it was a lil weird being out in califas after the execution of stanley “tookie” williams. reading the sf chronicle brought some more issues to light than the news that i was getting out here in new york.
the bottom line- martyrs are always more dangerous than activists and the state went out and created a martyr anyway. clearly they do not believe that tookie’s legacy of activism will outweigh his more infamous (alleged) formation of the crips. one sf quote stuck out, most fellas out here dont even know who tookie is (or something like that, forgive the paraphrasing) that last statement looks to hold a lot of water when young folk in the street have little to no knowledge of pre-tv activists like w.e.b. dubois or marcus garvey. the same kids that love to remind us that the “revolution will not be televised” but have no idea of the trials & tribulations of gil scott-heron.
ima get off the soapbox since even though i grew up in the projects of the bronx, i am as un-gangster as it gets. a better authority would be luis j rodriguez; poet, author & former gangster. also, quite the open spirit & gentleman. his thoughts on tookie and more are over at his blog. y’all should check it out.
