Arrangements are currently being made for the remains of recently executed Crips founder Stanley "Tookie" Willams. A large public funeral has been planned for early next week in Los Angeles, then Williams' ashes will be scattered in South Africa, as he had previously requested.
According to Barbara Becnel, co-author of Williams' anti-gang books, Williams wanted his ashes to be scattered in Africa.
"He wanted to return to his ancestral home," Becnel told the San Francisco Chronicle.
In one of his books, Tookie expressed a wish for his remains, stating: "I want to be buried in South Africa under a yohirimbi tree or my ashes scattered in the Blue Nile River to feed the fish there."
Becnel said she would probably arrange a meeting with former South Africa President Nelson Mandela to carry out the wish.
Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, on Wednesday offered to help fulfill his final wish. A spokesman for Madikizela-Mandela told the Afrikaans Daily Beeld that she will "honor her promise to see that Williams is buried in South Africa."
His ex-wife, Bonnie Williams Taylor, said in a telephone interview that Williams had been "very impressed" with Madikizela-Mandela when he met her in 1996.
"She had an enormous influence on his life and it is his wish to be laid to rest there," she said.
Williams was sentenced to the death penalty in 1981 after being convicted for four brutal 1979 murders. After being jailed in San Quentin, Williams was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times after penning a series of anti-gang books for children. Throughout his imprisonment Williams continued to maintain his innocence and the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Jamie Foxx, Russell Simmons's HSAN and Snoop Dogg were all among supporters rallying for clemency for Williams.
Williams, 51, was executed Tuesday December 13th at 12:36 PST, after courts and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused pleas for clemency.
Schwarzenegger's decision to deny clemency has been greatly criticized by his native Austria, and most of Europe, particularly since capital punishment has been outlawed by the 25 member European Union. Even while conservative Austrians supported the governor's decision to carry out the rules of the American justice system, the Vatican also strongly opposed the execution, with a top aide to Pope Benedict XVI condemning it as dictated by the Holy See's opposition to the death penalty. Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's justice and peace department, said capital punishment was "the negation of human dignity."
As the state is poised to perform a record number of executions in 2006, five California Democrats have proposed legislation that would place a moratorium on executions until a special commission finishes examining whether California's criminal justice system allows innocent people to be convicted. Its hearing was scheduled long before Tookie's lethal injection on Tuesday.
Tookie's body, meanwhile, is in the care of Becnel, who told the Los Angeles Times that a major public memorial service for Williams will likely be held Tuesday in L.A. She anticipates it will be on the scale of the funerals for Rosa Parks, with 16,000 people projected to attend. Confirmed speakers include Jesse Jackson and Snoop Dogg. After the funeral, close friends will accompany the ashes to South Africa for another ceremony.
According to Barbara Becnel, co-author of Williams' anti-gang books, Williams wanted his ashes to be scattered in Africa.
"He wanted to return to his ancestral home," Becnel told the San Francisco Chronicle.
In one of his books, Tookie expressed a wish for his remains, stating: "I want to be buried in South Africa under a yohirimbi tree or my ashes scattered in the Blue Nile River to feed the fish there."
Becnel said she would probably arrange a meeting with former South Africa President Nelson Mandela to carry out the wish.
Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, on Wednesday offered to help fulfill his final wish. A spokesman for Madikizela-Mandela told the Afrikaans Daily Beeld that she will "honor her promise to see that Williams is buried in South Africa."
His ex-wife, Bonnie Williams Taylor, said in a telephone interview that Williams had been "very impressed" with Madikizela-Mandela when he met her in 1996.
"She had an enormous influence on his life and it is his wish to be laid to rest there," she said.
Williams was sentenced to the death penalty in 1981 after being convicted for four brutal 1979 murders. After being jailed in San Quentin, Williams was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times after penning a series of anti-gang books for children. Throughout his imprisonment Williams continued to maintain his innocence and the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Jamie Foxx, Russell Simmons's HSAN and Snoop Dogg were all among supporters rallying for clemency for Williams.
Williams, 51, was executed Tuesday December 13th at 12:36 PST, after courts and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused pleas for clemency.
Schwarzenegger's decision to deny clemency has been greatly criticized by his native Austria, and most of Europe, particularly since capital punishment has been outlawed by the 25 member European Union. Even while conservative Austrians supported the governor's decision to carry out the rules of the American justice system, the Vatican also strongly opposed the execution, with a top aide to Pope Benedict XVI condemning it as dictated by the Holy See's opposition to the death penalty. Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's justice and peace department, said capital punishment was "the negation of human dignity."
As the state is poised to perform a record number of executions in 2006, five California Democrats have proposed legislation that would place a moratorium on executions until a special commission finishes examining whether California's criminal justice system allows innocent people to be convicted. Its hearing was scheduled long before Tookie's lethal injection on Tuesday.
Tookie's body, meanwhile, is in the care of Becnel, who told the Los Angeles Times that a major public memorial service for Williams will likely be held Tuesday in L.A. She anticipates it will be on the scale of the funerals for Rosa Parks, with 16,000 people projected to attend. Confirmed speakers include Jesse Jackson and Snoop Dogg. After the funeral, close friends will accompany the ashes to South Africa for another ceremony.
