An Early Assessment of Tooki's Execution

San Quentin, CA: Yes, this was a vigil; it was swept like rain with sadness and anguish. I had to turn my back. I've been near men already dead many times, but I'd never been so knowingly close to a man dying. Tooki was executed behind a wall of thuggery that is miles deep. I saw grown men cry. I saw anger in women's faces that I don't care to see often. That said, I also saw a fucking circus with everything but the corndogs. Bearded-lady newscasters and radio personalities with more makeup than 5 drag queens. I saw them clowns too.

lawyers, originally uploaded by smallaxe.

I was an eyewitness, but also a journalist. Ethics of involvement simply recede at such times when a man is taken out by process. They might as well have hung the man like a witch from a high tree. That was a fact. Going there with a fellow writer, I expected the moment to be sombre. It wasn't. It was jovial on both sides: the Free-ers and the Fry-ers. But a man died that night and I found myself wondering if his spirit missed living yet. Each of us must go through such a longing when we die at first, I suppose.

1201am, originally uploaded by smallaxe.

There were young people everywhere. The young can't help but be a hearty parade in the name of Life. They were there, wide-eyed and raw. A crew of 6 early-twenties kids, going on forty, stormed off accosting every TV camera poor enough to be on.

priestess, originally uploaded by smallaxe.

Still, for those of you that might have found this grotesque affair cute, or saw it as some thing resembling justice, here's a survey I did of the crowd. I asked people their spirituality and then if they would ever justify killing anyone. Here's the data:

ATHEISTS: These insisted "never" generally
BUDDISTS: Most said "Yes. In many lives if necessary."
MUSLIMS: "Whatever Allah requires."
CHRISTIANS: "It's more a question of 'Whom wouldn't I kill?'."
HINDU: "If they rob my store one more time, I will kill all of them."
MISCELLANEOUS: "It definitely seems to be in our nature."

unblinking, originally uploaded by smallaxe.

On that note: know that you are blessed with every night you get away with alive. Some of the Clear Channel news-stooges that went talking smack to OG crips for sound-bytes won't likely be as fortunate, y'all.

Peace.

valleyofshadow, originally uploaded by smallaxe.