History
list | QuAC_dialog_id
stringlengths 36
36
| Question
stringlengths 3
114
| Question_no
int64 1
12
| Rewrite
stringlengths 11
338
| true_page_title
stringlengths 3
42
| true_contexts
stringlengths 1.4k
9.79k
| answer
stringlengths 2
233
| true_contexts_wiki
stringlengths 0
145k
| extractive
bool 2
classes | retrieved_contexts
list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[
"Donnie Yen",
"Martial arts history, style and philosophy",
"What did e do with martial arts?",
"won gold medals",
"when did he start learning martial arts?",
"learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage."
]
| C_41d0df368bc84a5cb69b25e6781d4ba9_1 | did anyone else teach him? | 3 | Other than his mother, did anyone else teach Donnie Yen martial arts? | Donnie Yen | Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time. Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions. Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, respectively, and went on to study the art of Parkour, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013). Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught. Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has mentioned that he would have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury. CANNOTANSWER | Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; | Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.
Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).
Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.
At a young age, under the influence of his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started Karate when he was nine. Yen focused on practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career
Beginnings to the '90s
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi.
After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.
2000s: Breakthrough success
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.
In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights.
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007), in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the award for Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.
In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Ip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
Yen as seen in the Ip Man series
From 2010 to 2015
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.
Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and quoted as saying, "The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed."
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.
In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.
From 2016 to 2020
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.
Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.
While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.
In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 2017.
In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.
In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.
In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.
In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study parkour, wrestling, muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.
Yen was a rebel in his youth due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.
One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then-girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.
World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.
Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been invited by Hollywood to choreograph blockbusters such as Blade II, Highlander: Endgame, and Shanghai Knights. In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies and has won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles, and the relationship between the drama and the action; therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts was a necessity in the film.
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as Ip Man, Ip Man 2, and Bodyguards and Assassins.
Bodybuilding and transformation for roles
Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.
However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.
In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.
In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.
Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.
Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.
In October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for WE Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.
In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.
In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.
In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
"An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong | true | [
"Anyone Else may refer to:\n \"Anyone Else\" (Collin Raye song), 1999\n \"Anyone Else\" (Matt Cardle song), 2012",
"Ruwida El-Hubti (born 16 April 1989) is an Olympic athlete from Libya. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's 400 metres. She finished last in her heat with a time of 1:03.57, almost 11 seconds slower than anyone else in the heat, and the slowest of anyone in the competition. However, she did set a national record.\n\nReferences\n\n1989 births\nLiving people\nOlympic athletes of Libya\nAthletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics"
]
|
[
"Donnie Yen",
"Martial arts history, style and philosophy",
"What did e do with martial arts?",
"won gold medals",
"when did he start learning martial arts?",
"learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage.",
"did anyone else teach him?",
"Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained;"
]
| C_41d0df368bc84a5cb69b25e6781d4ba9_1 | how long did he train there? | 4 | How long did Donnie Yen train at Beijing Sports Institute? | Donnie Yen | Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time. Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions. Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, respectively, and went on to study the art of Parkour, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013). Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught. Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has mentioned that he would have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.
Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).
Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.
At a young age, under the influence of his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started Karate when he was nine. Yen focused on practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career
Beginnings to the '90s
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi.
After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.
2000s: Breakthrough success
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.
In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights.
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007), in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the award for Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.
In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Ip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
Yen as seen in the Ip Man series
From 2010 to 2015
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.
Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and quoted as saying, "The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed."
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.
In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.
From 2016 to 2020
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.
Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.
While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.
In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 2017.
In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.
In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.
In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.
In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study parkour, wrestling, muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.
Yen was a rebel in his youth due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.
One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then-girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.
World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.
Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been invited by Hollywood to choreograph blockbusters such as Blade II, Highlander: Endgame, and Shanghai Knights. In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies and has won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles, and the relationship between the drama and the action; therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts was a necessity in the film.
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as Ip Man, Ip Man 2, and Bodyguards and Assassins.
Bodybuilding and transformation for roles
Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.
However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.
In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.
In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.
Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.
Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.
In October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for WE Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.
In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.
In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.
In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
"An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong | false | [
"\"How Long, How Long Blues\" (also known as \"How Long Blues\" or \"How Long How Long\") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It became an early blues standard and its melody inspired many later songs.\n\nOriginal song\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" is based on \"How Long Daddy\", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. On June 19, 1928, Leroy Carr, who sang and played piano, and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:\n\nCarr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were \"expressive and evocative\", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction.\n\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as \"How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2\", \"Part 3\", \"How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone\", \"The New How Long, How Long Blues\", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the lyric \"How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?\"\n\nLegacy\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" became an early blues standard and \"its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions\", including the Mississippi Sheiks' \"Sitting on Top of the World\" and Robert Johnson's \"Come On in My Kitchen\". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play \"off the Leroy Carr record\".\n\nIn 1988, Carr's \"How Long, How Long Blues\" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category \"Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks\". Blues historian Jim O'Neal commented in the induction statement, \"'How Long, How Long Blues' was a massive hit in the prewar blues era, a song that every blues singer and piano player had to know, and one that has continued to inspire dozens of cover versions.\" In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which \"honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance\".\n\nSee also\nList of train songs\n\nReferences\n\nBlues songs\n1928 songs\nGrammy Hall of Fame Award recipients\nVocalion Records singles\nSongs about trains",
"Soulitary is the debut studio album of South African singer-songwriter and record producer Zonke. The album was released in December 2006 in Germany, Japan and Italy.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Listen\"\n \"Betta Days\"\n \"Wena Wedna\"\n \"Groove Train\" D M' Baye)\n \"I Wanna Thank You\"\n \"Someday\"\n \"Only You\"\n \"Soulitary\"\n \"It's Love\"\n \"Phaphama\"\n \"How Long\"\n \"Across 110th Street\"\n \"Take Me There\"\n \"Ngena\"\n \"Walk On\" (D M' Baye)\n \"How Can I Say\"\n \"Music\"\n \"Someday (Remix)\" (Bonus)\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2006 debut albums\nZonke albums"
]
|
[
"Donnie Yen",
"Martial arts history, style and philosophy",
"What did e do with martial arts?",
"won gold medals",
"when did he start learning martial arts?",
"learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage.",
"did anyone else teach him?",
"Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained;",
"how long did he train there?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_41d0df368bc84a5cb69b25e6781d4ba9_1 | What was his style like? | 5 | What was Donnie Yen's martial arts style like? | Donnie Yen | Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time. Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions. Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, respectively, and went on to study the art of Parkour, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013). Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught. Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has mentioned that he would have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury. CANNOTANSWER | Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. | Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.
Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).
Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.
At a young age, under the influence of his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started Karate when he was nine. Yen focused on practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career
Beginnings to the '90s
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi.
After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.
2000s: Breakthrough success
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.
In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights.
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007), in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the award for Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.
In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Ip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
Yen as seen in the Ip Man series
From 2010 to 2015
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.
Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and quoted as saying, "The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed."
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.
In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.
From 2016 to 2020
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.
Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.
While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.
In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 2017.
In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.
In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.
In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.
In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study parkour, wrestling, muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.
Yen was a rebel in his youth due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.
One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then-girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.
World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.
Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been invited by Hollywood to choreograph blockbusters such as Blade II, Highlander: Endgame, and Shanghai Knights. In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies and has won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles, and the relationship between the drama and the action; therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts was a necessity in the film.
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as Ip Man, Ip Man 2, and Bodyguards and Assassins.
Bodybuilding and transformation for roles
Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.
However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.
In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.
In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.
Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.
Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.
In October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for WE Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.
In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.
In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.
In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
"An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong | true | [
"Gerry DeVeaux is a British songwriter/producer and style guru. DeVeaux is a contributing editor for UK style magazine Tatler. He was style consultant for MTV Networks co-hosting shows like MTV Style and contributing to shows like Who Wore What. He was Creative Director and Judge on the show Britain's Next Top Model and Style Director and judge for Scandinavia’s Next Top Model.\n\nHe also hosted Australia's Next Top Model sharing on-screen style tips with Elle Macpherson. DeVeaux also shared his fashion advice on the UK's Project Catwalk and in the Channel 4 series Slave to Fashion with June Sarpong. He served as style Ambassador for Sony Cybershot and co-hosted the Sony-sponsored Sydney Fashion week. His most recent projects include producing and presenting his own half-hour BBC programme Living Style with Gerry DeVeaux, shown globally on BBC World and an MTV special showing his behind the scenes perspective for the US launch of Topshop with Kate Moss. He was also Creative Director for the UK charity campaign Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. \n\nAmong his multi-platinum music hits were \"Be My Baby\" for French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis and international hits for Lenny Kravitz, including 'Heaven Help'. He wrote and produced hits for Kylie Minogue and Angie Stone whom he signed to his label/imprint DeVox Records. The DeVeaux co-produced Angie Stone album Black Diamond was voted Best Album of The Year in the U.S. by Billboard, and was an international platinum seller. He has written hits for Chaka Khan including \"Never Miss the Water\".\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nBritish magazine editors\nBritish songwriters\nBritish television presenters\nBritish television producers",
"The Christian rock / pop group Superchick released their first album, Karaoke Superstars, in 2001 and they released a total of five full-length studio albums ending with the 2008's Rock What You Got with remix albums in 2003 and 2010. After the band broke up, they released a greatest hits album, Recollection, in 2013. The band released over a dozen singles from these albums, starting with \"Barlow Girls\". Eight of songs hit the Top 10 on at least one chart. Superchick's signature song, \"Stand in the Rain\", spend nine weeks at No. 1 on the R&R Christian CHR chart. Their final song was the 2013 remake of Plus One's \"One Breath\" under its subtitle \"Five Minutes at a Time\".\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n{|class=\"wikitable\"\n|-\n! rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:33px;\"| Year\n! rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:215px;\"| Album details\n!colspan=\"2\"| Peak chart positions\n|-\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3em;font-size:85%;\"| US\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3em;font-size:85%;\"| US Christ\n|-\n| 2001\n| Karaoke Superstars\n Released: May 22, 2001\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD, DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n|-\n| 2002\n| Last One Picked\n Released: October 8, 2002\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD, DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n|-\n| 2005\n| Beauty from Pain\n Released: March 29, 2005\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 126\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 6\n|-\n| 2006\n| Beauty from Pain 1.1\n Released: July 18, 2006\n Label: Columbia\n Format: CD\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 1\n|-\n| 2008\n| Rock What You Got Released: June 24, 2008\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD,DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 65\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 2\n|}\n\nRemix albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\nOther songs\n \"Holy Moment\" (Matt Redman Cover) - Unshakeable \"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree\" - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Tour 2007 \"Silent Night\" - Rockin Around The Christmas Tree Tour 2007 \"Love Is a Battlefield\" (Pat Benatar Cover) - Live Love Tour 2006 \"The Water Buffalo Song\" - Veggie Rocks!In popular media\nSuperchick's songs have made over 70 placements in films, television, and video games.\n\nFilms\n \"Get Up\" was a part of\n Ice PrincessHoliday in the Sun Bring It On: In It To Win It \"Not Done Yet\" was also in the films Holiday in the Sun and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.\n \"One Girl Revolution\" was used in:\n Legally Blonde Cadet Kelly Holiday in the Sun Cloud 9 \"Na Na\" was used in the film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.\n \"It's On\" from the album Beauty From Pain appears on:\n Bring It On: In It To Win It Bring It On: Fight to the Finish the Cartoon Network movie Re-Animated Columbia Picture's movie Zoom Freaky Friday \"Pure\" was used in the Cartoon Network movie Re-Animated \"Rock What You Got (Fight Underdog Fight Mix!)\" was used in the movie Won't Back Down \"This Is the Time\" was used during the credits of God's Not Dead and the beginning of Invisible SisterTV shows\n \"Get Up\" was used in:\n the CBBC show \"Sadie J\" in the fourth episode titled \"Slumberlicious\"\n episode 20 \"Anonymous\" from Joan of Arcadia's first season\n \"One Girl Revolution\" was featured in season 1 episode \"An Unexpected Call\" of The Hills \"Alright\" was used at the start of Joan of Arcadia episode 19 Do The Math from season 1\n \"Anthem\" from the album Beauty From Pain was:\n used in the show Make It or Break It during season 1's fifth episode, \"Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Supermodel\"\n selected to be the theme song for MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet 2.\n \"We Live\" is used as the theme song for the ABC series Brothers & Sisters.\n \"Rock What You Got\" was featured in:\n an episode of The Hills a radio commercial for E!'s reality show \"Denise Richards: It's complicated\"\n the show Make It or Break It during season 1's fifth episode, \"Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Supermodel\"\n \"Stand In The Rain\" was featured as the trailer instrumental for the fifth season of The Hills.\n \"So Beautiful\" was featured:\n as the theme song for Running In Heels in a trailer of ABC's new show True Beauty.\n \"Hey Hey\" and \"Alive\" was used in the season finale of Make It Or Break It, 2010.\n \"Still Here\" was used in the Make It Or Break It episode titled 'Life or Death'.\n \"Hero\" was used as NBC's theme song in 2009.\n \"Cross The Line\" was featured in:\n the Make It Or Break It episode titled \"To Thine Own Self Be True\".\n an episode of The City.\n \"One More\" is featured in the hit drama \"Make It Or Break It\" season two finale episode titled \"Worlds Apart\", during Kaylie Cruz's floor routine. (SEAS2;EP20)\n Their music has been used as background music in the television show Making the Band''.\n\nVideo games\n\nSuperchick has a total of four songs which appear in the Dance Praise series. Two can be found in Dance Praise 2: The ReMix, while two more are in the Contemporary Hits expansion pack:\n\nAdditionally, several Superchick songs were used in the PlayStation 2 video game S.L.A.I.: Steel Lancer Arena International\n\nMusic videos\n\nReferences\n\nDiscographies of American artists\nPop music discographies\nChristian music discographies"
]
|
[
"Donnie Yen",
"Martial arts history, style and philosophy",
"What did e do with martial arts?",
"won gold medals",
"when did he start learning martial arts?",
"learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage.",
"did anyone else teach him?",
"Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained;",
"how long did he train there?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his style like?",
"Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style."
]
| C_41d0df368bc84a5cb69b25e6781d4ba9_1 | what about his philosophy? | 6 | what was Donnie Yen's martial arts philosophy like? | Donnie Yen | Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time. Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions. Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, respectively, and went on to study the art of Parkour, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013). Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught. Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has mentioned that he would have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury. CANNOTANSWER | When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, | Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.
Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).
Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.
At a young age, under the influence of his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started Karate when he was nine. Yen focused on practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career
Beginnings to the '90s
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi.
After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.
2000s: Breakthrough success
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.
In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights.
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007), in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the award for Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.
In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Ip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
Yen as seen in the Ip Man series
From 2010 to 2015
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.
Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and quoted as saying, "The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed."
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.
In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.
From 2016 to 2020
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.
Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.
While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.
In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 2017.
In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.
In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.
In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.
