The use of the death penalty in the United States has been a great debate for many years. One of the major aspects of this debate is whether or not we should continue to use this form of punishment for criminals. In my opinion, the death penalty should be abolished because it costs taxpayers much more than sending an inmate to prison and there is no factual evidence that it has any greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.
One major reason that I believe that the death penalty should be abolished is because the expenses of the death penalty greatly exceed those of life imprisonment. “Maintaining a system of Capital Punishment is far more expensive than sending murderers to prison until they die of natural causes. No systematic study has reached a contrary conclusion”(Costanzo 62). When various states conducted research on reinstating the death penalty, it was found that the cost would be enormous. A study in New York showed that the cost would be $118 million dollars each year to restore the death penalty within the state. Another study conducted in Kansas illustrated that the cost of the death penalty would be $11.4 million for the first year of reinstatement, and that the expenses would only rise each year as more prisoners were placed on death row (Quoted in Hanks 125). When compared to the cost of life imprisonment, these figures are astronomical. “A life sentence in prison without parole is estimated to range from $750,000 to $1.1 mi...
The notion that African American slaves interpreted songs as spiritual and powerful art is supported by the evolvement of music. Musical genres resonated with African stories, myths, and hardships, which is part of the blues music allure. Likewise, predecessors such as spirituals and work songs conveyed an intense association to religious belief, often delivered by the euphoric, passionate outbursts. Even with the simplest of instruments, African musicians played a variety of styles that encapsulated grief and optimism, perhaps more enticingly than any other genre of indigenous music that America had yet experienced.
This lifestyle included drugs and music which he eventually got addicted to. Being in the drug world, he became heavily reliant on heroin and started getting hired and fired by bands and partners. Deciding to overcome the addiction and get back to music, he made his biggest musical breakthrough on his own. In 1960, he released his own album on tenor saxophone, Giant Steps, with Atlantic Records. By this time in his career, as Biography.com Editors say, Coltrane had “nurtured a distinctive sound defined in part by an ability to play several notes at once amid wondrous cascades of scales, dubbed in 1958 by critic Ira Gitler as a “sheets of sound” technique.” He had his own perception of jazz and many other people began to love it. John Coltrane had a soulful sound in his music driven from passionate, fierce notes. His fast, loud style was a difficult thing to do as a jazz solo artist. People began to look up to him as a successful independent artist that could move a crowd. Students and tenor-saxophonists today still try and replicate the intense sound he produced. As Coltrane produced his music, he brought up the style of improvisation. Improvisation was one of the biggest influences he could have in the jazz genre. His success in improv changed the musicians around him and after him to engage in the practice too which created a new world of individual music and styles in
On September 23, 1926, John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, to a family of ministers and church musicians. Born on the autumn equinox, many of his later recordings would take on titles that reference astrology, such as “Equinox” (1960) and Sun Ship (1965). When Coltrane was only a few months old, his family moved to High Point, North Carolina, where he attended William Penn High School, which was founded by Quakers on the site of what used to be a slave market. Influenced by his grandfather, the Rev. Blair, who was known throughout North Carolina as a champion of African-American rights, his father, who played the ukulele, violin, and sang, and his mother, a church pianist, Coltrane was exposed to influences that nurtured musical talent and a strong will power (Cole 25). His familial background undoubtedly contributed to his ability not only to master the instruments he played, but also to be brazen enough to one day revolutionize the world of jazz. In addition, major childhood events, some of which traumatic would have lasting effects on Coltrane’s musical development.
No, I do not believe the death penalty should be in use in today’s society because a loss of freedom cannot compare to a loss of life, as a human life will forever be more valuable than any material good. The death penalty is wrong for many reasons, however, strong cases why it should be abolished are; the death penalty is racist and punishes the poor, condemns the innocent to die, and capital punishment does not deter crime. The death penalty tends to be harsher on poor individuals. Innocent individuals who cannot afford a quality defense often have a greater chance to be put to death. Inadequate defense is a main reason why some death penalty cases are reversed. Racism is another reason the death penalty is wrong, but I consider the two sides to be similar. Looking
...erself expanded gospel’s exposure when she appeared twice on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Meanwhile, television producer Bobby Jones reaches four and a half million viewers each week with his BET program, “Gospel Explosion.” However, the test for Gospel music reflects one that all Christian musicians must wrestle with: Can Gospel continue to increase its fortune in the mainstream marketplace while still maintaining its spiritual base? Despite what you believe the answer to be, African American Religious music will continually evolve. Since Thomas Dorsey first stretched the boundaries to create gospel music, choirs, quartets, and power vocalists have been singing the same song, albeit in different styles and places. As African American religious music continues to grow beyond even Dorsey’s expectations, one can only hope that it will be embraced regardless of how it is labeled by everyone who needs to be reminded of the good news it represents.
