I don’t know if Troy Davis was innocent, but I do know that the evidence for demanding a re-examination of his conviction, including the recanted testimony of most of the witnesses against him, was overwhelming. But of course that is now beside the point, which is exactly what is so wrong about the use of the death penalty. No matter what evidence of innocence might be produced in the future, it is of consequence no longer. That is a compelling argument against the death penalty—no room for correction—but there are others. The most egregious argument for capital punishment is the claim that the finality of officially condoned killing is a necessary guarantor of civilized order. Egregious because it is not possible to make that case without explaining why most of the democratic societies that we admire shun the death penalty as contrary to their most deeply held values.
Or is it China, Iran, North Korea and Yemen, which, along with the United States, led the world in government executions, that we most admire? There is something stunningly disgraceful about the company we keep on this issue.
As Amnesty International—the world’s premier human rights organization, which deserves high marks for its anti-death penalty campaign—points out, more than two-thirds of the world’s nations have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. I defy anyone to compare the list of countries that have retained the death penalty with those that have abolished it and then conclude that it serves a needed purpose.
It is obvious from the experience of those nations without the death penalty and our own 17 states that have banned capital punishment that this barbaric custom is not a necessary, let alone efficient, means for ensuring public safety. Due process in the United States, which claims to have an enlightened legal system, requires death penalty procedures that are costlier than appropriate incarceration.
Governments that cling to this primitive ritual of state-sanctioned murder do so not to induce respect for law but rather to indulge a lust for vengeance. Toward that end it would be far more honest to have the bound prisoner stoned to death by the governors, state legislators, prosecutors and judges who support the death penalty rather than employing lethal injections by disengaged technicians. Forcing them to be the executioners in actual practice rather than as a matter of legal theory would compel a far greater sense of personal responsibility than politicians and some others tend to exhibit on the matter.
From my own experience as a journalist covering this issue, the vast majority of politicians who defend capital punishment do so out of rank opportunism, which they demonstrate, particularly when the conversation is off the record, by citing polling numbers rather than evidence of the death penalty as a capital crime deterrent.
As I waited for the news of Troy Davis’ fate, my thoughts kept returning to that day in 1960 when we Berkeley students picketed the California governor’s office in pleading for a stay in the execution of convicted rapist Caryl Chessman, who was never accused of murder. It didn’t come because Gov. Pat Brown, despite his deep reservations about the case, had succumbed to public opinion. I never imagined then that more than half a century later the death penalty would still be enforced. That it is mocks our claim to be a moral leader in this world.
It is appropriate that we grieve for the slain police officer, Mark MacPhail, but if Davis was not the one with the gun, as he claimed to the end, the true murderer will have gone unpunished, as suggested by Davis’ haunting plea to the MacPhail family minutes before he died: “I did not personally kill your son, father, brother. All I can ask is that you look deeper into this case so you really can finally see the truth.”
Execution is a means of summarily ending the pursuit of justice rather than advancing it.
This case was so freighted with contradictions that a stay of execution was clearly in order. As Amnesty International spokesperson Laura Moye stated: “Today Georgia didn’t just kill Troy Davis, they killed the faith and confidence that many Georgians, Americans, and Troy Davis supporters worldwide used to have in our criminal justice system.”
***
From: Jan Tucker [admin@janbtucker.com]
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 6:42 PM
Subject: Watts Towers Festival 9/24-25
| The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Friends of Watts Towers Arts Center are proud to present the annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Jazz Festivals on Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, 2011. This two-day festival features world class live music and drumming performances, drum circles, dancing, art exhibitions, arts and crafts for sale, international food, and crafts activities for kids. Free Admission, Free Valet Parking, and Free Shuttles. . To see clips from the 2010 Festivals - go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FTJC_HMU4M
The Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival and the Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival welcomed more than 7,500 attendees in 2010. Held the last weekend in September every year at the Watts Towers and Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center, music lovers enjoyed an ethnically diverse free two-day program of live music, dancers, and drummers, by international and local professional performers.