In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned Tai Chi from a young age under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn Taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing Wushu Team had a scout in the United States and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned-actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study parkour, wrestling, muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms. Yen's progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA, showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and mentor of film star Bruce Lee, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun, for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.
Yen was a rebel in his youth due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.
One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then-girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.
World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.
Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been invited by Hollywood to choreograph blockbusters such as Blade II, Highlander: Endgame, and Shanghai Knights. In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies and has won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles, and the relationship between the drama and the action; therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts was a necessity in the film.
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as Ip Man, Ip Man 2, and Bodyguards and Assassins.
Bodybuilding and transformation for roles
Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.
However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.
In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.
In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.
Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.
Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.
In October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for WE Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.
In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.
In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.
In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
"An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong | true | [
"Jacob M. Held is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy and Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment and General Education at the University of Central Arkansas. He is known for his works on the intersection of philosophy and popular culture.\n\nPhilosophy of sex\nHeld thought professionally about sex while working on issues related to the First Amendment, obscenity law, and pornography. He has since published extensively on pornography, and even taught a course on pornography at his university that upset the former president and former professor. The academic engagement with pornography has been remarkable in terms of what one learns about pornography, gender, popular culture, and humanity in general, as well as what one learns about one's peers. His other interests include children's literature, horror and comic books, which, depending on who you ask, make him completely comprehensive, eclectic, or deeply disturbed.\n\nBooks\n Dr. Seuss and Philosophy \n Wonder Woman and Philosophy: The Amazonian Mystique\n Roald Dahl and Philosophy: A Little Nonsense Now and Then\n Stephen King and Philosophy\n The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings, co-editor with Alan Soble, Sarah Hoffman and Raja Halwani, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2012\n\nReferences\n\n21st-century American philosophers\nPhilosophy academics\nLiving people\nUniversity of Central Arkansas faculty\nMoral philosophers\nPolitical philosophers\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Philosophy of psychology refers to the many issues that lie at the theoretical foundations of modern psychology.\n\nOverview\nSome of the issues studied by the philosophy of psychology are epistemological concerns about the methodology of psychological investigation. For example:\n What is the most appropriate methodology for psychology: mentalism, behaviorism, or a compromise?\n Are self-reports a reliable data-gathering method?\n What conclusions can be drawn from null hypothesis tests?\n Can first-person experiences (emotions, desires, beliefs, etc.) be measured objectively?\n What are the scientific decision-making practices and laboratory routines used in psychology and cognitive neuroscience?\n\nOther issues in philosophy of psychology are philosophical questions about the nature of mind, brain, and cognition, and are perhaps more commonly thought of as part of cognitive science, or philosophy of mind, such as:\n What is a cognitive module?\n Are humans rational creatures?\n What psychological phenomena come up to the standard required for calling it knowledge?\n What is innateness?\n\nPhilosophy of psychology also closely monitors contemporary work conducted in cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and artificial intelligence, for example questioning whether psychological phenomena can be explained using the methods of neuroscience, evolutionary theory, and computational modeling, respectively. Although these are all closely related fields, some concerns still arise about the appropriateness of importing their methods into psychology. Some such concerns are whether psychology, as the study of individuals as information processing systems (see Donald Broadbent), is autonomous from what happens in the brain (even if psychologists largely agree that the brain in some sense causes behavior (see supervenience)); whether the mind is \"hard-wired\" enough for evolutionary investigations to be fruitful; and whether computational models can do anything more than offer possible implementations of cognitive theories that tell us nothing about the mind (Fodor & Pylyshyn 1988).\n\nPhilosophy of psychology is a relatively young field because \"scientific\" psychology—that is, the psychology that favors experimental methods over introspection—came to dominate psychological studies only in the late 19th century. One of philosophy of psychology's concerns is to evaluate the merits of the many different schools of psychology that have been and are practiced. For example, cognitive psychology's use of internal mental states might be compared with behaviorism, and the reasons for the widespread rejection of behaviorism in the mid-20th century examined.\n\nTopics that fall within the Philosophy of mind go back much farther. For example, questions about the very nature of mind, the qualities of experience, and particular issues like the debate between dualism and monism have been discussed in philosophy for many centuries.\n\nRelated to the philosophy of psychology are philosophical and epistemological inquiries about clinical psychiatry and psychopathology. Philosophy of psychiatry is mainly concerned with the role of values in psychiatry: derived from philosophical value theory and phenomenology, values-based practice is aimed at improving and humanizing clinical decision-making in the highly complex environment of mental health care. Philosophy of psychopathology is mainly involved in the epistemological reflection about the implicit philosophical foundations of psychiatric classification and evidence-based psychiatry. It aims is to unveil the constructive activity underlying the description of mental phenomena.\n\nSee also\n\n Philosophy of psychiatry\n Philosophy of social science\n Moral psychology\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\nThe London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject: Philosophy of psychology.\nJ. Stacy Adams. 1976. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press, 1976 , 9780120152094. \nLeonard Berkowitz. 1972. Social psychology. Scott Foresman & Co, 1972.\nNed Block. 1980. Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Volume 1. Harvard University Press, 1980. , 9780674748767.\nStuart C. Brown, Royal Institute of Philosophy. 1974. Macmillan, 1974. Original from\tthe University of Michigan\nJoseph Margolis. 2008. Philosophy of Psychology. Prentice-Hall foundations of philosophy series. Prentice-Hall, 1984. , 9780136643265.\nKen Richardson. 2008. Understanding psychology. Open University Press, 1988. , 9780335098422. \nGeorge Botterill, Peter Carruthers. 1999. The Philosophy of Psychology. Cambridge University Press. , 9780521559157.\nCraig Steven Titus. 2009. Philosophical Psychology: Psychology, Emotions, and Freedom. CUA Press. , 9780977310364.\nJose Bermudez. 2005. Philosophy of Psychology: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge. . \nTerence Horgan, John Tienson. 1996. Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology. MIT Press. , 9780262082488\n\nExternal links\n Part 7 of MindPapers: Philosophy of Cognitive Science (contains over 1,500 articles, many with online copies)\n Philosophy of Psychology\n\n \nPsy\nPsy"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death"
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | How did he die? | 1 | How did Harold Shipman die? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"How Not to Die may refer to:\n How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America’s Favorite Medical Examiner, a 2008 book by Jan Garavaglia\n How Not To Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, a 2015 book by Michael Greger",
"Die Mannequin is a Canadian alternative rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founded by guitar player and singer Care Failure (born Caroline Kawa) in 2005. The band has toured across Canada several times, opening for Buckcherry, Guns N' Roses, Marilyn Manson and Sum 41. They have also toured Europe on several occasions, alone and as an opening act for Danko Jones in 2008.\n\nHistory\nRising from the ashes of Care Failure's first four-piece band \"The Bloody Mannequins\", Die Mannequin started in the spring of 2006 when Failure recorded her first EP, How to Kill, on How To Kill Records/Cordless Recordings. She sang, played guitar and bass on this EP because she did not have a permanent backing band at that time. Death from Above 1979's Jesse F. Keeler took care of the drum duties as well as production. The E.P. featured four songs and was produced by Keeler and partner Al-P from MSTRKRFT and was mastered by Ryan Mills at Joao Carvalho Mastering. Care Failure was also a member of the supergroup The Big Dirty Band, which included members from the Canadian hardrock band Rush, amongst others. They have recorded a cover version and video of The Bobby Fuller Four song I Fought The Law. This video also featured Anthony Useless, even though he did not play on any of the recordings. It was featured as a soundtrack to the 2006 movie Trailer Park Boys: The Movie.\n\nFailure later hired two of her longtime friends, Ethan Deth (of Toronto band Kïll Cheerleadër) and Pat M. (a.k.a. Ghostwolf), to play bass and drums. Deth was quickly replaced by Anthony \"Useless\" Bleed, also from Kïll Cheerleadër. He played bass guitar and provided backing vocals. Managed by Shull Management, Die Mannequin signed with EMI Publishing in the summer of 2006, and began their own record label, How To Kill Records which is distributed by Warner Music Canada. They were booked as one of the opening bands for Guns N' Roses' eastern leg of their 2006 North-American tour.\n\nDie Mannequin released a new EP in the fall of 2007 entitled Slaughter Daughter. Two tracks, \"Do It Or Die\" and \"Saved By Strangers\", were produced by Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent. The other two tracks, \"Upside Down Cross\" and \"Lonely Of A Woman\", were produced by Junior Sanchez. There was also a live recording of \"Open Season\" included on this EP. The band released a video for the first single, \"Do it or Die\", which entered rotation on Much Music and Much Loud.\n\nBoth EPs have been collected on a single disc entitled Unicorn Steak which features two unreleased songs: an early demo of \"Empty's Promise\" and the cover of the Beatsteaks song Hand in Hand. A video was also recorded after the release of Unicorn Steak, for the song \"Saved By Strangers\", directed by Canadian director Bruce McDonald. He has also directed a documentary about Die Mannequin, entitled The Rawside of Die Mannequin, which premiered at Toronto's North By North East festival on June 15, 2008.\n\nIn 2009 Die Mannequin took part in a documentary series called City Sonic. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Care Failure reflecting on her memories of CFNY, 102.1 the Edge.\n\nOn September 8, 2009, Die Mannequin released FINO + BLEED, mixed by Mike Fraser.\n\nIn 2009, they opened for the Canadians dates of the Marilyn Manson's The High End of Low Tour.\n\nOn March 21, 2012, Die Mannequin announced on their website that they would be releasing new music mid April, along with a new single and music video. This coincided with the release of Hard Core Logo 2.\n\nOn August 20, 2014, the band released a single for their upcoming album, titled \"Sucker Punch\". Their second full-length album, Neon Zero was released on October 28, 2014. Exclaim! Magazine called it 'evil dance metal'.\n\nMembers\nCurrent members\nCaroline \"Care Failure\" Kawa - vocals, guitar, bass (2005–present)\nKevvy Mental - bass, backing vocals (2015–present)\nKeith Heppler - drums, percussion (2015–present)\nJ.C. Sandoval - guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)\nFormer members\nAnthony \"Useless\" Bleed - bass, backing vocals (2006–2014)\nDazzer Scott - drums, percussion (2009–2014)\nStacy Stray - guitar, backing vocals (2009–2014)\nEthan Kath - bass (2006)\nGhostwolf - drums, percussion (2006–2009)\n\nSession members\nJesse F. Keeler - drums, percussion (on How To Kill EP)\nJack Irons - drums, percussion (on Fino + Bleed)\n\nDiscography\nDie Mannequin has released two recognized albums to date and two EPs.\n\nSingles\n\nStudio albums\nFino + Bleed (2009)\nNeon Zero (2014)\n\nCompilations\nUnicorn Steak (2008)\n\nEPs\nHow To Kill (2006)\nSlaughter Daughter (2007)\nDanceland (2012) No. 76 CAN\n\nSoundtracks\n\nInterviews\nDie Mannequin gets darker and warns of Toronto rapist - From Torontomusicscene.ca\n\nSee also\n\nMusic of Canada\nCanadian rock\nList of Canadian musicians\nList of bands from Canada\n:Category:Canadian musical groups\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nCare Failure Interview – Truth Mag\nDie Mannequin Neon Zero\n\nMusical groups established in 2005\nMusical groups from Toronto\nCanadian punk rock groups\nCanadian alternative rock groups\nCordless Recordings artists\n2005 establishments in Ontario"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison"
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | What year did he die? | 2 | What year did Harold Shipman die? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Master of the Die (fl. 1525–1560) was an Italian engraver and printmaker. His year of birth and death are unknown.\n\nThe identity of the Master of the Die is uncertain. He was given this name because he signed his prints with a small die. Some theories to the identity of the artist include Benedetto Verino, Marcantonio Raimondi's son Daddi or Dado, Giovanni Francesco Zabello, or Tommaso Vincidor. What is known is the Master of the Die studied under Marcantonio Raimondi. He worked in the style of Raphael.\n\nReferences\n\nItalian printmakers\nItalian engravers\n16th-century engravers\nDie",
"\"Good Die Young\" is a song by Australian rock band Divinyls, released in July 1984. The single was lifted from the band's second studio album What a Life! and proved to be a moderate success in Australia.\n\nThe music video was shot in various Sydney locations - outside Railway Square next to a famous golf retailer's neon lights, outside George Street cinema complex, and on a building next to Central Station's clocktower.\n\nBackground\n\nDivinyls began recording material for their second album over a two-year span, with Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee writing several songs and working with three different producers along the way. Mark Opitz was the first, having already produced the band's debut album Desperate. However Amphlett and McEntee were not satisfied with his efforts and eventually settled on musician/producer Gary Langan to work on the rest of the album. \"Good Die Young\" was one of the tracks recorded during Langan's run as producer, however a full album did not materialize at that stage and eventually Mike Chapman stepped in to produce the rest of What a Life! as well as the entirety of the band's next album Temperamental.\n\nIn Australia, \"Good Die Young\" was released as the lead single from the album What a Life!, as their previous song \"Casual Encounter\" appeared on their debut album Desperate. However, the American release of What a Life! also included \"Casual Encounter\", therefore making \"Good Die Young\" the second single release in the US.\n\n\"Good Die Young\" charted within the top forty on the Australian singles chart, peaking at number thirty-two. Although the single narrowly missed the top thirty, it was considered a moderate success after the band's previous single \"Casual Encounter\" had only peaked at number ninety-one.\n\nTrack listing\nAustralian 7\" Single\n \"Good Die Young\" - 3:36\n \"9:50\" - 3:10 (considered a rare track as it does not appear on an official Divinyls studio album)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nDivinyls songs\nSongs written by Chrissy Amphlett\nSongs written by Mark McEntee\n1984 songs\nChrysalis Records singles"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,"
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | How many years had he served at him time of death? | 3 | How many years had Harold Shipman served at his time of death? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Edward Byng (ca. 1676 – 1753), sometimes spelt Bing, was an English portrait artist.\n\nThought to be a native of Wiltshire, Byng trained as an artist and became an assistant to Godfrey Kneller about 1693. Another pupil of Kneller, Robert Byng (fl. 1697–1720) was his brother. At the time of Kneller's death in 1723 Byng was his chief assistant and lived with him at a house in Great Queen Street. Kneller's will recorded that Byng had \"for many years faithfully served me\", gave him a pension of £100 a year and entrusted him with seeing that Kneller's unfinished work was completed, for which he would receive the outstanding payments. Byng also inherited drawings in Kneller's studio, many now in the British Museum. He later lived at Potterne, near Devizes, where he died in 1753 and was buried.\n\nThe British Museum holds a large collection of Byng's sketchbooks and drawings. Like John James Backer he was a drapery painter for Kneller.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\nEdward Byng at artfact.com\nEdward Byng auction prices at invaluable.com\n \n\n1670s births\n1753 deaths\nEnglish portrait painters\n17th-century English painters\nEnglish male painters\n18th-century English painters",
