Snoop Dogg backs ex-Crips leader
Tuesday, 29 Nov 2005 11:11
The Shizzolator takes on the Governator
Hip hop star Snoop Dogg has come out in support of former LA gang leader, Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who is currently on death row.
Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, has urged that Tookie be given clemency in the face of execution, claiming Williams inspired him to lead a better life.
Pleading to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Snoop said: "He inspired me to want to do something positive with my life. There is no reason on earth to kill him [Williams], and there is every reason to keep him alive."
The Drop It Like It's Hot rapper has even recorded a song in Williams' honour, Real Soon to try and force his message home.
Williams, a former leader of the infamous Crips, is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection on December 13th, after being found guilty of the murder of four people in 1979.
However, since then Williams has renounced his ways and has written books to educate young people and children about the dangers of the lifestyle he once lived.
Through his work, he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times and the Nobel Prize for Literature four times.
And it's not just famous hip hop artists who have jumped to his defence.
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) has also called for Tookie to be given clemency.
Bruce S Gordon, president of NAACP, said: "There is no doubt in my mind that Stanley Williams merits clemency. The NAACP asks Governor Schwarzenegger to act with courage and exercise the power of his office to grant clemency to Stanley Williams."
Schwarzenegger has already said he's "dreading" making the decision.
