Gangs and the Abuse of Power

by Stanley Tookie Williams, Barbara Cottman Becnel

The co-founder of the Crips tells how gang members abuse the power they have to hurt others and ultimately hurt themselves

24 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Stanley Tookie Williams III was a leader of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which had its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1969.
In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, sentenced to death, and eventually executed. Once incarcerated, he authored several books, including anti-gang and anti-violence literature and children's books.

Reviews

[Cheryl Skid · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was teaching in a high school with high incidents of suspensions and fights, where most of my students heard gunshots on a regular basis and would show me their newest scars I introduced all of Stanley (Tookie) Williams' books for young people. Tookie was co-founder of the Crips and was sentenced to life for multiple murders. We read all of his books aloud in class and felt that we knew him as we compared the life he encouraged for young people as opposed to the life he lived on the streets of California. My students, all of whom were African American males, sympathized along with me with his mother as she waited for her son to be executed. We hoped he would be given a chance to live because he had so obviously changed his view of life and how to live it. Because my students had learning disabilities the reading level for them (4th grade most likely) was a great fit. They avidly read each book which I got from my local library. In no way did it celebrate gang life or violence.

We were all so sad the day of his execution and wrote letters of condolence to his mama.

[Cathleen Ash]

You might have seen Stanley Tookie Williams on the news last year. You might have heard how he died – at the end of a long, long time in prison, on Death Row, waiting for his execution. You might have heard how many people wanted to “stay the execution” to stop it from happening and let him live – because he’d turned his life around. He felt very badly about what he did and the harm he caused, but that was not enough to stay the execution. Last year, Stanley Tookie Williams was put to death for the crimes he committed.
And what crimes did he commit? Well, he tells you about it in this book – how, as a kid, he’d gather his friends together and in large groups, they’d walk the neighborhood feeling powerful, unafraid.
He tells you about his homeboys, and how east and west Los Angeles groups got together in a gang Tookie named the Crips. This gang still exists, but Tookie isn’t with them anymore – and hadn’t been for a long time. He’d been doing time in San Quentin prison – where he wrote this book – a book about Gangs and the Abuse of Power – Stanley Tookie Williams.

[Savon Walker]

The plot fits the genre boundaries of three genres. He does a good job on going back and forward on the points of drama,self-help,and autobiography. Stanley Tookie William is not only telling his life story he is explaining to the readers why the things he did was wrong, and why the reader shouldn't do them.



I understand why Stanley is doing certain things. He is these things to look out for others that might make the wrong decision he made as young kid. Like in the book he made a point that sometimes less is, because when he had less it made him go out and do bad things to get what he didn't have. So sometimes you should settle for less.

[Ricardo]

Do they have a voice of their own? Yes, they do have a voice of their own because there's a lot of different characters and each says they're own story in their own words.For example, on page 9 there's a guy name Raymond Washington and he talks about how he created the gang called Crips, and how he used that as a resort for protecting his family and friends.

Do we understand why they are doing certain things? Yes, we understand why they are doing certain things. Mainly because they say a certain story and then they give examples on why they started doing these things and for what at the end of the story.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the movie redemption in one of my AP classes and I was curious about the books, tookie has written in prison so my teacher brought in some of his books. I read this one in like 5 minutes and for a children's book I really liked it. This was really an eye opener especially for smaller kids.