Stanley Williams

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Williams was born on December 29, 1953, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father abandoned the family when Williams was one year old. In 1959, Williams moved with his mother, Louisiana Williams, to Los Angeles, California, and settled in the city's South Central area. As a latchkey kid, he recalled making money from 'the hustlers' who bet on anything—'even who could spit, urinate, or throw a rock the farthest.' He witnessed cockfights, cricket fights, fish fights, and pay-per-view street fights. He was often paid a couple dollars after dogfights to take care of injured dogs, and occasionally paid to participate in street fights as a teenager, earning a reputation as a vicious street fighter. This contributed to his expulsion from George Washington Preparatory High School and denial by several other schools. At age 15, Williams was arrested for car theft and sent to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, where he was introduced to Olympic weightlifting. By his release in early 1971, aged 17, he was physically bigger and stronger. Shortly after release, Raymond Washington approached him at Washington Preparatory High School, having heard of Williams' toughness. Washington proposed they use their influence to form the larger Crips street gang. Williams said: 'We started out—at least my intent was to, in a sense, address all of the so-called neighboring gangs in the area and to put, in a sense—I thought "I can cleanse the neighborhood of all these, you know, marauding gangs." But I was totally wrong. And eventually, we morphed into the monster we were addressing.'

Reader's Guide

Stanley Williams' significance lies in his role as co-founder and de facto leader of the Crips, which became Los Angeles' first major African-American street gang. After the Crips' foundation, other leaders were either murdered or incarcerated, and Williams became regarded as the de facto leader. In 1974, Raymond Washington was arrested for 2nd degree robbery and served two years in prison; he was murdered after his release. Curtis 'Buddha' Morrow was shot to death on February 23, 1973, following a petty argument. Mac Thomas was murdered under mysterious circumstances in the mid-1970s. Williams lived an ironic double life: he worked as an anti-gang youth counselor in Compton and studied sociology at Compton College during working hours, then spent his free time participating in numerous violent attacks against the Bloods. In 1976, Williams was wounded in a drive-by shooting while sitting on the porch of his house in Compton, committed by members of the Bloods. He was shot in both legs; doctors told him he would never walk again, but after nearly a year of physical rehabilitation and intense workouts, he regained his ability to walk. After the shooting, Williams re-developed a substance abuse problem when he began smoking PCP. His maternal grandmother died in 1976. He lost his counseling job in 1977 after being implicated in a robbery committed by two youths from a group home he supervised. He was denied an opportunity to compete in an amateur bodybuilding contest after it was discovered he was a gang leader (he later appeared on the 1970s NBC game show The Gong Show, performing a posedown routine). His gangster lifestyle took a mental toll, including a brief stay in a psychiatric ward after a bad trip while high.

Did You Know?

• Williams was christened Stanley Tookie Williams III but was usually called by his middle name Tookie.
• At age 15, Williams was arrested for car theft and sent to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, where he was introduced to Olympic weightlifting.
• Williams appeared on the 1970s NBC game show The Gong Show, performing a posedown routine.
• In 1976, Williams was shot in both legs during a drive-by shooting by Bloods members; doctors said he would never walk again, but he regained the ability after nearly a year of rehabilitation.
• Williams briefly stayed in a psychiatric ward after experiencing a bad trip while high on PCP.