"John Barkham (1908April 15, 1998) was a South African-born American syndicated writer (book reviewer) for Time, New York Times Book Review, New York World-Telegram, and New York Post who published several thousand book reviewers in over half a century of work (as many as five per week).\n\nBackground\n\nBarkham was born in South Africa and spent his childhood on an ostrich farm in Cape Province, South Africa.\n\nCareer\n\nAbout 1939, Time hired him as a stringer. He then became Cairo bureau chief. Around August 1944, when Whittaker Chambers became Foreign News editor at Time, the magazine brought him to New York. Chambers considered Barkham (and Marjorie Smith, researcher) his right and left hands in Foreign News.\n\nIn 1950, he became a book reviewer at the Saturday Review.\n\nBy 1951, he was an editor at Coronet magazine.\n\nOver the next three decades, he wrote reviews for the New York Times Book Review, New York World-Telegram, and New York Post. He also interviewed authors.\n\n\"He concentrated on contemporary history and books about Africa, particularly about his native South Africa,\" the New York Times noted at time of death.\n\nHe served for 20 years as a Pulitzer Prize juror (fiction, nonfiction, biography).\n\nHe served as governor of the Overseas Press Club.\n\nAt time of death, he was a trustee of the Carnegie Fund for Authors.\n\nPersonal and death\n\nBarkham married Margot Buirski; they had a son, Graham and a daughter, Jennifer. \n\nWhittaker Chambers praised his \"unfailing loyalty, patience, evenness of temper, kindness\" and \"courage.. (which) sometime gave me about all the courage I had to go on.\"\n\nHe died age 90 on April 15, 1998, at a nursing home in Sarasota, Florida.\n\nSee also\n\n Time \n Coronet\n New York Times Book Review\n New York World-Telegram\n New York Post\n\nReferences\n\n1998 deaths\n20th-century South African male writers\nTime (magazine) people\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American male writers\n1908 births\nAmerican male non-fiction writers"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,",
"How many years had he served at him time of death?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | Where was he buried? | 4 | Where was Harold Shipman buried? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Pietro Participazio (reigned 939–942) was, by tradition, the twentieth Doge of Venice of the Republic of Venice.\n\nHistory\nHe was son of the eighteenth Doge, Orso II Participazio.\n\nIt seems that during his reign he did nothing worthy of note; he died three years after his election and was buried in the Felice church Saint di Ammiana, where his father was buried before him.\n\nReferences\nMedieval Lands Project\n\n10th-century Doges of Venice\n942 deaths\nHouse of Participazio",
"Edward Michael Wigglesworth (1691/1692 – 1765) was a clergyman, teacher and theologian in Colonial America. His father was clergyman and author Michael Wigglesworth (1631–1705).\n\nLife \nEdward Wigglesworth was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated Harvard College in 1710, and in 1722 he was appointed to the newly created Hollis Chair, thereby becoming the first divinity professor commissioned in the American colonies. He was made a Doctor of Divinity in 1730; he died in Cambridge on January 16, 1765 at age 73 after holding the chair for more than 42 years.\n\nHe married, first, Sarah Leverett, daughter of Harvard College President John Leverett, in 1726; she died without issue in 1727, and was buried in her father's crypt (her stone, by the Lamson shop, is inset into the side). He married his second wife, Rebecca Coolidge (who died in 1754) in 1729. Their children were Rebecca Wigglesworth (1730–1783) who married Stephen Sewall (1734-1804) who was also an educator; Edward Wigglesworth (1732–1794) who became the next Hollis professor at Harvard; Mary Wigglesworth (1735–1758); and Sybil Wigglesworth (1736–1740). His son Edward had a son also named Edward (Stephen) Wigglesworth (1771-1794), and a son Thomas Wigglesworth (1775–1855) who had son also named Edward Wigglesworth (1804–1876).\n\nHis grandfather Edward Wigglesworth was buried at the Phipps Street Burying Ground located in the neighborhood of Charlestown in Boston, Massachusetts, where the family first landed on arrival from Old England. His father Rev. Michael, the poet, is buried in Malden. He is buried in a crypt in the Old Cambridge burying ground in Cambridge; his grandson Stephen Sewall (d. 1768, Ae. S. 11 mo.) is buried in the same tomb.\n\nSee also \n North America\n The United States of America\n\nReferences \n\n1693 births\n1765 deaths\nHarvard College alumni\nHarvard University faculty\nPeople from colonial Boston\nBurials in Massachusetts\nAmerican theologians"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,",
"How many years had he served at him time of death?",
"I don't know.",
"Where was he buried?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | Was his wife still living when he died? | 5 | Was Harold Shipman's wife still living when he died? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Alfred Joseph Clements (1858 – 6 January 1938) was the Organiser and secretary of the South Place \nSunday Concerts in London for over 50 years, from 1887–1938. These concerts are still running every Sunday today.\n\nIn 1901, he was a printer, living with his wife Dora Mary Clements née Varian at 10 Leighton Crescent, Kentish Town, London.\n\nWhen Clements died on 6 January 1938, he was living at 8 Finchley Way, Finchley London. Probate of his will was to his widow, Dora Mary Clements, and his effects totalled £995 10s.\n\nHe is commemorated by a gold inlaid relief plaque at Conway Hall, London. Both Clements and his wife are named in the Book of Remembrance in the Musicians’ Chapel at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate.\n\nA prize was established in his name. In 1947, this prize was won by Peter Racine Fricker for his Wind Quintet, which was first performed at Conway Hall on 27 February 1947 by the Brain Wind Ensemble, joined by George Malcolm, and first broadcast in 1949.\n\nReferences\n\nPeople associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society\n1858 births\n1938 deaths\nBritish secularists\nBritish printers\nMusic promoters\nImpresarios",
"Elanson Henry Lacy, known as Harry Lacy (1853 – December 14, 1920) was an American actor, a star in his time best known for playing the role of Jack Manley in the hit play The Still Alarm in the 1880s and 1890s. By 1901, it was reported that Lacy had played the part of Manley in over 1800 performances.\n\nLacy was born to Alonzo and Sarah C. Lazy in Ohio around 1853. He was acting at least as early at 1873, when he appeared in a minstrel show. One of his early stage successes was in the play The Planter's Wife playing opposite Maude Granger in 1883, and later Emily Rigl.\n\nHis wife Katherine Crittendon, whom he married around 1881, died in New York on May 9, 1907. Lacy died in California on December 14, 1920.\n\nSelect performances\n The Planter's Wife (1883) as Albert Graham\n The Still Alarm (1887) as Jack Manley\n Jack Royal of the 92nd (1891) (play by Andrew Carpenter Wheeler)\n The Man From the West (1894) (adapted from novel by David Law Proudfit)\n Bob Rackett's Pajamas (1898) (one-act piece)\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican male stage actors\n1853 births\n1920 deaths"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,",
"How many years had he served at him time of death?",
"I don't know.",
"Where was he buried?",
"I don't know.",
"Was his wife still living when he died?",
"he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension."
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | Was she able to have her finances secured by him taking that action? | 6 | Was Harold Shipman's wife able to have her finances secured by Harold Shipman considering suicide? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Clementina Robertson (1795 – 1853?) was an Irish miniature-painter.\n\nLife\n\nClementina Robertson was born in 1795 in Dublin. Her father was the miniature-painter, Charles Robertson, and she was trained by him. Her uncle was another miniature-painter, Walter Robertson. As a competent artist, she painted in the style of her father, and exhibited with the Society of Artists from 1812 to 1817. In 1830 she married John Siree, a medical student. He died of a fever in 1835. She was able to support herself through her miniature-portrait painting, further supplementing her finances by teaching languages, music, and drawing.\n\nIn 1826 she exhibited five portraits with the Royal Hibernian Academy, and a further three in 1828. At this time her address was listed as Summerhill, Dublin. In 1831 she exhibited a \"portrait of a young lady\" as Mrs Siree, and she was living at 10 Russell St. The National Gallery of Ireland hold a portrait by her of her husband. Her last known address is at 3 Westland Row in 1853, and it is thought she died soon after.\n\nReferences\n\n1795 births\n1853 deaths\n19th-century Irish women artists\nArtists from Dublin (city)",
"Zdislava Berka (also Zdislava of Lemberk; 1220–1252, in what is now the northern part of Czech Republic) was the wife of Havel of Markvartice, Duke of Lemberk, and is a Czech saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She was a \"wife, mother, and one of the earliest lay Dominicans\". She was a \"precociously pious child\", running away at the age of seven to the forest to become a hermit. She was forced by her family to return home, and when she was 15, they forced her to marry wealthy nobleman Havel of Markvartice. He treated her brutally, but she was eventually able to perform acts of charity, give refuge to the poor and dispossessed at their home, found and support two priories, and join the Third Order of Saint Dominic as a layperson. She died in 1252. She is the patron saint of Bohemia, of difficult marriages, and of those who are ridiculed for their piety. Her feast day is on 1 January.\n\nLife\nZdislava was from the town of Litoměřice in what is now the northern part of the Czech Republic, to a Bohemian noble family. Her devout mother was born in Sicily and came to Bohemia as \"a member of the retinue\" of Queen Kunigunde. During her childhood, Zdislava went with her mother to visit Kunigunde, who probably first exposed Zdislava to the Dominicans. She might have met Ceslaus and Hyacinth of Poland. Zdislava, a \"precociously pious child\", was \"extremely pious from her infancy\", giving money away to charity at a young age. When she was seven years old, she ran away from her home into the forest to pursue a life of prayer, penance, and a solitary life as a hermit. Her family found her, though, and forced her to return home. When she was 15, her family forced her to marry, despite her objections, the wealthy nobleman Havel of Markvartice, who owned Lemberk Castle, a fortified castle in a frontier area that was occasionally attacked by Mongol invaders. Zdislava and Havel had four children.\n\nZdislava's husband was \"a man of violent temper\" and treated her brutally, but \"by her patience and gentleness she secured in the end considerable freedom of action in her practices of devotion, her austerities and her many works of charity\". She devoted herself to the poor, opening the castle doors to those dispossessed by the invasions. Hagiographer Robert Ellsberg stated that Havel tolerated her \"extravagant charity\" because she followed his wishes and wore the costly clothes fitting her rank and station and would indulge in his \"extravagant feasts\" with him. Zdislava had ecstasies and visions, received the Eucharist daily even though it was not a common practice at the time, and performed miracles; one account reports that she even raised the dead.\n\nEllsberg reported that Zdislava donated to hospitals and built churches with her own hands. According to one story, she gave their bed to a sick, fever-stricken refugee; Havel \"became indignant at her hospitality\" and was prepared to eject the man, but found a figure of the crucified Christ there instead. Writer Joan Carroll Cruz called the incident a \"miracle\", but one account states that she replaced the bed with a crucifix. The incident \"deeply impressed\" Havel, though, and he relaxed the restrictions he had placed on her. Eventually, he allowed her to build St. Lawrence Priory (a Dominican convent for women), donate money to another convent for men in Gabel, a nearby town, and join the Third Order of Saint Dominic as a layperson. Hagiographer Alban Bulter states, however, that \"the alleged connection of [Zdislava] with the third order of St Dominic remains somewhat of a problem, for the first formal rule for Dominican tertiaries of which we have knowledge belongs to a later date\".\n\nShortly after founding St. Lawrence Priory, Zdislava fell terminally ill; she consoled her husband and children by telling them that \"she hoped to help them more from the next world than she had ever been able to do in this\". She died on 1 January 1252, and was buried, at her request, at St. Lawrence.\n\nVeneration\n\nShortly after her death, Zdislava is reported to have appeared to her grieving husband, dressed in a red robe, and comforted him by giving him a piece of the robe. Her appearance to him \"greatly strengthened him in his conversion from a life of worldliness\". According to hagiographer Agnes Dunbar, her room was still being shown to visitors to the Lemberk Castle into the 19th century. Zdislava was beatified by Pope Pius X in 1907 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in the Czech Republic in 1995. She is the patron saint of Bohemia, of difficult marriages, and of those who are ridiculed for their piety. Her feast day is 1 January.\n\nReferences\n\n Cruz, Joan Carroll (2015). Lay Saints: Models of Family Life. Charlotte, North Carolina: Tan Books & Publishers. . OCLC 946007991.\n Farmer, David Hugh (2011). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 464–465. . OCLC 726871260.\n\n1220s births\n1252 deaths\nPeople from Žďár nad Sázavou District\nPeople from the Margraviate of Moravia\nCzech Roman Catholic saints\n13th-century Christian saints\nChristian female saints of the Middle Ages\nCanonizations by Pope John Paul II\nLay Dominicans\nDominican saints\nVenerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II\nBeatifications by Pope Pius X"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,",
"How many years had he served at him time of death?",
"I don't know.",
"Where was he buried?",
"I don't know.",
"Was his wife still living when he died?",
"he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension.",
"Was she able to have her finances secured by him taking that action?",
"she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60."
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | Was there any other interesting information regarding his death? | 7 | Besides Harold Shipman committing suicide, was there any other interesting information regarding Harold Shipman's death? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"Hugh H. Maxwell was Auditor of Public Accounts of the Illinois Territory from 1812 to 1816. He was elected by the Governor of the Illinois Territory, Ninian Edwards. According to the Illinois Comptroller's Office Official Website there is no further existing information regarding Maxwell except his name and his tenure.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth unknown\nYear of death unknown\nAuditors of Public Accounts of the Illinois Territory\nIllinois politicians",
"The Austral Avian Record, with the subtitle a scientific journal devoted primarily to the study of the Australian avifauna, was an occasional journal produced in five volumes between 1912 and 1927. It was founded, funded and edited by Australian ornithologist Gregory M. Mathews, who was also the main contributor. It was published by Witherby of London, and served as an adjunct to his monumental handbook, The Birds of Australia, which he began in 1910 and completed in 1927.\n\nThe journal was first issued on 2 January 1912, with the final issue (vol.5, no.5) dated 1 June 1927. In the editorial note that opened the first issue, Mathews explained:\n”While preparing my Reference List to the Birds of Australia (now in the press), I accumulated many notes of great interest regarding matters that need investigation. In that Reference List I have shortly indicated some of these matters, but detailed accounts could not there be introduced. I have therefore decided to publish, at irregular intervals, such notes as I deem necessary to require immediate attention and referring to birds which either have been already treated of in my Birds of Australia or will not be dealt with in the immediate future. In this place it is proposed to indicate new forms, notes on nomenclature and any other interesting matter relating to the Australian avifauna.\n\nAdditional information about the journal was also provided on the outer back cover of each part from vol.3 onwards, which stated that:\nThe Austral Avian Record is published at irregular intervals, about four times per year, in parts of about 24 pages each, and often with a coloured Plate; eight parts form a volume. Price per volume 12/- post free. The \"Austral Avian Record\" contains:\n Discussions regarding the relationships and ranges of species and subspecies of particular genera, especially those not dealt with in Mathews' Birds of Australia\n Revision of what has been published in the \"Birds of Australia\" when accession of material and new facts necessitate such revision\n Description of new forms\n Discussions regarding nomenclature\n Supplements to the Reference List of the Birds of Australia\n Dates of Publication of works about which any doubt exists\n\nSee also \n List of journals and magazines relating to birding and ornithology\n\nReferences\n\nJournals and magazines relating to birding and ornithology\nPublications established in 1912\nPublications disestablished in 1927\n1912 establishments in Australia\n1927 disestablishments in Australia"
]
|
[
"Harold Shipman",
"Death",
"How did he die?",
"Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison",
"What year did he die?",
"at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday,",
"How many years had he served at him time of death?",
"I don't know.",
"Where was he buried?",
"I don't know.",
"Was his wife still living when he died?",
"he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension.",
"Was she able to have her finances secured by him taking that action?",
"she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60.",
"Was there any other interesting information regarding his death?",
"Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife."
