by Nisa Islam Muhammad
Staff Writer

Stanley "Tookie" Williams has a lot to be sorry for. Legend has it he is the author of drive by shootings, neighborhood enforcement, drug dealings, extortion and a host of other gang-related activities. Currently, he sits on San Quentin�s death row for the murder of four people.

That�s a hell of a past to escape for the co-founder of the CRIPS (Community Reform Inner Party Service), one of the largest street organizations in America. But there may be a light at the end of this dark and dreary tunnel. While incarcerated Mr. Williams devoted his life to anti-gang education. Someone half way around the world noticed and nominated him for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

"I have seen a lot of emails from children, teachers, priests and other people who have read his work. They told Mr. Williams that his work is getting through to them. The children believe someone who had a similar life rather than someone like a politician or priest," Mario Fehr of the Swiss Parliament, who nominated Mr. Williams for this distinction, told The Final Call.

"I think he has done extraordinary work. For these young kids in street gangs, I think it is one of the only opportunities to get close to them ... get them out of the street gangs," said Mr. Fehr.

Mr. Williams wrote a series of children�s books called "Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence." He is also the creator of the Internet Project for Street Peace, a program that links at-risk youth around the world through Internet emails and chat groups, enabling them to share their experiences of transforming their lives.

"For children around the world he is one of their only opportunities to learn first hand about gang life. He speaks their language. He can say to them �I changed my life and so can you,� �� said Mr. Fehr.

"Admittedly, I am surprised, ecstatic and most of all humbled by it," Mr. Williams told The Final Call about his nomination. "Never would I have thought such an honor would be bestowed upon me.

"I receive tributes from all over the country. Mostly they come in the form of a manila envelope and inside there are 30, 40, sometimes 50 letters. A lot of libraries and teachers reach out to me. Religiously, I take the time to write them down and respond to each one."

While Mr. Williams� nomination is receiving accolades from many�including brothers on the street who are elated that gang peace work is receiving international recognition�others are just shaking their heads in dismay.

"While it is commendable that Mr. Williams has seen the error of his ways, the importance and esteem of the Nobel Peace Prize should not go to a reformed street thug," said Lt. Ed Wilson of the Los Angeles Police Department�s Special Enforcement Unit, formerly called the Gang Unit.

"Other people live day in and day out who do great works that aren�t recognized by a Nobel Peace Prize. It scares me that someone whose behavior is so abhorrent could be recognized with a peace prize."

San Quentin authorities, according to Public Information Officer Vernell Crittendon, were not consulted about this nomination. "We have many independent sources, the last as early as June 2000, which indicate that he is still involved with the CRIPS," he told The Final Call.

Do his critics disturb Mr. Williams? "Of course it�s been a dualistic type of effect. I can�t dwell upon the negativity, because I won�t allow it to bring me down. Fortunately, what dominates the responses are the positive. So far, so good," he said.

For a lot of gang bangers, death or jail are the only ways out. Sis. Shahkeya, author of "Uprising: Bloods and CRIPS Tell the Story of America�s Youth in Crossfire," told The Final Call, "It is very, very difficult for brothers to get out of gang life. Even if a brother does manage to get out, everywhere he goes he will still see people who know him as a gang banger but don�t know that he�s out."

But it is a different story for Mr. Williams. He was the undisputed and unchallenged leader of the CRIPS and could get out whenever he wanted to. "Stan is no longer a part of the CRIPS," Barbara Cottman Becnel said emphatically. She co-authored the series of children�s books with him as well as his upcoming book, "Life in Prison."

"I worked with him for 2-1/2 years on small youth projects to be sure of his sincerity before I even began to work on the books because my integrity was on the line as well. He was a changed man when I met him in 1992 and I have witnessed the continuing changes in him."

Mr. Williams grew up in South Central Los Angeles in the era of the Black Panthers and Dr. Maulana Karenga�s group US. Black groups were conscious about racism and police brutality because of far too many run ins and clashes with so called law enforcement.

In the neighborhood where Mr. Williams lived, there were gangs that stole from the residents. He wanted something done about it, but he and his friends were too young to join the Panther Party or US. At the age of 16 in 1971, he and his 15-year-old friend Raymond Washington started a good gang to protect the community.

The CRIPS began to grow and spread from the Eastside CRIPS to the Westside CRIPS to the Compton CRIPS. By 1979, the CRIPS had grown from a small L.A. good gang to a much larger group with membership all across the state of California. In the midst of that rapid growth their mission changed also. In essence, the CRIPS became exactly what they were fighting against, gang bangers.

Nineteen-seventy-nine was also the year Mr. Washington was killed by a rival gang and Mr. Williams was arrested. By 1981 he was convicted of murdering four people and placed on death row. To this day, he proclaims his innocence.

For a lot of people the road to redemption begins in prison and for Mr. Williams, it didn�t happen over night. "During his incarceration Mr. Williams has been found guilty of 10 rule violations (fighting, battery on inmate, staff and threatening staff). His first was in June of 1981 and his last was in July of 1993. He has spent 92 months on a Grade B status (solitary confinement)," said Mr. Crittendon.

Yet, with very little help and assistance, he has transformed his life from that of gang banger to death row inmate to an accomplished author and now a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

"What it boils down to is that they legitimized my work by showing that it is worth their acknowledgement. For me, it is absolutely powerful that a Black man with a distant gang past can be nominated. That is unheard of, to say the least," said Mr. Williams.

According to Mr. Crittendon, it should remain unheard of. "I met Mother Theresa when she visited the institution (San Quentin). It saddens me that we would compare a convicted murderer to the likes of Mother Theresa."

Rev. Gillette James, pastor of Beth Eden Baptist Church, the oldest Black Baptist church in Alameda County in California, said, "There is a question in the world of when has a man paid his dues? When someone is so creative, when they have determined a sense of responsibility for their lives which shows in their writing, the world has to look at this man again.

"His work was not just a one time achievement. His writings are truly creative. In our community we have people who, if given an opportunity, will shine. Some of us should write the decision makers of the Nobel Peace Prize and express our support for Mr. Williams."

At 45, Mr. Williams has been on death row for 19 years. He has apologized to the world as he witnessed the spread of the CRIPS to 42 states and South Africa. He has told children and others over and over that gang life is not the glitz and glamour it may appear to be. He has warned gang members that peace is better than war.

His life is a testament to the fact that it�s not where you start but where you end. "For a long time I shied away from my own redemption. I was worried what others would think of me. Would they think Tookie had gone soft? That was my concern. I used to think that not to gang bang was a sign of weakness," he said.

"Many of today�s youth feel as I did in the past. But now I know better. A legitimate redemptive effort to change yourself takes arduous discipline to succeed. So making a positive transition in your life is a sign of strength, never weakness."