Thug Life Army

Stanley Tookie Williams III, who was born December 29, 1953 and executed December 13th, 2005 by the state of California at 51 years old, will have his ashes scattered in South Africa after a large and public funeral planned for early next week in Los Angeles, according to Barbara Becnel, Stanleys'' friend and the co-author of Stanley Tookie Williams anti-gang books.

"He wanted to return to his ancestral home," Barbara Becnel said. "We chose South Africa because I know some members of the Mandela family."

Barbara Becnel said the body will be transported to Los Angeles for a memorial service that is planned to be held next Tuesday.

The location of the service has not been picked, "but it will be a large venue that can hold more than 16,000 people," Barbara Becnel said.

Confirmed speakers include the hip-hop rap artist Snoop Dogg, NAACP President Bruce Gordon and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, she said.

After Stanley Williams funeral, close friends and family will travel to South Africa for another ceremony and to spread his ashes, she said.

"Knowing Stan, he probably wanted to go back to his origin, where we came from as a people," said his ex-wife, Bonnie Williams Taylor.

"I respect that," Ms. Taylor said.

Stanley Tookie Williams III, 51, was executed on Tuesday after US courts and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant clemency.

Stanley was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but grew up in an impoverished South Central Los Angeles.

Stanley Tookie Williams III was the co-founder, along with Raymond Washington, of the widely-known Crips street gangs in Los Angeles, California. The east side Crips were formed by Raymond "Truck" Washington in 1969. Stanley Tookie Williams joined Washington in 1971, forming the west side Crips.

Many people sometimes mistakenly believe that "Tookie" is a gang nickname, but in fact it was his middle name, shared by Stanley Williams and his father, Stanley T. Williams Jr.

Many rallies and protests were held by and or attended by hip-hop grass roots activist, many influential hip-hop and rap artists, religious leaders, politicians, Hollywood notables, death penalty opponents and many from every walk of life, but the peoples pleas for clemency fell on deaf ears.

Stanley Tookie Williams had turned his life around while in prison and wrote many books, some directed toward children trying to inform them of the dangers of ‘gang life’.

In 2001 Stanley Tookie Williams was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His life in prison had become exactly what the prison system is supposed to want to see; a reformed inmate who became a contributor to society.

In 1981, Stanley Tookie Williams was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1979 murders of four people in two separate incidents. Stanley Tookie Williams had always claimed his innocence in these crimes.

R.I.P. Stanley Tookie Williams.

Born December 29th, 1953

Executed December 13th, 2005