]
| C_14ae90b760b746eeac0702be4d0a5121_0 | Did he ever admit any guilt before death? | 8 | Did Harold Shipman ever admit any guilt before death? | Harold Shipman | Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 06:20 on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was pronounced dead at 08:10. A Prison Service statement indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's confession nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting, saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it." His death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Sun, however, ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing as these would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service (NHS) pension. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled had Shipman lived past age 60. Additionally, there was evidence that his wife, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman had refused to take part in courses leading toward a full confession of his crimes, leading to temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "tell me everything, no matter what". A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was found guilty of the murder of fifteen patients under his care. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released. Shipman killed himself by hanging, in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, a day before his 58th birthday.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, examined Shipman's crimes. The inquiry identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80 percent of whom were elderly women. Shipman's youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although suspicion arose that he had killed patients as young as four.
Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to date to have been convicted of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Early life and career
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, the second of the three children of Harold Frederick Shipman (12 May 1914 – 5 January 1985), a truck driver, and Vera Brittan (23 December 1919 – 21 June 1963). His working-class parents were devout Methodists. When growing up, Shipman was an accomplished rugby player in youth leagues.
Shipman passed his eleven-plus in 1957, moving to High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, which he left in 1964. He excelled as a distance runner, and in his final year at school served as vice-captain of the athletics team. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of lung cancer when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children.
Shipman studied medicine at Leeds School of Medicine, University of Leeds, graduating in 1970. He began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1974 took his first position as a general practitioner (GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden. In the following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (Demerol) for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in York. He became a GP at the Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, near Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction, the interview was re-broadcast on Tonight with Trevor McDonald.
Detection
In March 1998, Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. The Shipman Inquiry later blamed the Greater Manchester Police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. In August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, who seemed to be in good health, died in Shipman's care.
Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her death certificate, recording the cause of death as old age. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess's urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, examination of his computer showed that they were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a Brother typewriter of the kind used to make the forged will. Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he wanted to be caught, because his life was out of control, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.
The police investigated other deaths Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.
In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998."
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial began at Preston Crown Court on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of diamorphine, all between 1995 and 1998:
Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes subsequently sentenced Shipman to life imprisonment on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he never be released, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, eleven days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already handed down rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while incarcerated.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, steadfastly maintained her husband's innocence even after his conviction.
Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients. John Bodkin Adams was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a ten-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; however, he was acquitted. Historian Pamela Cullen has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.
Death
Shipman hanged himself in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield at 6:20 a.m. on 13 January 2004, the eve of his 58th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. A statement from Her Majesty's Prison Service indicated that he had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using his bed sheets. After Shipman's death, his body was taken to the mortuary at the Medico Legal Centre for a post-mortem examination. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff eventually released the body to his family after an inquest was opened and adjourned shortly after.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated, as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."
Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. However, The Sun ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" The Independent called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by General Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested that whole life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide as well as making their management easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his National Health Service pension.
Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension; she would not have been entitled to it if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to, "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined.
After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in Sheffield for more than a year despite multiple false reports about his funeral. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked. Shipman was eventually cremated on 19 March 2005 at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium. The cremation took place outside normal hours to maintain secrecy and was attended only by Primrose and the couple's four children.
Aftermath
In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire Police detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, The Shipman Inquiry, submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Infirmary. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.
The GMC charged six doctors, who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims, with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found not guilty. In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine. The Shipman Inquiry recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.
In 2005 it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and auctioned 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park, Hyde, on 30 July 2005. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.
Shipman effect
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the Shipman Inquiry report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk over-prescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.
The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"
In media
Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead) was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of Viz comic, also featuring serial killer Fred West. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon.
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.
A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight".
A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from the Shipman Inquiry, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies.
A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.
The satirical artist Cold War Steve regularly features Harold Shipman in his work.
The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story, a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on BBC Two on 28–30 September 2020 and focussed on the victims and how he went undetected for so long.
Podcast episode Catching a Killer Doctor from the Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how it could have been detected much earlier with good statistical models.
See also
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Euthanasia
John Bodkin Adams
Colin Norris
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident
Niels Högel
Jayant Patel
Beverley Allitt
Michael Swango
Leonard Arthur
Howard Martin
David Moor
Thomas Lodwig
Nigel Cox
Christopher Duntsch
Charles Cullen
Doctor Jack Kevorkian
References
External links
Shipman Inquiry (archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders
List of suspected murders
Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998
Caso abierto, Dr Death: The Shipman Case
1946 births
2004 deaths
20th-century English criminals
20th-century English medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Criminals from Nottinghamshire
English people convicted of murder
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Male serial killers
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council
Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients
Medical controversies in the United Kingdom
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
People from Nottingham
People with antisocial personality disorder
People who committed suicide in prison custody
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody
2004 suicides
Suicides by hanging in England
History of Tameside
Medical serial killers | false | [
"To confess is to admit one's guilt or to admit one's belief.\n\nConfess may also refer to:\n Confess (TV series)\n Confess (film), a 2005 thriller film\n \"Confess\" (song), a 1948 vocal duet\n Confess (album), an album by Twin Shadow\n Confess (band), an Iranian band\n Confess is the autobiography of Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford\n\nSee also\n Confession (disambiguation)",
"El Dorado is a 1963 film directed by Menahem Golan. The script was co-written by him, Leo Filler, and Amatsia Hiuni, based on the play by Yigal Mosenzon.\n\nPlot\nAfter a man is accused of a crime he did not commit, his lawyer is against taking the case and does nothing to help him. Pressure politically is aiding in finding the man guilty, and he is forced to admit guilt. He then fights to prove his innocence.\n\nPrincipal cast\n\nExternal links \n\n1963 films\nCourtroom films\nFilms directed by Menahem Golan\nHebrew-language films\nIsraeli films\n1963 directorial debut films\nFilms with screenplays by Menahem Golan\nFilms based on plays"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | How did Eddie get started? | 1 | How did Eddie Rabbitt get started early in his career? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | won a talent contest | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"The Pack Is Back is the fifth full-length album by the English heavy metal band Raven, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music). It was recorded in the USA with renowned producer Eddie Kramer and features a sound more FM-friendly and commercial than any other Raven album. Despite the pressure of the label to produce a commercially successful album, The Pack Is Back did not have any relevant chart entry.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs by John Gallagher, Mark Gallagher and Rob Hunter, except where indicated.\nSide one\n\"The Pack Is Back\" – 3:43\n\"Gimme Some Lovin'\" (Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood, Muff Winwood) – 3:14\n\"Screamin' Down the House\" – 4:00\n\"Young Blood\" – 3:24\n\"Hyperactive\" – 3:41\n\nSide two\n\"Rock Dogs\" – 4:00\n\"Don't Let It Die\" – 3:47\n\"Get into Your Car and Drive\" – 3:54\n\"All I Want\" – 3:34\n\"Nightmare Ride\" – 3:38\n\nCD reissue bonus tracks\n\"How Did You Get So Crazy\" - 3:49\n\"Seen It on the T.V.\" - 4:06\n\nPersonnel\n\nBand members\nJohn Gallagher - bass, vocals\nMark Gallagher - guitar, guitar synthesizers, synthesizers, vocals\nRob Hunter - drums\n\nAdditional musicians\nThe Uptown Horns - brass on tracks 5 and 7\n\nProduction\nEddie Kramer - producer, engineer, mixing, piano\nChris Isca - engineer\nLarry Swisp - mixing\nBob Ludwig - mastering\nBob Defrin - art direction\n\nCharts\nAlbum - Billboard (North America)\n\nReferences\n\n1986 albums\nRaven (British band) albums\nAlbums produced by Eddie Kramer\nAtlantic Records albums",
"How Can You Live Like That? is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1976 and released on the Atlantic label.\n\nReception\n\nThe Allmusic review stated \"Eddie Harris comes up with another LP full of abrupt changes of gear... Some of this music sounds a bit routine for Harris but the range of idioms is extraordinary and it was apparently recorded in just one day\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Eddie Harris except as indicated\n \"How Can I Find Some Way to Tell You\" (Harris, Bradley Bobo) - 5:33 \n \"Love Is Too Much to Touch\" (Harris, Yvonne Harris) - 2:55 \n \"How Can You Live Like That?\" - 5:32 \n \"Get Down with It\" (Harris, Bobo, Paul Humphrey, Ronald Muldrow) - 3:44 \n \"I'd Love to Take You Home\" (Sara E. Harris, Muldrow) - 3:36 \n \"Come Dance With Me\" - 4:22 \n \"Bird of Stone\" (Harris, Barbara Harmala) - 2:50 \n \"Ambidextrous\" - 3:42 \n \"Nothing Else to Do\" - 9:19\n\nPersonnel\nEddie Harris - tenor saxophone, piano, vocals\nRonald Muldrow - guitar, guitorgan, esophagusphone\nCedar Walton - piano (tracks 5-7 & 9)\nBradley Bobo - bass, 6 string bass, ARP synthesizer (tracks 1-4 & 9) \nRon Carter - bass (tracks 5-7 & 9)\nRichard Evans - Minimoog (track 2), arranger (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\nPaul Humphrey - drums, electric drums (tracks 1-4, 6 & 8)\nBilly Higgins - drums (tracks 5, 7 & 9)\nAl Aarons, Oscar Brashear, Bobby Bryant, Snooky Young - trumpet (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8) \nGeorge Bohanon, Garnett Brown, Grover Mitchell - trombone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\nBenny Powell - bass trombone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\nBuddy Collette, Bill Green - alto saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\nJohn Kelson, Charles Owens - tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\nDelbert Hill - baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 8)\n\nReferences \n\nEddie Harris albums\n1977 albums\nAtlantic Records albums"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | Where was this talent contest held? | 2 | Where was the talent contest with Eddie Rabbitt held? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | New Jersey. | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"Christopher Doran, (born 22 November 1979) from Waterford, Ireland was the winner of Ireland's You're a Star 2003-2004 talent search competition to find Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest entry. The competition held auditions throughout Ireland, and the winners went through to the final stages, with one act eventually decided on. The show was aired on RTÉ. He went on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with \"If My World Stopped Turning\".\n\nEurovision 2004 \nChris Doran won the competition You're a Star with his song \"If My World Stopped Turning\" Doran sang the song accompanied onstage by singing group Final 4, who had also participated in the competition.\n\nDoran, along with Final 4, represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2004 with the song \"If My World Stopped Turning\" finishing 22nd out of 24. \n\nThe single however became a big hit in:\n\nIreland, where it topped the charts for two weeks. \nPalestine, where the song set a new record for consecutive weeks in the Palestinian Top 30.\nLibya, where the song was adopted as the country's temporary national anthem following a military coup against Muammar Gaddafi.\n\nRecent career \nDoran went on to release a number of other singles, scoring five Irish hits in total. He also released an album in 2004. He was on the judging panel for a reality talent show, entitled \"Sony Centre Star Search\", on Waterford's WLR FM in 2006. He has also completed some recording work in the United States, having worked with producer Joe Staxx.\n\nPersonal life \nChris Doran was born into a large family of the travelling community. His father died when he was a year old. Doran became a kickboxer in his youth and won many awards for this. He also worked as a builder before his music career took off.\n\nIn June 2013 Chris Doran was one of eight people brought to a special sitting of Carrick-on-Suir district court following a row on a street in Carrick-on-Suir and was charged with affray.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nChris Doran Myspace Music\n\n1979 births\nLiving people\nIrish pop singers\nEurovision Song Contest entrants for Ireland\nEurovision Song Contest entrants of 2004\nPeople from County Waterford\nSinging talent show winners\nYou're a Star contestants\n21st-century Irish male singers",
"Glenda Batta (born June 19, 1978), better known by her stage name Glennis Grace, is a Dutch singer from Amsterdam. In 2005 Grace represented the Netherlands in the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and in 2018 she appeared on the 13th season of America's Got Talent and made it to the finals. Glennis Grace has received online attention due to the similarity between her voice and that of Whitney Houston.\n\nLife and career \nBatta was born in Amsterdam to a Dutch mother and a father from Curaçao. She was discovered in 1994, at the age of 15, after she won the Dutch TV talent show called Soundmixshow, where she performed the Whitney Houston song \"One Moment in Time\".\n\nEurovision Song Contest \nIn 2005, Glennis Grace accepted the offer to participate in the Nationaal Songfestival, the national selection in the Netherlands for Eurovision Song Contest 2005. Glennis Grace performed the ballad \"My Impossible Dream\" and won the final with this song. She then represented the Netherlands in Kyiv (Ukraine), where the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held. In Kyiv, Glennis Grace did not make it to the finals.\n\nIn April 2011, she reached the top of the Dutch singles chart with a rendition of \"Afscheid\", a 1998 hit song of the Dutch band Volumia!, which she sang in the Dutch television program Beste Zangers.\n\nIn 2012, Glennis Grace founded the Dutch supergroup: Ladies of Soul, together with other Dutch artists Candy Dulfer, Berget Lewis, Edsilia Rombley and Trijntje Oosterhuis. Oosterhuis left the group in 2017. \n\nGlennis Grace was set to perform during the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, alongside DJ and music producer Afrojack. The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually the performance took place during the rescheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 2021.\n\nAmerica's Got Talent \nGlennis Grace appeared on the 13th season of America's Got Talent in 2018. During the audition rounds (episode: June 27, 2018) Glennis Grace sang Whitney Houston's \"Run to You\". Glennis Grace received 'Yes' votes from all four judges and went on to the next round, where she performed \"Nothing Compares 2 U\" from Prince. She received rave reviews from the judges and earned a place in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals Glennis Grace sang \"Never Enough\" from the film The Greatest Showman to reach the semifinals. In the second semifinal, she performed the Kate Bush song \"This Woman's Work\". This resulted in a spot in the finals together with nine other finalists. In the final she sang the song \"Run\" from Snow Patrol and got a standing ovation from the judges and the audience. A day later in a separate final broadcast Glennis Grace performed the song \"Meant To Be\" with American singer Bebe Rexha. The audience was enthusiastic and many commented that Glennis Grace sang the songs better than Rexha. Glennis Grace did not make it into the top five finalists.\n\nThe Voice of Holland \nIn July 2021, it was announced that Glennis Grace would replace Jan Smit as a Coach on the twelfth season of The Voice of Holland. After two audition episodes aired, the season was suspended indefinitely due to sexual misconduct claims.\n\nArrested for assault\n\nOn February 12, 2022, Glennis Grace was arrested along with two other persons, on suspicion of assaulting supermarket employees in Amsterdam. She was kept in custody for three days, after which she was released on February 15, 2022. She was formally charged on February 22, 2022. The same day, two new suspects were arrested.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nLive\n\nCompilation\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n\nCollaboration\n\nCollaboration: Live\n\nCollaboration: Singles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n (Dutch)\n\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20070428105747/http://www.esctoday.com/annual/2005/page/15\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20070930040703/http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/4500?PHPSESSID=34c\nhttps://soundcloud.com/glennisgrace\nhttps://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/credits/credit/season-13/glennis-grace\n\n1978 births\nLiving people\nEurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands\nDutch people of Curaçao descent\nDutch pop singers\nEurovision Song Contest entrants of 2005\nMusicians from Amsterdam\nTalent show winners\n21st-century Dutch singers\n21st-century Dutch women singers\nNationaal Songfestival contestants\nAmerica's Got Talent contestants"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey."
