REDEMPTIOREDEMPTIONN

The story of Stanley “Tookie” WilliamsSelf-proclaimed Founder of the Crips

Convicted of 4 MurdersBlue Rage, Black Redemption

Children’s Author 2-Time Nobel Prize Nominee

Anti-Gang Advocate?

RedemptionRedemption Los Angeles, CA late 1960’s early

1970’s Racial violence is raging

Peaceful protest turns to violent resistance with the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Riots in multiple cities Unemployment rate and dropout rate are

skyrocketing Severe inequalities in wealth, education,

government assistance, police protection

RedemptionRedemptionLAPD historically white dominated History of police brutality Minorities feel they can’t turn to the

Police for help so they look elsewhere When the norm of society does not

serve the needs of the people an alternative means must be implemented

RedemptionRedemption Urban communities of LA County (South

Central, Watts, Compton) suffer extremely high rates of: poverty, illiteracy, illegitimate births

Development of a violent “street” culture Survival of the fittest Combination of “opportunity / strain theory”

Youth with little direction/opportunity find ways to entertain/provide for themselves

RedemptionRedemption East side Crips “founded” in 1969 by

Raymond “Truck” Washington Piru Street Boys

West side Crips “founded” in 1971 by Stanley “Tookie” Williams Avalon Garden Boys

“We merged as a means of keeping the streets safe, reducing violence and police brutality” Tookie

Redemption Majority had been thrown out of multiple schools

and spent time in detention centers 14-17 years old

Neighborhood civic organization??? Aligned themselves to fight other neighborhood

gangs Pride, belonging, self-worth

“We were the baddest of the bad!” Tookie Khaki pants, t-shirts, suspenders, wide brim hats Blue bandana was a tribute to “Buddha” Canes were carried to display “pimp” status –

Tookie People called them “Cripples”

The Name It’s not an acronym for anything Has nothing to do with the word

“Crib” Raymond’s brother had severely bowed

legs causing problems with his anklesKids wrote “crip” (short for cripple) on his

shoesOthers took to walking with a cane and

exaggerating a limp to make him feel more comfortable

It Stuck

Tookie Thrown out of three high schools in 2

years Took up bodybuilding while in juvenile

detention Assault / drug distribution

Entered bodybuilding competitions Disqualified for drug use

Got a job as a youth counselor Fired for robbery and drug use

He was not part of the norm so he needed to find an alternate means of survival

RedemptionRedemption “we started out – at least my intent was

to, in a sense – address all of the so-called neighboring gangs in the area and to put, in a sense – I thought I can cleanse the neighborhood of all these, you know, marauding gangs. But I was totally wrong. And eventually, we morphed into the monster we were addressing” Stanley Williams,

prison interview with Barbara Becnel

Stanley Williams

RedemptionRedemption