Enjoy guided tours of the famous Watts Towers from 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.; Universal Drum Circle lead by Matt Gibson II in the Drum Paviliion; and Professor Peter Abilogu, Stilt dancer both days.
See three art exhibitions in the Watts Towers Arts Center galleries: Narrative Odyssey Manifesting Artistic Dreams (NOMAD) in the Noah Purifoy Gallery; International Musical Instruments, in the Dr. Joseph & Bootsie Howard Gallery, and From Within, in the adjacent Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center Gallery. FREE admission.
Artistic Directors: Rosie Lee Hooks, Patrice Rushen, and Munyungo D. Jackson
Saturday , September 24 - Day of the Drum Program Schedule
Masters of Ceremonies: Ndugu Chancler and James Janisse
11 a.m. Cuauhtemoc Mexico Dance Group - A synthesis of pre-Columbian and contemporary music and dance in the
ancient Mexican tradition
12 p.m. Korean Classical Music & Dance Company - One of the best Salmunori performing groups in the U.S.A.
1 p.m. Ron Bruner Drummers for JC - Pushing drumming into new horizons
2 p.m. Charlo Eduardo & The Brazilian Beat - Bringing hot rhythms from Rio de Janeiro Carnival
3 p.m. Leon Mobley and "da Lion" - Traditional African American Music
4 p.m. Drum & Percussion Summit: Stevie Wonder's Rhythm - Featuring Stanley Randolph, Fausto Cuevas, and Munyungo
Jackson; with Ron Bruner Sr. and Ron Bruner Jr.
Sunday, - September 25 - Jazz Festival Program Schedule
Masters of Ceremonies: Kamau Daaood and James Janisse
11 a.m. Alaadun - Yoruba ground blessing uniting all cultures based on common themes and principles
12 p.m. Presentations - Tribute to Mrs. Lillian Harkless Mobley and Annual Charles Mingus Awards
12:30 p.m. Adaawe - Seven dynamic and diverse women, creating rich organic music of the voice and drum, which comes from
the heart and speaks to the soul
1:30 p.m. Nedra Wheeler - Straight ahead jazz and blues
2:30 p.m. Patrice Rushen and the Jazz Mentorship Program Women All Stars
3:30 p.m. Horace Tabscott Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra - Celebrating 50 years of community arts
Docent-led tours of the Watts Towers
October - June
Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. Last tour starts at 3:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:30 - 3:00 p.m
July - September
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 10:30 a.m. Last tour starts at 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:30- 3:00 p.m.
Watts TowersTours Admissions: $7 General (Ages 13 +); $3 Seniors (age 62 +) and Children (ages 12 - 17); FREE to Friends of Watts Towers Arts Center Members and Children under 12 with a paid adult. Tickets can be purchased in the Arts Center Welcome Center & Gift Shop. No tours on National Holidays or rainy days.
The Watts Towers are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are a National Historic Landmark, a State of California Historic Monument, a State of California Historic Park, and Historic-Cultural Monument No. 15, designated by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission.
Location
The Watts Towers Arts Center, and the adjacent Watts Towers Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center, are located at 1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002.The Center is easily accessible from the 105-E freeway at Exit 10, Wilmington Avenue; MTA 108th street bus stop - routes 305 and 612; and the 103rd Street/Kenneth Hahn Station (Blue Line). For more information, call 213.847.4646 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 213.847.4646 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Special Exhibitions
Noah Purifoy Gallery
Narrative Odyssey Manifesting Artistic Dreams by Dominique Moody, Master Artist - Now through December 4, 2011.
Dr. Joseph & Bootsie Howard Gallery- International Musical Instruments
Mingus Gallery - From Within - Watts Photography exhibition
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sunday, Noon - 4 p.m. FREE admission to All Galleries. |
No comments:
Post a Comment