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | What did the contest lead to? | 3 | What did the talent contest in New Jersey lead to? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | an hour of Saturday night radio show | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"Bala Turkvision Song Contest 2015 was the first (and to date, only) edition of the Bala Turkvision Song Contest. It was initially scheduled to take place in Mary, Turkmenistan, however, it was moved to Istanbul, Turkey. The contest is the junior equivalent of the Turkvision Song Contest; similar to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest being the younger equivalent of the Eurovision Song Contest.\n\nThirteen countries and regions competed. Eligible to participate are Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language. The final took place on the 15 December 2015. Contestants must be aged between 8 and 15 and must perform in a Turkic language.\n\nOrigins\n\nBala Turkvision was an annual song contest. Based on the similar format of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Bala Turkvision focused primarily on participating Turkic countries and regions. A juror from each nation awarded between 1 and 10 points for every entry, except their own. In the Grand Final the jury determined the winner. Unlike the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in which the winning country proceeds to host the following year's event, hosting of the Bala Turkvision Song Contest took place in the country or region that is also hosting the Turkish Capital of Culture.\n\nLocation\nIt was announced on 7 June 2015, that the inaugural Bala Turkvision Song Contest will be held in Mary, Turkmenistan. However, it was later confirmed that the competition had been moved to Istanbul, Turkey. The final took place on 15 December 2015.\n\nParticipating countries and regions\nThe following Turkic regions and ethnic groups competed in the inaugural contest that took place in December 2015.\n\nScoreboard\nNuray Rahman and Ahmed Amirli who represented Azerbaijan with the song \"Cocukluk Yillari\", was declared the winner after all the votes had been cast from all of the thirteen participating countries and regions.\n\n10 points\n\nInternational broadcasts and voting\n\nCommentators\nNone of the participating broadcasters did broadcast the contest live. However some broadcasters have announced their plans for the broadcasting: \n\n – ATV - 5 January 2016 at 21:40 (CET 18:40)\n – GRT Television\n – Marmueli Television\n – Khabar TV – 18 December at 16:15 (10:15 CET)\n – KTRK\n – MRT 2\n – TMB TV - 20 December at 18:00 (17:00 CET)\n - Yuzhnaya Volna TV\n\nOther regions\n — On 30 November it was announced that Bashkortostan would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Bashkortostan did select Galisar Baiguskarova to represent them in 2015.\n — On 7 December it was announced that Crimea would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Crimea did select Aliie Bekirova with the song \"Amanim yarim\" (On my half) to represent them in 2015.\n & — On 7 December it was announced that Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey.\n — On 30 November it was announced that Khakassia would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Khakassia did select Katya Kyzlasova to represent them in 2015.\n — On 7 December it was announced that Kumyk would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Kumyk did select Karim Salavatov to represent them in 2015.\n — On 7 December it was announced that Moscow would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Moscow did select Angeline Gafarovoy to represent them in 2015.\n — On 3 December it was announced that Stavropol Krai would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Stavropol Krai did select Madina Kartakeyva with the song \"Altin Ordam\" (My golden horde) to represent them in 2015.\n — On 7 December it was announced that Tatarstan would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Tatarstan did select Saida Mukhametzyanova to represent them in 2015.\n — On 30 November it was announced that Tuva would not debut at the contest due to the current state of international relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey. Despite this Tuva did select Aykis to represent them in 2015.\n — On 15 December it was announced that Uzbekistan would not debut at the contest for unknown reasons. Despite this Uzbekistan did select Yasmina Garibova to represent them in 2015.\n\nThe following list of countries were announced as competing at the contest and appeared on a provisional participation list on 23 September 2015. However, they did not appear on the finalised list in December 2015.\n\nSee also\nABU Radio Song Festival 2015\nABU TV Song Festival 2015\nEurovision Song Contest 2015\nEurovision Young Dancers 2015\nIntervision Song Contest 2015\nJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2015\nTurkvision Song Contest 2015\n\nReferences\n\n2015 in Turkey\n2015\n2015 song contests\nDecember 2015 events in Turkey",
"Tijana Bogićević (, ; born 1 November 1981) is a Serbian singer. She represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song \"In Too Deep\" but failed to qualify to the final. Bogićević was previously a backing vocalist for Nina at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. She also competed to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 through Beovizija 2009, but did not advance past the semi-final.\n\nBogićević first achieved major recognition in Serbia in 2013, after the release of her single \"Čudo\". The following year she released a duet with Aleksa Jelić, \"Još jednom\". Bogićević currently resides in the United States. She married Mark Robertson, the lead singer of the band Queen Of Hearts, in 2015.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n Čudo (2018)\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\n1981 births\nMusicians from Novi Sad\n21st-century Serbian women singers\nSerbian pop singers\nEurovision Song Contest entrants for Serbia\nEurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017\nSerbian expatriates in the United States"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey.",
"What did the contest lead to?",
"an hour of Saturday night radio show"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | What was the show called? | 4 | What was the Saturday night radio show called? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | time to broadcast | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"The Grand National Roadster Show (a.k.a.: GNRS, or sometimes referred to as Oakland Roadster Show but never officially called that), started in 1950, and is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in the United States.\n\nHistory \nIn 1949, while Al Slonaker was preparing for his first automobile show at the Oakland Exposition, an Oakland, CA area hot rod club convinced him to exhibit ten of these cars at the show. The next year, Slonaker decided to focus on just the hot rods but concerned over possible bad press, it was instead called the \"National Roadster Show.\" In 1962, the \"Grand\" was added to the event's name, making it the Grand National Roadster Show. \n\nIn 1967, the show moved to the Oakland Coliseum From 1998 until 2003, it was held at a variety of other San Francisco Bay Area venues. Starting in 2004, it has operated in Pomona, California, at the Fairplex.\n\nAward \n\nStarting in 1950, the grand prize at the show was the \"Most Beautiful Roadster\" award. It is a 9-foot \"megatrophy\" that engraved the winner's name on it. Though it's unclear what year it happened, the name of the trophy was lengthened to \"America's Most Beautiful Roadster\", which is how it reads today.\n\nAmerica's Best Competition Car Award \nFrom 1957 until 1971, there was a separate \"America's Best Competition Car Award\" given out at the show.\n\nFurther reading\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1949 establishments in the United States\nAuto shows in the United States\n1949 establishments in California",
"Samuel Johnson, better known by his stage name Samwell, is an American entertainer whose 2007 video \"What What (In the Butt)\" made him an Internet celebrity.\n\nEarly years\nSamwell was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.\n\nCareer\nSamwell is unsigned, but for a time his \"What What (In the Butt)\" was licensed through Fatboy Slim's record label, Southern Fried Records. The \"What What (In the Butt)\" video is licensed through Brownmark Films.\n\nThe song was used extensively in the South Park season 12 episode \"Canada on Strike\", which featured a re-creation of the What What video.\n\nIn April 2008 Samwell appeared on the BBC television show Lily Allen and Friends for an interview and performed a live version of \"What What (In the Butt)\" with choreographed dancers.\n\nSamwell played Adonis in the 2009 feature film Modus Operandi and plays the Communications Officer in 2014's Hamlet A.D.D..\n\nIn March 2010 Special Entertainment released an iPhone App called Shaky Advice from Samwell that functions much like a Magic 8 Ball, with video clips of Samwell giving advice.\n\nIn June 2010 Samwell appeared on an episode of Comedy Central's Tosh.0, a television show about viral videos. The segment told the story of how the \"What What\" video was created, followed by an acoustic duet version of the song by Samwell and Josh Homme, lead singer for Queens Of The Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. In a June 2 interview, host Daniel Tosh called Samwell one of the best guests he's had on the show, saying, \"I'll tell you who I loved the 'What What In The Butt' guy. It couldn't have been more of a delight.\" In September 2010 Samwell appeared on Tosh.0 a second time when he was nominated for the Season Two MVP Award.\n\nSamwell has a live phone call service called Special Greetings from Samwell which is available through his official website.\n\nSamwell released a string of videos after What What (In the Butt), including a Safe Sex PSA called Protect Respect, music videos, interview videos, and a number of comedic sketch videos.\n\nSee also\n List of YouTube personalities\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Website\n\n1979 births\nLiving people\nAfrican-American male actors\nAmerican male actors\nAfrican-American male singer-songwriters\nAmerican electronic musicians\nAmerican Internet celebrities\nUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni\n21st-century African-American male singers"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey.",
"What did the contest lead to?",
"an hour of Saturday night radio show",
"What was the show called?",
"time to broadcast"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | How long did it last? | 5 | How long did the Time to Broadcast radio show last? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | an hour | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine",
"\"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" is a single by British pop rock group the Beautiful South from their sixth album, Quench (1998). It was written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray. The lyrics, which take the form of a conversation between two reconciling lovers, are noted for a reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who. According to the book Last Orders at the Liars Bar: the Official Story of the Beautiful South, \"How Long's a Tear Take To Dry?\" was originally to be called \"She Bangs the Buns\" due to its chord structure reminiscent of Manchester's the Stone Roses. The song reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's twelfth and final top-twenty hit.\n\nSingle release\n\"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1999. Although not released on vinyl, it was given a dual-CD release in the UK. B-sides included a remix of \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" as well as acoustic versions of three other songs: \"Perfect 10\", \"Big Coin\", and \"Rotterdam\". On 18 March 1999, the band performed \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" live on the BBC music programme Top of the Pops.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video, available on The Beautiful South's compilation DVD Munch, is a humorous account of The Beautiful South on a world tour in order to pay for drinks at the local bar. The band is portrayed by cartoon versions of themselves, in a style reminiscent of 1960s-era Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and Scooby-Doo in particular. In the commentary track on the Munch DVD, Paul Heaton explains that the video was actually produced by Hanna-Barbera.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUK CD1\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n \"Perfect 10\" (acoustic)\n\nUK CD2\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"Big Coin\" (acoustic)\n \"Rotterdam\" (acoustic)\n\nUK cassette single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (radio edit)\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n \"Perfect 10\" (acoustic)\n \"Rotterdam\" (acoustic)\n\nGerman CD single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"Dumb\"\n \"I Sold My Heart to the Junkman\"\n \"Suck Harder\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n Pattenden, Mike - Last Orders at the Liars Bar: the Official Story of the Beautiful South ()\n\n1999 singles\n1998 songs\nThe Beautiful South songs\nGo! Discs singles\nHanna-Barbera\nMercury Records singles\nSongs written by David Rotheray\nSongs written by Paul Heaton"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey.",
"What did the contest lead to?",
"an hour of Saturday night radio show",
"What was the show called?",
"time to broadcast",
"How long did it last?",
"an hour"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | What did the performance lead to? | 6 | What did the Time to Broadcast performance lead to? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | first record deal | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"The situation, task, action, result (STAR) format is a technique used by interviewers to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires. \n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenging situation in which you found yourself.\n Task: What were you required to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation. Some performance development methods use “Target” rather than “Task”. Job interview candidates who describe a “Target” they set themselves instead of an externally imposed “Task” emphasize their own intrinsic motivation to perform and to develop their performance.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what the alternatives were.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions? Did you meet your objectives? What did you learn from this experience? Have you used this learning since?\n\nThe STAR technique is similar to the SOARA technique.\n\nThe STAR technique is also often complemented with an additional R on the end STARR or STAR(R) with the last R resembling reflection. This R aims to gather insight and interviewee's ability to learn and iterate. Whereas the STAR reveals how and what kind of result on an objective was achieved, the STARR with the additional R helps the interviewer to understand what the interviewee learned from the experience and how they would assimilate experiences. The interviewee can define what they would do (differently, the same, or better) next time being posed with a situation.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions\nThe STAR method explained\n\nJob interview",
"Lead Upturn 2011 ～Sun×You～ is the eighth concert DVD released by Japanese hip hop group Lead, one year after their previous concert DVD on December 21, 2011. It peaked at No. 93 on the Oricon charts.\n\nThe tour did not have a corresponding album and most of the songs chosen to be performed were in the dance and electronica genre, including songs \"Night Deluxe\", \"Speechless\" and \"Virgin Blue\".\n\nInformation\nLead Upturn 2011 ～Sun×You～ is the eighth concert DVD released by Japanese hip hop group Lead on December 21, 2011, one year after their previous concert DVD Lead Upturn 2010 ~I'll Be Around★~. The DVD peaked at number 93 on the Oricon DVD/Blu-ray Chart.\n\nThe tour became their third-consecutive concert to not have a corresponding album. The tour focused more on their dance-heavy songs that fit the tour's theme to allow the group to show more of their breakdancing and street dancing skills. Staying with the theme, the performance opened with each member giving a demonstration of their dance skills, cutting to their backup dancers between each member's introduction. Along with showing off each members' skills, the tour also showed focus on their backup dancers, which were given their own spotlight during the lives and on the performance utilized on the DVD.\n\nThe performance utilized on the DVD was of their final tour performance at Nakano Sun Plaza in Nakano, Tokyo on September 16, 2011.\n\nTrack listing\n<OPENING>\n\"Hurricane\"\n\"Can't Stop\"\n\"Hateshinaku Hiroi Kono Sekai no Nakade\"\n\"Night Deluxe\"\n\"Speechless\"\n\"What cha gonna?\"<DANCERS Performance 1>\n\"Unbalance na Kiss wo Shite\"<DANCE 1>\n\"Walk\"\n\"Dear\"\n\"Jewel of Queen\"<DANCE 2><DANCERS Performance 2>\n\"Baby'cuz U!!\"\n\"24HRS\"\n\"Tasogare Gradation\"\n\"Special Summer Medley\" ～Umi / Funky Days! / Manatsu no Magic / Sunnyday / Summer Madness～<ENCORE>\n\"GiraGira Romantic\"\n\"Sun×You\"<Extra shoot>\n\"Backstage Document & Interview\"<ENCORE>\n\"Virgin Blue\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nLead Official Site\n\n2011 video albums\n2011 live albums\nLive video albums\nLead (band) video albums\nAlbums recorded at Nakano Sun Plaza"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey.",
