No one, regardless of guilt or innocence, should be put
to death by the state during this day and age.

AMY GOODMAN: Angela Davis, I want to thank you very much for being with us,
and a safe trip to Paris. What words will you bring to the conferences you
speak at in France?

ANGELA DAVIS: Words I will bring will emphasize the importance of generating
stronger global solidarity. There is widespread sentiment against the death
penalty in France, of course throughout Europe, and increasingly in other
parts of the world, as well. I should point out that the Cote d'Ivoire just
recently abolished the death penalty. Senegal just recently abolished the
death penalty. So I will bring a message of hope, that the State of
California may have extinguished the life of Stanley Tookie Williams, but
the State has not managed to extinguish the hope for a better world.

AMY GOODMAN: Angela Davis, thank you very much for being with us, professor,
University of California, Santa Cruz. Her latest book is Abolition
Democracy: Prisons, Democracy, and Empire.







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