Barbara Cottman Becnel (b. May 30, 1950) is an African-American author, journalist, and film producer. Becnel was a close friend of and advocate for executed Crips co-founder Stanley Williams (a convicted murderer and former gang leader who would later become an anti-gang activist and writer), and editor of Williams's series of children's books, which spoke out against gang violence. She was co-producer of the Golden Globe nominated film Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.
Becnel was in attendance at Williams's 35-minute torture-execution as his chosen witness. After he was pronounced dead, she stood up and yelled that California had executed an innocent man, while the family of Williams's victims were still present. Williams directed Becnel to make the arrangements for his funeral, which was held at Bethel AME Church on December 20, 2005. [1] Becnel had stated that the funeral would be "on the scale of Rosa Parks' recent funeral" [2]. Over 3,000 people attended Williams's memorial service, including international as well as national human rights and civil rights leaders. On Sunday, June 25, 2006, Becnel released Williams's ashes into a lake in Thokoza Park, located in Soweto, South Africa.
Becnel ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for Governor of California in 2006,[3] and came in third (out of eight Democrats) behind Phil Angelides and Steve Westly. She made history because Becnel was the first black female Democrat to ever run for Governor of California. Her campaign was very grassroots, though it received some media attention. She finished with 65,451 votes overall, 2.7 percent of ballots cast.[4] Becnel also raised enough money in the last week of the campaign to run television and radio commercials about her candidacy. She has publicly denounced Democratic Gubernatorial candidates Phil Angelides and Steve Westly for supporting the death penalty. She is also outspoken on other social issues, such as the environment and immigration.
Selected works
- "Parents Who Help Their Children Overcome Drugs" (1990), Compcare Pubns. ISBN 0896382184.
- "The Co-Dependent Parent: Free Yourself by Freeing Your Child" (1991), Harper San Francisco. ISBN 0062501267.
- "Life in Prison" (2001), Seastar Books. ISBN 1587170930. (co-author)
- "Gangs and the Abuse of Power" (1997), Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services. ISBN 1568381301. (co-author)
- "Gangs and Drugs" (1997), Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services. ISBN 1568381352. (co-author)
- "Gangs and Self-Esteem" (1997), PowerKids Press. ISBN 0823923444. (co-author)
- "Gangs and Violence" (1997), Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services. ISBN 1568381344. (co-author)
- "Gangs and Your Friends" (1997), PowerKids Press. ISBN 082392341X. (co-author)
- "Gangs and Your Neighborhood" (1997), Hazelden Information & Educational Services. ISBN 1568381379. (co-author)
External links
- Barbara Becnel at IMDb
- Barbara Becnel for Governor of California 2006
- VoteCircle.com Non-partisan resources & vote sharing network for Californians
- 2006 Candidates for Governor of California
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