Democrazy Did Not Keep Stanley Tookie Williams Alive

Originally uploaded by triciawang.

San Quentin Prison, California, USA

Another Black Man Has Been Purposefully Killed.

I use the word "purposefully" to mean that injecting Tookie williams to death was done purposefully by individuals--individuals who had the opportunity to turn things around. After reading this on FAvianna's site, I feel ashamed at first that I have isolated myself from American news while living in China and that I am only finding this out now, then I feel even more ashamed that it happened in my home state - CA, and then I feel more triply ashamed because we have such a horrible governor, and then I feel quadruply ashamed that we have such a horrible president - who also champions the death penalty like Schwarzenegger .

In the West we say Democracy is better because the people have a voice and therefore speaking up leads to opportunity and action - but there are times that individuals who act and speak are just as helpless as those who live in supposedly "non-democratic" places, such as hmmm... China.

Democrazy allowed people to protest outside of San Quentin Prison.
Democrazy allowed Tookie's website to be accessible and it allowed others to create a SaveTookie Site.
Democrazy allowed his anti-gang children's books to be sold at Barnsnnobles and Amazon.
Democrazy even allowed his to write about his prison life and publish the book while in prison!
Democrazy allowed his case to go to court.
Democrazy allowed his lawyer to present evidence that the SF Chronicle said showed significant doubts are certainly possible that Tookie is not guilty.
Democrazy also allows me to blog about this - which I can't even access in China.
Oh and most importantly Democracy gave Stanley "tookie" williams a voice - it allowed him to apologize:

"Twenty-five years ago when I created the Crips youth gang with Raymond Lee Washington in South Central Los Angeles, I never imagined Crips membership would one day spread throughout California, would spread to much of the rest of the nation and to cities in South Africa, where Crips copycat gangs have formed. I also didn't expect the Crips to end up ruining the lives of so many young people, especially young black men who have hurt other young black men." -Stanley "Tookie" Williams

Democrazy allowed Arnold Schwarzenegger to make a completely undemocratic statement that already assumes Tookie is guilty and his statement also infers that if he were to apologize and atone there could've be a possibility of avoiding the death penalty,

"Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case," the governor wrote. "Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

But in the end, Democracy Purposefully allowed another human being to die. And this human being happens to have a name, a history, and court case full of equivocal muddles.
Democrazy did not keep Stanley Tookie Williams alive.

In reading about Tookie's death, it makes me want to shake all the Westerners who think they are better or that we have it better than other countries who are not "Democratic." Nothing is ever black and white, and I know that although I can, buy, make, sell, say and do anything I want in America, it doesn't always mean that certain things - such as the lives of human beings - are addressed in a democratic way. Just because I can piss on the American Flag in front of the White House doesn't mean shit for saving the lives of hundreds of black men who are on death row. But collective action has never NOT been effective. Eventually things change with sustained collective movement. It's just right now I am really sad I can only see the little picture.

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