"What did the contest lead to?",
"an hour of Saturday night radio show",
"What was the show called?",
"time to broadcast",
"How long did it last?",
"an hour",
"What did the performance lead to?",
"first record deal"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | Who did he sign with? | 7 | Who did Eddie Rabbitt sign with for his first record deal? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | 20th Century Records | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | true | [
"Each year, USA Today, an American newspaper, awards outstanding high-school baseball players with a place on its All-USA High School Baseball Team. The newspaper names athletes whom they believe to be the best baseball players from high schools across the United States. The newspaper has named a team every year since 1998.\n\nIn 1989, USA Today began naming an annual USA Today High School Baseball Player of the Year and an annual USA Today High School Baseball Coach of the Year.\n\nIn 1998, the paper also began naming an annual USA Today All-USA High School Baseball Team of nine to 11 players, with one member of the team designated the USA Today High School Baseball Player of the Year.\n\nUSA Today High School Players and Coaches of the Year (1989–1997)\nSee footnote\n\n1995 team\nCoach of the Year: Phil Clark (Germantown High School, Germantown, TN)\n\nHutchinson did not sign with the Braves, who drafted him with the 26th pick of the 1995 draft in the 1st round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending Stanford and was selected with the 48th pick of the 1998 draft in the 2nd round by the Cardinals.\nHood did not sign with the Twins, who drafted him with the 100th pick of the 1995 draft in the 4th round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending Georgia Tech and was selected with the 181st pick of the 1998 draft in the 6th round by the Angels.\nValent did not sign with the Tigers, who drafted him with the 714th pick of the 1995 draft in the 26th round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending UCLA and was selected with the 42nd pick of the 1998 draft in the supplemental 1st round by the Phillies.\n\nPlayer, Coach, and Team of the Year (1998–2003)\nSee footnote\nNote: The first player (in boldface) in each list is the Player of the Year for that season.\n\n1998 team\nCoach of the Year: James Patrick (Clovis High School, Clovis, California)\n\n Henson attended Michigan on a football scholarship while playing in the Yankees minor league system. Retired from baseball in 2004 to pursue football career full-time.\n Teixeira did not sign with the Red Sox, who drafted him with the 265th pick of the 1998 draft in the 9th round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending Georgia Tech and was selected 5th overall in the 2001 draft by the Rangers.\n\n1999 team\nCoach of the Year: Rocky Manuel (Bellaire High School, Houston, TX)\n\n Osborn did not sign with the Anaheim Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels) who drafted him with 671st Pick of the 1999 draft in the 22nd round. Re-enter the MLB draft after attending University of Florida and was selected 72nd Pick of the 2002 draft in the 2nd Round by the Indians.\n\n2000 team\nCoach of the Year: Sam Blalock (Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego, CA)\n\n Harrington did not signed with Rockies and re-enter in the MLB Draft the following year.\n\n2001 team\nCoach of the Year: Kenny Kendrena (Bishop Amat High School, La Puente, CA)\n\n Putnam was not chosen in the 2001 MLB Draft. Re-enter the MLB draft after attending Stanford University and was selected 36th pick of the 2004 draft in the Supplemental 1st Round by the (A's).\n Crosby was drafted as the 53rd Pick of the 2001 MLB Draft of 2nd Round by Royals and attended Clemson University on a football scholarship. Played briefly in Royal's minor league system before deciding in returning to Clemson to pursue football full-time.\n\n2002 team\nCoach of the Year: Rick Carpenter (Elkins High School, Missouri City, TX)\n\nClement did not signed with Twins who drafted him with 362nd pick of the 2002 draft in the 12th round. Re-enter the MLB draft after attending USC and was selected 5th pick of the 2005 draft in the 1st Round by the Mariners.\nMayberry did not signed with Mariners who drafted him with 28th pick of the 2002 draft in the 1st round. Re-enter the MLB draft after attending Stanford University and was selected 19th pick of the 2005 draft in the 1st Round by the Rangers.\n\n2003 team\nCoach of the Year: Tom Meusborn (Chatsworth High School, Chatsworth, CA)\n\nPlayer, Coach, and Team of the Year (2004–present)\nSee footnote\nNote: The 2004–2007 teams were selected by USA Today's Christopher Lawlor after consultation with analysts, pro scouts, coaches and writers.\nNote: The first player (in boldface) in each list is the Player of the Year for that season.\n\n2004 team\nCoach of the Year: Bobby Howard (Columbus High School, Columbus, GA)\n\nTaylor was not chosen in the 2004 MLB Draft. Re-enter the MLB draft after attending Stanford University and was selected 73rd Pick of the 2007 draft in the 5th Round by the Phillies.\n\n2005 team\nCoach of the Year: Tony Rasmus, Russell County (Seale, Alabama)\n\n Henry briefly played in the minor league systems of the Yankees and Phillies before pursuing basketball full-time by attending colleges at Memphis and Kansas.\nPutnam did not sign with the Tigers, who drafted him with 1140th pick of the 2005 draft in the 38th round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending University of Michigan and was selected 171st pick of the 2008 draft in the fifth round by the Indians.\n\n2006 team\nCoach of the Year: Ron Eastman (The Woodlands High School, The Woodlands, TX)\n\n2007 team\nCoach of the Year: Jerry Boatner (West Lauderdale High School, Collinsville, MS)\n\n2008 team\nCoach of the Year: Todd Fitz-Gerald (American Heritage School, Plantation, FL)\n\nCole did not sign with the Yankees, who drafted him with 28th pick of the 2008 draft in the 1st round. Re-entered the MLB draft after attending UCLA and was selected 1st pick of the 2011 draft in the First round by the Pirates.\n\n2009 team\nCoach of the Year: Phil Forbes (Menchville High School, Newport News, VA)\n\n John went Undrafted in 2009 MLB Draft and officially attended the Oklahoma in the fall of 2009. He re-entered the MLB draft after attending Oklahoma and was selected 214th pick of the 2012 draft in the 6th Round by the Tigers.\n Williams did not signed with Rangers who drafted him with 964th pick of the 2009 draft in the 32nd round. He re-entered the MLB draft after attending Middle Georgia College and was selected 319th pick of the 2010 draft in the 10th Round by the Cardinals.\n\n2010 team\nCoach of the Year: Larry Knight (Sumrall High School, Sumrall, MS)\n\n Bennett went Undrafted in 2010 MLB Draft and officially attending Tennessee in the fall of 2010. Will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2013.\n Bryant did not signed with Blue Jays who drafted him with 546th pick of the 2010 draft in the 18th round by officially attending University of San Diego in the fall of 2010. Will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2013.\n Covey did not signed with Brewers who drafted him with 14th pick of the 2010 draft in the 1st round by officially attending University of San Diego in the fall of 2010. Will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2013.\n\n2011 team\nCoach of the Year: Rich Bielski (Archbishop McCarthy High School, Fort Lauderdale, FL)\n\n Cron did not sign with the Mariners, who drafted him with the 92nd pick of the 2011 draft in the 3rd round. He chose instead to attend TCU in the fall of 2011, and will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2014.\n Mitsui did not sign with the Rays, who drafted him with the 390th pick of the 2011 draft in the 12th round. He chose to attend Washington in the fall of 2011, and will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2014.\n Montgomery went undrafted in the 2011 MLB Draft. He chose to attend South Carolina in the fall of 2011, and will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2014\n\n2012 team\nCoach of the Year: Nick Day (Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, NV)\n\n Kaprelian did not sign with the Mariners, who drafted him with the 1211th pick of the 2012 draft in the 40th round. He chose instead to attend UCLA in the fall of 2012, and wasn't drafted by the New York Yankees in the first round of the MLB Draft in 2015.\n T. Hawkins did not sign with the Rays, who drafted him with the 392nd pick of the 2012 draft in the 12th round. He chose instead to attend Oklahoma in the fall of 2012, and will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2015.\n Moore did not sign with the Yankees, who drafted him with the 787th pick of the 2012 draft in the 25th round. He chose instead to attend UCLA in the fall of 2012, and will be eligible to re-enter the MLB Draft in 2015.\n\nSee also\n\nABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball Team\nUSA Today All-USA High School Basketball Team\nUSA Today All-USA High School Football Team\nUSA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nUSA Today Index Page\n\nBaseball trophies and awards in the United States\nHigh school baseball in the United States\nUSA Today\nAwards by newspapers\nAwards established in 1998",
"The Crowe sign or Crowe's sign is the presence of axillary (armpit) freckling in people with neurofibromatosis type I (von Recklinghausen's disease). These freckles occur in up to 30% of people with the disease and their presence is one of six diagnostic criteria for neurofibromatosis. Freckles can also be present in the intertriginous area in neurofibromatosis, such as the inguinal fold, submamillary areas, and nape of the neck.\n\nThis medical sign is named after Frank W. Crowe (July 2, 1919 – April 29, 1987), an American physician who practiced dermatology in Boise, Idaho. In 1956 Crowe et al. recognised the autosomal dominant heredity of neurofibromatosis and the use of 6 or more café au lait spots to diagnose the condition. In 1964 Crowe published work on the use of axillary freckling in its diagnosis, which is now referred to as the Crowe sign. He noticed that axillary freckles are present in about 20-30% of patients with neurofibromatosis, but he did not see any in patients who did not have neurofibromatosis.\n\nAxillary freckling also occurs in other disease processes that closely resemble NF1, such as Legius syndrome (cafe-au-lait spots, axillary freckling, and macrocephaly without Lisch nodules, neurofibromas or CNS tumors), and, homozygous HNPCC mutations (cafe-au-lait spots, axillary freckling, and cutaneous neurofibromas in the setting of Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer, also known as Lynch syndrome; seen with family history of HNPCC and consanguinity).\n\nReferences\n\nCrowe's sign in gpnotebook.co.uk\n\nDermatologic signs"
]
|
[
"Eddie Rabbitt",
"Early career",
"How did Eddie get started?",
"won a talent contest",
"Where was this talent contest held?",
"New Jersey.",
"What did the contest lead to?",
"an hour of Saturday night radio show",
"What was the show called?",
"time to broadcast",
"How long did it last?",
"an hour",
"What did the performance lead to?",
"first record deal",
"Who did he sign with?",
"20th Century Records"
]
| C_47bd035d59a04014b9c3b7300f65ed48_1 | Did he like his deal? | 8 | Did Eddie Rabbitt like his first record deal with 20th Century Records? | Eddie Rabbitt | Rabbitt was employed as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s but, like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles, "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000.00 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker while in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company and received a salary of $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a bar in Nashville; he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go." Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to No. 1 in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records. Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get To Me" made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You" nearly made the top 10. These three songs along with a recording of "Pure Love" were included on Rabbitt's self-named debut album in 1975. In 1976 his critically acclaimed Rocky Mountain Music album was released, which handed Rabbitt his first No. 1 country hit with the track "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977 his third album, Rabbitt was released, which made the top 5 on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977 the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Eddie Rabbitt appeared at the CMA and sang several of his songs from the album Rocky Mountain Music. He won the award of Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. CANNOTANSWER | he said that he and the other patrons had "no place else to go. | Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
Early life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants Thomas Michael and Mae (née Joyce) Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker, and a skilled fiddle and accordion player, who often entertained in local New York City dance halls. By age 12, Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced, he dropped out of school at age 16. His mother, Mae, explained that Eddie "was never one for school [because] his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high-school diploma at night school.
Career
Early career
Rabbitt worked as a mental hospital attendant in the late 1950s, but like his father, he fulfilled his love of music by performing at the Six Steps Down club in his hometown. He later won a talent contest and was given an hour of Saturday night radio show time to broadcast a live performance from a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1964, he signed his first record deal with 20th Century Records and released the singles "Next to the Note" and "Six Nights and Seven Days". Four years later, with $1,000 to his name, Rabbitt moved to Nashville, where he began his career as a songwriter. During his first night in the town, Rabbitt wrote "Working My Way Up to the Bottom", which Roy Drusky recorded in 1968. To support himself, Rabbitt worked as a truck driver, soda jerk and fruit picker in Nashville. He was ultimately hired as a staff writer for the Hill & Range Publishing Company for $37.50 per week. As a young songwriter, Rabbitt socialized with other aspiring writers at Wally's Clubhouse, a Nashville bar; he said he and the other patrons had "no place else to go."
Rabbitt became successful as a songwriter in 1969, when Elvis Presley recorded his song "Kentucky Rain". The song went gold and cast Rabbitt as one of Nashville's leading young songwriters. Presley also recorded Rabbitt's song "Patch It Up", featured in the concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is". And a lesser known Presley song called "Inherit the Wind "on the Album Elvis Back in Memphis. While eating Cap'n Crunch, he penned "Pure Love", which Ronnie Milsap rode to number one in 1974. This song led to a contract offer from Elektra Records.
Rabbitt signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first single under that label, "You Get to Me", made the top 40 that year, and two songs in 1975, "Forgive and Forget" and "I Should Have Married You", nearly made the top 10. These three songs, along with a recording of "Pure Love", were included on Rabbitt's 1975 self-named debut album. In 1976, his critically acclaimed album Rocky Mountain Music was released, which included Rabbitt's first number-one country hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". In 1977, his third album, Rabbitt, was released, and made the top five on Country Albums chart. Also in 1977, the Academy of Country Music named Rabbitt "Top New Male Vocalist of the Year". By that time, he had a good reputation in Nashville, and was being compared by critics to singer Kris Kristofferson. In 1977, at Knott's Berry Farm, Rabbitt appeared at the Country Music Awards and sang several of his songs from Rocky Mountain Music. He won the Top New Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Crossover success
While still relatively unknown, Rabbitt toured with and opened for crossover star Kenny Rogers, and also for Dolly Parton on a number of dates during her 1978 tour. Following the 1978 release of Variations, which included two more number-one hits, Rabbitt released his first compilation album, The Best of Eddie Rabbitt. It produced Rabbitt's first crossover single, "Every Which Way But Loose", which topped country charts and reached the top 30 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary, and was featured in the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. The song also broke the record for highest chart debut, entering at number 18. Rabbitt held this record until it was shared with Garth Brooks's 2005 single "Good Ride Cowboy." The record was broken in 2006 upon the number-17 chart entrance of Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime." Rabbitt's next single, the R&B-flavored "Suspicions" from his 1979 album Loveline, was an even greater crossover success, again reaching number one on Country charts and the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Adult Contemporary charts. He was given his own television special on NBC, first airing on July 10, 1980, which included appearances by such performers as Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis. By this point, Rabbitt had been compared to a "young Elvis Presley".