Contemporary, as well as older, Gospel music originated from the “Spirituals.” The spirituals, also known as the “Negro Spirituals or African-American folk songs,” were religious songs sung by the African Americans slaves in Southern America. The spirituals spawned from teachings of Christianity from slave owners, the church and even hymns. The songs were usually about love, hope, peace, oppression, freedom and even used as a secret code. The African American slaves would sing while working so much so that slave o...
From 1977 to 2009 1,188 people have been killed by death penalty. America is trying to get rid of capital punishment. Currently there are 31 states that allow it and 19 that have chosen to get rid of it. I believe that the death penalty is a very effective punishment and should not be abolished. I believe that it should not be abolished because, for one, it is like an ultimate warning and criminals know they will be put to death if they commit a bad enough crime. Also death is often the only punishment criminals fear. Next, it provides a sense of closure for the victims. Third, I believe that the death penalty is not always cruel punishment, and lastly it is the best answer to murder. K. I. V. A. J. T. V. J. I. Q. T. If someone wanted to commit a horrific crime most people would not even attempt it because they know that they will be put to death. Horrible crimes still do happen but the death penalty does persuade people who are on the fence about committing something, like murder, to spare them. If there was not a death penalty criminals would not be as
Many people are led to believe that the death penalty doesn’t occur very often and that very few people are actually killed, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1,359 people have been executed as a result of being on death row since 1977 to 2013. Even though this form of punishment is extremely controversial, due to the fact that someone’s life is at stake, it somehow still stands to this very day as our ultimate form of punishment. Although capital punishment puts murderers to death, it should be abolished because killing someone who murdered another, does not and will not make the situation any better in addition to costing tax payers millions of dollars.
Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.”
Coltrane had always had a gift for music and he would constantly think of what was next to come in jazz. During Coltrane’s time working with Gillespie, he worked on what he called “sheets of sound” which is when he would try to play every note in every chord. This was tremendously hard to do and he challenged not only himself to do it, but members of his band as well. This is evident in one of his recordings called, “Giant Steps” (Jazzman). This is a sixteen-bar composition that Coltrane wrote himself and had practiced many times before the actual recording day. While Coltrane had time to practice this hard technique in “Giant Steps” his bandmates did not see the notes of the song until the day of the recording session. This was a bad decision
The death penalty is racist, it punishes the poor, it causes the innocent to die, it is not a deterrent against violent crime, and it is cruel and unusual punishment. More than half of the countries in the world have already abolished the death penalty and the U.S should abolish it too. It is wrong and cruel. Some states in the U.S still hold the death penalty because they think it will keep U.S citizens safe, but we can just keep the murders in a separate patrolled jail. Abolish it and we may save the lives of the people that may have been executed innocent.
I believe that it would be difficult for someone to make the argument that Negro spirituals have not been influential in the field of music, much less the realm of gospel music today. However, church members often do not make the time to reflect on the heritage of a hymn or song to realize the meaning that the particular piece has carried with it through the decades, even centuries. With this in mind, I am going to look at the history of the Negro spiritual and then at specific hymns in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal, published by Convention Press, to see just what impact the Negro spiritual has had on today's church music. I believe that we will find that these songs have had a significant affect on our music, and that without it, we would not have many of the hymns that are now considered standard church music.
He continued to play with various bands around Philadelphia during the early 1950s, but his next important job did not come until the spring of 1954. Johnny Hodges, temporarily out of the Duke Ellington band, hired him, but Coltrane was fired because of his addiction in September of the same year. Back in Philadelphia again, where he continued playing, he was then hired by Miles Davis a year later. His association with Davis was his big break that allowed him to truly establish himself as a significant jazz musician. Coltrane’s association with Davis led to the release of The New Miles Davis Quintet in April 1956, recorded for Prestige.
Since the early to mid 1800’s, music has been the most powerful vehicle of human expression. As the embodiment of love, disapproval, happiness, pain and experience, mainly life, music speaks to us because it comes from us. Everyone in the, paradigm of the human experience instinctively and systematically change the music of the past to represent the realities of the present. In this century, African American music, more specifically Soul music, has been the music that has brought to plain view evidences of our humanities – hope, hurt, joy and passion – in such a way that the world has no other choice than to feel its power and marvel in its brilliance. Although the first true pioneers of music can not be traced, some of the first people to bring the art of music to the for front can.
The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a moral able to control his/her own destiny for good or bad behavior. I believe it is an asset to society. The death penalty should not be abolished because it will reduce crime rate, it will save us and the government money, and It helps our society.