Rabbitt's next album, Horizon, reached platinum status and contained the biggest crossover hits of his career, "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away." Rabbitt developed "Rainy Night" from a song fragment he penned during a 1960s thunderstorm. "Drivin'" recalled Rabbitt's tenure as a truck driver, and was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". His popularity was so great at this point that he was offered his own variety television show, which he respectfully declined, saying "It's not worth the gamble."
The release of his 1981 Step by Step album continued Rabbitt's crossover success as all three singles reached the top 10 on both Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The title track became Rabbitt's third straight single to reach the top five on the Country, Adult Contemporary, and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album ultimately reached gold status, Rabbitt's last album to do so. He teamed up with another country pop crossover star, Crystal Gayle, on "You and I", which was included on his 1982 album Radio Romance. The duet reached number one on the Billboard Country chart and became a pop smash, peaking at number seven and number two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It was used as a love theme for a couple on the soap opera All My Children. The song "You Put the Beat in My Heart" from Rabbitt's second compilation, Greatest Hits - Volume II (1983), was his last crossover hit, reaching number 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Late career
During the 1980s, Rabbitt moved further from crossover-styled music. His 1984 album The Best Year of My Life produced a number-one country hit and three more top-10 country hits, but none had crossover success. The illness and subsequent death of his son put his career on hold following the 1985 RCA Records release Rabbitt Trax, which included the number one "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with country pop star Juice Newton. Like "You and I", the song was used as the theme for a soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
Rabbitt returned from his hiatus in 1988 with the release of I Wanna Dance With You, which despite somewhat negative reviews produced two number-one songs, a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" and the album's title track. Additionally, "We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" entered the top 10, although the album's final single "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" stalled at number 66. Rabbitt's Capitol Records album Jersey Boy was reviewed positively, as was its single "On Second Thought", Rabbitt's last number-one hit. The album also included "American Boy", a patriotic tune popular during the Gulf War and used in Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was among the many country singers who suffered a dramatic decline in chart success beginning in 1991. That year, he released Ten Rounds, which produced the final charting single of his career, "Hang Up the Phone". Following that release, he left Capitol Records to tour with his band Hare Trigger.
In 1997, Rabbitt signed with Intersound Records, but was soon diagnosed with lung cancer. After a round of chemotherapy, he released the album Beatin' the Odds. In 1998, he released his last studio album, Songs from Rabbittland.
Musical styles
Rabbitt used innovative techniques to tie country music themes with light rhythm and blues-influenced tempos. His songs often used echo, as Rabbitt routinely sang his own background vocals. In a process called the "Eddie Rabbitt Chorale", Rabbitt compensated for what Billboard Magazine described as a "somewhat thin and reedy voice" by recording songs in three-part harmonies. His music was compared to rockabilly, particularly the album Horizon, which was noted as having an Elvis-like sound. Rabbitt remarked that he liked "a lot of the old Memphis sounds that came out of Sun Records" during the 1950s, and that he "wanted to catch the magic of a live band." He credited such wide-ranging artists as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steely Dan, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson with influencing his works. When putting together an album, Rabbitt tried to make sure he put in "ten potential singles...no fillers, no junk." He remembered listening to albums as a child and hearing "two hits and a bunch of garbage."
Rabbitt believed that country music was "Irish music" and that "the minor chords in [his] music gave it that mystical feel." Although he did not strive to produce pop music, his songs helped influence the direction of country music, leading to the Urban Cowboy era during the 1980s. Critic Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News said that Rabbitt was "like a hot corn dog: nothing fancy, nothing frilly. You know what you're getting and you like it...never a country purist, Rabbitt nonetheless makes music that is plain and simple, with all of the virtues that make good country good. [His songs] might be brisk, but they are also warm and familiar, like the breeze that wafts in over the fried artichokes."
During the early 1990s, Rabbitt voiced criticism of hip hop music, particularly rap, which he said was sending a negative message to youths. He stated that the music was "inciting a generation" and that it had helped to contribute to the high rates of teenaged pregnancy, high-school dropouts, and rapes during this period.
Personal life
When Rabbitt arrived in Nashville during the late 1960s, a friend gave him a pet chicken. Rabbitt said he had "an affinity for animals" and kept the bird for a while before giving it to a farmer. During his Nashville days in the early 1970s, Rabbitt had a pet monkey, Jojo. Before his Rocky Mountain Music tour, the monkey bit Rabbitt, leaving his right arm in bandages.
In 1976, Rabbitt married Janine Girardi, whom he called "a little thing about five feet tall, with long, black beautiful hair, and a real pretty face." He had previously written the songs "Pure Love" and "Sweet Janine" for her. They had three children, Demelza, Timmy, and Tommy. Timmy was diagnosed with biliary atresia upon birth. The condition required a liver transplant for survival and he underwent one in 1985, but the attempt failed and he died. Rabbitt temporarily put his career on hiatus, saying, "I didn't want to be out of the music business, but where I was more important." Tommy was born in 1986.
Rabbitt felt his responsibility as an entertainer was to be a good role model and he was an advocate for many charitable organizations, including the Special Olympics, Easter Seals, and the American Council on Transplantation, of which he served as honorary chairman. He also worked as a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Cerebral Palsy.
Rabbitt was a registered Republican and let Bob Dole use his song "American Boy" during Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Rabbitt was also a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and visited the set during the show's fifth season in 1991–92.
Death
Rabbitt, a longtime smoker, died on May 7, 1998, in Nashville from lung cancer at the age of 56. He had been diagnosed with the disease in March 1997 and had received radiation treatment and surgery to remove part of one lung. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville on May 8, 1998.
No media outlets reported the death until after the burial at the family's request. The news came as a surprise to many in Nashville, including the performer's agent, who "had no idea Eddie was terminal" and had talked to him often, remarking that Rabbitt "was always upbeat and cheerful" in the final months of his life. Although he was widely believed to have been born in 1944 (this year can still be found in older publications and texts), at the time of his death, he was revealed to have been born in 1941.
Awards
Discography
References
External links
Eddie Rabbitt at CMT.com
Family Ties - People.com Archives
Eddie Rabbitt Did the 'roadie' Theme for a Reason: He's the Groupies' New Fantasy Figure - People.com Archives
1941 births
1998 deaths
American country singer-songwriters
American people of Irish descent
American male singer-songwriters
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lung cancer
Elektra Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
RCA Records Nashville artists
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Country musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male singers
New York (state) Republicans | false | [
"\"How U Get a Record Deal?\" is the lead single released from Big Daddy Kane's fifth studio album, Looks Like a Job For.... The song is notable for being one of the first singles to be produced by the popular production duo, the Trackmasters.\n\nThough the song did not reach the crossover success that its follow-up, \"Very Special\", achieved, it became his sixth top ten hit on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart, peaking at number seven.\n\nSingle track listing\n\nA-Side\n\"How U Get a Record Deal?\" (Album Version) – 3:56\n\"How U Get a Record Deal?\" (Clean Radio Edit) – 3:56\n\"How U Get a Record Deal?\" (A cappella) – 3:19\n\nB-Side\n\"Here Comes Kane, Scoob and Scrap\" (Album Version) – 4:24\n\"Here Comes Kane, Scoob and Scrap\" (Instrumental) – 4:23\n\"How U Get a Record Deal?\" (Instrumental) – 3:56\n\nChart history\n\n1993 songs\n1993 singles\nBig Daddy Kane songs\n[[Category:Song recordings produced by Trackmasters\nWarner Records singles\nSongs written by Big Daddy Kane\nCold Chillin' Records singles",
"David Maximillian Cunningham (born August 19, 1986), known professionally as Dun Deal, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for producing A$AP Mob's hit single \"RAF\", Young Thug's single \"Stoner\" and Migos' single \"Hannah Montana\". Cunningham has also worked with Gucci Mane, Usher, Trey Songz, Future, Drake, Rich Homie Quan, and Kevin Gates, among others. He is signed to Artist Publishing Group.\n\nEarly life and career\nDeal started his career as a rapper in 2003, when he formed the group O Boys with his high school friends. They were signed with one of Ruff Ryders' sub-labels. He used the money he received from the label to buy studio equipment and started learning how to create beats. By 2005, Deal had moved from rapping to producing. His first major production work was one of Tyler Perry's movies.\n\nIn about 2007, Deal started producing for artists, such as Rich Kidz, Future, Cash Out, Young Thug and Dem Franchize Boyz. He had a studio in downtown Atlanta and was working with a production team called Planet 9.\n\nIn 2012, while producing on Rich Kidz's album Everybody Eat Bread, Deal signed to DJ Spinz's production team Hoodrich Production Group (HPG), which also includes C4, S.O.S and Childish Major.\n\nIn 2013, Deal gained recognition for producing Migos' single \"Hannah Montana\". According to Deal, when Spinz was in a recording session with Migos, he contacted Deal and requested some instrumentals. the song was recorded. Deal sent back a beat which he had created about two years before, and Migos recorded what would turn to be \"Hannah Montana\" in about 30 minutes. Deal was initially skeptical about the song's title, but the song became a hit.\n\nIn October 2013, Deal was included on Complexs list \"25 New Producers To Watch For\". The list author Craig Jenkins commented that \"his beats [are] the emotional focal points of whatever album he's on, and his restless versatility ensures we'll be hearing his name a lot more in the years to come.\" In January 2014, Deal, among his team HPG, was also included on FACTs \"10 hip-hop producers to watch in 2014\". FACT authors Chris Kelly and John Twells stated that \"the group's sound defined 2013 with a diverse set of productions\".\n\nIn early 2014, Young Thug's \"Stoner\", produced by Deal, got mainstream popularity, and peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also spawned a number of unofficial remixes by rappers, such as Wale, Jim Jones, Jadakiss, Iamsu! and Trick-Trick. Deal, who has been working with Young Thug, since the rapper was 16 years old, revealed that it took him 15 minutes to create the instrumental for \"Stoner\" and Thug recorded the whole song in another 15 minutes, mostly freestyling. Later, he commented on the success of the song: \"I'm definitely always surprised when a song takes off like that. You know, you expect it to be a hit when you think it's a good song and you make it yourself, but you never know it's gonna be a really big hit.\"\n\nOn April 30, 2014, Deal released a collaboration EP with rapper Rome Fortune, titled Drive, Thighs & Lies. Deal is also working on a compilation mixtape, called BASS (Below a Silver Sky), which is set for a release during 2014.\n\nthat same year he sign 2 young producers Isaac Flame and Goose who produced, 9 tracks of Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 Mixtape Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 in 2015 he partnered up with P.Kaldone Ceo of MafiaSoul Records LLC, and the 2 opened a studio in Atlanta alongside fame producer Bangladesh, where they started developing young artist such has Ray Moon Vory, Kellz, who's currently sign to Kobalt Music Publishing, and Arius who on June 15, 2017, released her first EP \"Pandora's Box”.\n\nMusical style \nGabriel Herrera of Vice described Deal as \"a driving force behind a number of huge hits on the southern mixtape circuit, Top 40 radio, and everything in between.\" In an interview with MercyHope, Deal commented on his musical growth, saying: \"there was a certain sound I felt like I was missing when I first started. And the more I did it every day, I started to catch that formula to make those type of songs where they could be on the radio.\"\n\nDeal uses Logic Studio to create his music, and sometimes also plays live instruments: a guitar, a grand piano and drums. Like many hip-hop producers, Deal uses a musical signature on the instrumentals he creates, which consists of the phrase \"Dun Deal on the Track\", followed by a pitched-up vocal effect. The tag was originally recorded by Skool Boy from the Rich Kidz.\n\nDiscography\n\nEP \n Drive, Thighs & Lies (with Rome Fortune) (2014)\n\nMixtapes \n World War 3: Molly (with Gucci Mane, Metro Boomin, Sonny Digital, and C4) (2013)\n B.A.S.S. (Below a Silver Sky) (2014)\n\nProduction discography\n\nCharted songs\n\nReferences \n\n1986 births\nLiving people\nAfrican-American male rappers\nAfrican-American record producers\nAmerican hip hop record producers\nRappers from Atlanta\nSouthern hip hop musicians\n21st-century American rappers\n21st-century American male musicians\n21st-century African-American musicians\n20th-century African-American people"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)"
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened? | 1 | Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | true | [
"Confield is the sixth album by British electronic music duo Autechre, released 30 April 2001 by Warp Records.\n\nBackground and production\nWith Confield, Sean Booth and Rob Brown largely abandoned the warm ambient sounds of their earlier works such as Amber and Tri Repetae in favour of more chaotic and abstract sound palettes and methods of composition that they had been pursuing with LP5, EP7, and Peel Session 2. Confield saw the experimental use of computer programs, specifically Max/MSP, to form the basis of songs instead of stand-alone synthesizers. According to Booth, \"Most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment.\"\n\nLike EP7 before it and their 2003 release Draft 7.30, Booth and Brown make use of generative sequences on Confield. However, in an interview following the release of Draft 7.30, Booth explained that although the beats they create using generative sequences may seem completely random to some, he and Brown exercised tight control over the limits and rules of what the beats could do.\n\n\"[On Confield] you have something that some people would call random, but I would say is quantifiable,\" Booth said. \"It seems that for a lot of people, if they hear something that doesn't sound regular, they assume it's random. If live musicians were playing it, they'd probably call it jazz or something. But the fact that it's coming out of a computer, as they perceive it, somehow seems to make it different. For me it's just messing around with a lot of analogue sequencers and drum machines. It's like saying, 'I want this to go from this beat to that beat over this amount of time, with this curve, which is shaped according to this equation.'\"\n\nReception\n\nPitchfork gave the album an 8.8/10, claiming that, \"For those willing to take these times in stride, Confield promises elegant production, accessibility in moderation, and one of the most enveloping, thought-provoking listening experiences to come forth from leftfield this year.\" However, AllMusic, giving the album only a 3/5, argued that Confield was \"a record to respect, not enjoy,\" a viewpoint expressed by other review outlets. The Washington Posts Mark Jenkins said that the duo had progressed from \"making music that sounds odd\" to \"craft[ing] its music to sound wrong\", further commenting that the pair now sounded \"ragged and fidgety\" rather than \"smooth and pulsing\" as in the past. He said many of the songs sounded as though the CD player was skipping, and said the album was more madness than method. Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman held a similar view, saying the album sounded like \"a malfunctioning dishwasher or a CD jumping. Forever.\"\n\nDespite the record's controversial nature, the album scores an average of 82/100 at Metacritic based on ten reviews, the highest average for any Autechre album on the site.\n\nLegacy\nIn 2009, chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound recorded a version of \"Cfern\" on their album a/rhythmia.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Confield at the official Warp discography (features audio clips).\n\n2001 albums\nAutechre albums\nWarp (record label) albums\nExperimental music albums",
"Garage Beat '66 Volume 1: Like What, Me Worry?! is the first installment in the Garage Beat '66 series of garage rock compilations issued by Sundazed Records, which is available exclusively on compact disc. It features well-researched liner notes, written by recognized garage rock authorities, which supply background information about each song and act, often including photographs of the bands. Like all of the entries in the series it is noted for good sound quality, as all of the tracks are mastered from the original studio master sources.\n\nThe set opens with \"Like What, Me Worry,\" by 006. Also featured are two cuts by the Sparkles from Levelland, Texas: \"No Friend of Mine\" and \"Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help).\" Fellow Lone Star State residents, Neal Ford and the Fanatics, of Houston perform \"Shame on You,\" replete with its highly idiosyncratic guitar solo. The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 provide the bad acid trip-saga, \"I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD).\" Matthew Moore Plus Four cover Buffy Sainte-Marie's oft-covered garage folk anthem \"Codyne (She's Real)\" and the Words of Luv do a rendition P.F. Sloans \"I'd Have to Be Outta My Mind.\" The set also includes the unlikely presence of John Hammond Jr. covering Billy Boy Arnold's \"I Wish You Would,\" with Bill Wyman on bass and Robbie Robertson on guitar, doing a different take of the number than the one which appears on his So Many Roads album.\n\nTrack listing\n\n006: \"Like What, Me Worry\" 2:34 \nThe Country Gentlemen: \"Saturday Night\" 1:55 \nFever Tree: \"I Can Beat Your Drum\" 2:03 \nThe Sparkles: \"Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help)\" 2:11 \nThe Centuries: \"Hard Times\" (Billy Beard) 2:26 \nThe Kreeg: \"Impressin'\" (Bob Sturtcman) 2:38 \nThe \"In\": \"Just Give Me Time\" 2:20 \nThe Ban: \"Bye Bye\" (Tony McGuire) 2:44 \nExecutioners: \"I Want the Rain\" 2:43 \nThe Odyssey: \"Little Girl, Little Boy\" (Jerry Berke) 2:22 \nMatthew Moore Plus Four: \"Codyne (She's Real)\" (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:51 \nWords of Luv: \"I'd Have to Be Outta My Mind\" (P.F. Sloan) 2:49 \nFive Of Us: \"Hey You\" 2:14 \nJohn Hammond, Jr.: \"I Wish You Would\" (Billy Boy Arnold) 2:40 \nJust Two Guys: \"Eyes\" 2:47 \nOlivers: \"Beeker Street\" 2:04\nNeal Ford and the Fanatics: \"Shame on You\" (Bobbye Johnson) 2:13 \nSmokestack Lightnin': \"Look What You've Done\" (Ronnie Darling/Ric Eiserling) 2:54 \nThe Sparkles: \"No Friend of Mine\" (Jay Turnbow) 2:24 \nThe Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2: \"I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)\" (Danny Houlihan) 2:17\n\nCatalogue and release information\n\nCompact disc (SC 11139)\n\nReferences\n\n2005 compilation albums\nSundazed Records compilation albums\nLike What, Me Worry?!"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),"
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change? | 2 | When you say drastic change in Autechre's style, was Autechre's style change a positive or negative change? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | false | [
"Evaluative conditioning is defined as a change in the valence of a stimulus that is due to the pairing of that stimulus with another positive or negative stimulus. The first stimulus is often referred to as the conditioned stimulus and the second stimulus as the unconditioned stimulus. A conditioned stimulus becomes more positive when it has been paired with a positive unconditioned stimulus and more negative when it has been paired with a negative unconditioned stimulus. Evaluative conditioning thus refers to attitude formation or change toward an object due to that object's mere co-occurrence with another object.\n\nEvaluative conditioning is a form of classical conditioning, as invented by Ivan Pavlov, in that it involves a change in the responses to the conditioned stimulus that results from pairing the conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. Whereas classic conditioning can refer to a change in any type of response, evaluative conditioning concerns only a change in the evaluative responses to the conditioned stimulus, that is, a change in the liking of the conditioned stimulus.\n\nA classic example of the formation of attitudes through conditioning is the 1958 experiment by Staats and Staats. Subjects first were asked to learn a list of words that were presented visually, and were tested on their learning of the list. They then did the same with a list of words presented orally, all of which set the stage for the critical phase of the experiment which was portrayed as an assessment of subjects' ability to learn via both visual and auditory channels at once. During this phase, subjects were exposed visually to a set of nationality names, specifically Dutch and Swedish. Approximately one second after the nationality appeared on the screen, the experimenter announced a word aloud. Most of these latter words, none of which were repeated, were neutral (e.g., chair, with, twelve). Included, however, were a few positive words (e.g., gift, sacred, happy) and a few negative words (e.g., bitter, ugly, failure). These words were systematically paired with the two conditional stimuli nationalities such that one always appeared with positive words and the other with negative words. Thus, the conditioning trials were embedded within a stream of visually presented nationality names and orally presented words. When the conditioning phase was completed, the subjects were first asked to recall the words that had been presented visually and then to evaluate them, presumably because how they felt about those words might have affected their learning. The conditioning was successful. The nationality that had been paired with the more positive unconditional stimuli was rated as more pleasant than the one paired with the negative unconditional stimuli.\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nSources\n \n \n \n\nExperimental psychology\nBehavioral concepts\nHistory of psychology\nBehaviorism\nLearning",
"Fay and Wu's H is a statistical test created by and named after two researchers Justin Fay and Chung-I Wu. The purpose of the test is to distinguish between a DNA sequence evolving randomly (\"neutrally\") and one evolving under positive selection. This test is an advancement over Tajima's D, which is used to differentiate neutrally evolving sequences from those evolving non-randomly (through directional selection or balancing selection, demographic expansion or contraction or genetic hitchhiking). Fay and Wu's H is frequently used to identify sequences which have experienced selective sweeps in their evolutionary history.\n\nConcept\nImagine a DNA sequence which has very few polymorphisms in its alleles across different populations. This could arise due to at least three causes:\n The sequence is experiencing heavy negative selection, so any new mutation in the sequence is deleterious and is purged off immediately, or\n The sequence just experienced a bout of selective sweep (an allele rose to fixation/near fixation), so all alleles became homogenized. The rare polymorphisms you see are very recent, or\n There was a population bottleneck, so all individuals in the population are derived from a small set (or one) common ancestor\n\nNow, when you calculate Tajima's D using all the alleles across all populations, because there is an excess of rare polymorphisms, Tajima's D will show up negative and will tell you that the particular sequence was evolving non-randomly. However, you don't know whether this is because of some selection acting or whether there was some selective sweep recently or due to population expansion/contraction. To know that, you calculate Fay and Wu's H.\n\nFay and Wu's H not only uses population polymorphism data but also data from an outgroup species. Due to the outgroup species, you can now tell what the ancestral state of the allele was before the two lineages split. If, for example, the ancestral allele was different, you can now say that there was a selective sweep in that region (could be due to linkage too). The magnitude of the selective sweep will be decided by the strength of H. If the allele was the same, it means the sequence is experiencing negative selection and the ancestral state is maintained. On the other hand, an H close to 0 means that there is no evidence of deviation from neutrality.\n\nInterpretation\nA significantly positive Fay and Wu's H indicates a deficit of moderate- and high-frequency derived single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relative to equilibrium expectations, whereas a significant negative Fay and Wu's H indicates an excess of high-frequency derived SNPs.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nComputational tools:\n DNAsp (Windows) \n Variscan (Mac OS X, Linux, Windows)\n PopGenome R package (Mac OS X, Linux, Windows)\n\nDNA\nMolecular evolution\nStatistical genetics\nStatistical tests"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | What lead to the drastic change? | 3 | What lead to the drastic change in Autechre's style? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | false | [
"How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individual's Guide to Stopping Climate Change is a 2007 book by Chris Goodall, published by Earthscan/Routledge.\n\nAccording to New Scientist, this book provides \"the definitive guide to reducing your carbon footprint\". Goodall explains how consumers can cut carbon usage by 75 percent without making drastic lifestyle changes.\n\nHow to Live a Low-Carbon Life has been reviewed in the Journal of Environmental Health Research, The Guardian, and The Times.\n\nHow to Live a Low-carbon Life won the 2007 Clarion award for non-fiction.\n\nA second edition was published in 2010.\n\nSee also\nTen Technologies to Save the Planet\nHow to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe 10 big energy myths\n\nSelf-help books\nClimate change books\n2007 non-fiction books\n2007 in the environment\nRoutledge books",
"James Garvey (born 1967) is an American philosopher based in Britain.\n\nCareer\nHe is Managing Director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, an educational charity supporting philosophy inside and outside the academy. He is editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine, a quarterly which aims to publish readable, accessible philosophy. With Jeremy Stangroom, he edits Think Now, a series of books on social and political philosophy. He is a regular and controversial contributor to The Guardian, commenting on morality and climate change, arguing that the developed nations have a moral obligation to take action. He has a PhD in Philosophy from University College London.\n\nIn The Ethics of Climate Change, Garvey summarises what moral philosophy does, examines the strength of the evidence for global warming, and analyses various possible policy responses. He argues that the line that taking drastic action to curb global warming would be bad for the economy amounts to “harming people for money”, and gives reasons for individual action on climate change.\n\nHe has a black belt (4th dan) in Jiu Jitsu and coaches the University College London Jiu Jitsu Club, leading it to a record 13 national championships.\n\nSelected publications\nThe Great Philosophers, 2005 (With Jeremy Stangroom)\nTwenty Great Philosophy Books, 2006.\nThe Ethics of Climate Change, 2008.\nThe Continuum Companion to Philosophy of Mind, 2011.\nThe Story of Philosophy: A History of Western Thought, 2012. (With Jeremy Stangroom)\nThe Persuaders: The Hidden Industry that Wants to Change Your Mind, 2016.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nJames Garvey's website.\nThe Philosophers' Magazine\nProfile from the Guardian\n\nLiving people\n1967 births\nAmerican philosophers\nAlumni of University College London"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music"
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | Can you tell me a little about the video? | 4 | Can you tell me a little about the video by Alex Rutterford that inspired Gantz Graf? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | false | [
"Video Hits Volume I is a collection of various Van Halen video hits. The DVD version - released in November 1999 - has the same videos as the VHS but also includes the video for \"Without You\" (Van Halen III). Some songs (\"Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)\", \"Humans Being\" and \"Without You\") are the edited/single versions and not the unedited/album versions. Quite a few of the group's earliest videos are absent as well, such as \"Runnin' with the Devil\" and \"You Really Got Me\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"Jump\"\n\"Panama\"\n\"Hot for Teacher\"\n\"When It's Love\"\n\"Finish What Ya Started\"\n\"Poundcake\"\n\"Runaround\"\n\"Right Now\"\n\"Dreams\"\n\"Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)\"\n\"Can't Stop Lovin' You\"\n\"Not Enough\"\n\"Humans Being\"\n\"Without You\"\n\nExcluded music videos\n\"Runnin' with the Devil\"\n\"You Really Got Me\"\n\"Jamie's Cryin'\"\n\"Dance the Night Away\"\n\"Loss of Control\"\n\"Hear About It Later\"\n\"Unchained\"\n\"So This Is Love?\"\n\"(Oh) Pretty Woman\"\n\"Dreams\" (Blue Angels version)\n\"Feels So Good\"\n\"Top of the World\"\n\"Amsterdam\"\n\"Fire in the Hole\"\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n1996 video albums\nVan Halen video albums\nMusic video compilation albums\n1996 compilation albums\nVan Halen compilation albums",
"\"Tell Me You Love Me\" is a song recorded by American singer Demi Lovato. It was written by Kirby Lauryen, Stint and John Hill, with production handled by the latter two. It was initially released through Hollywood, Island and Safehouse Records on August 24, 2017, as the first promotional single from Lovato's sixth studio album of the same name (2017). It was released as the second and final single from the album on November 14, 2017. Lyrically, the song uses relationship metaphors to reference theme of self-respect.\n\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" received acclaim from music critics, who praised its production and Lovato's vocals. The song impacted hot adult contemporary radios on January 22, 2018. Commercially, the song reached the top 40 in Canada and the top 20 in Panama.\n\nProduction\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" was written by Kirby Lauryen, Stint and John Hill for Lovato's sixth studio album of the same name. It was produced by Stint and Hill. Both producers performed the instruments for the song, including bass, drums, guitar, horn, and piano. Mitch Allan also served as its vocal producer, with Scott Robinson contributing as the additional vocal producer. The song features backing vocals by Lauryen. It was recorded and edited with guidance by Rob Cohen at Rodeo Recordings, located in Santa Monica, California and Venice Way Studios in North Vancouver, Canada. Lovato recorded the vocals for the song with guidance by Zeke Mishanec at Jungle City Studios in New York City. The song was engineered for mix by John Hanes, and eventually mixed by Serban Ghenea. It was finally mastered by Chris Gehringer and Will Quinnell.\n\nDuring the album pop-up exhibition in New York City, Lovato revealed that the song was \"really stuck\" with them when they heard it for the first time. They explained, \"At the time I was going through a breakup. It's about the vulnerability of coming out of a very serious relationship and having a tough time with it. It also at the same time calls out a big misconception with the line, 'You ain't nobody 'til you got somebody,' which again comes from that vulnerability with mixed emotions.\" In an interview with the BBC, Lovato named \"Tell Me You Love Me\" as their favorite track on the album, later explaining that \"It said exactly what I was wanting to tell that person. I wanted to hear them tell me that they loved me.\"\n\nRelease\nLovato published a black-and-white teaser on August 23, 2017, on social media, announcing the new album, with \"Tell Me You Love Me\" playing in the background. The clip shows Lovato singing the song in a studio, as it fades into the album artwork. It was released to radio as the album's second and final single from the album on November 14, 2017. An official remix of the song by NOTD was released on December 15, 2017. The second official remix of the song by American electronic musician Dave Audé was released on January 5, 2018. On March 8, 2018, Lovato released a remix extended play, featuring the original version of the track, the two previous remixes, Spanglish and Spanish versions and a live acoustic performance. On March 23, 2018, the EP was re-released, and one remix of the song by Matrix & Futurebound was released.\n\nComposition\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" is written in the key of E minor with a tempo of 72 beats per minute in common time. The song follows a chord progression of Em–D–C, and Lovato's vocal range spans from the low note of A3 to the high note of G5.\n\nCritical reception\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" received acclaim from music critics, who mostly complimented its production and Lovato's vocals. Elias Leight of Rolling Stone called the song \"a swelling ballad full of horns and handclaps\". Mike Wass of Idolator described the song as \"a fiery mid-tempo anthem\". Jeff Benjamin of Fuse called the song a \"booming ballad\". Deepa Lakshmin of MTV News described Lovato's vocals as \"sweeping\". Raisa Bruner of Time described the song as a \"lush and dramatic love song\" that had \"powerful hand-clap chorus and big horns\". While reviewing the album, Jamieson Cox of Pitchfork described the song as \"a desperate plea for affection that gradually morphs into a declaration of self-love\".\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground and synopsis\n\nThe music video for \"Tell Me You Love Me\" was directed by Mark Pellington, who had previously worked with Lovato on the video for their 2011 single \"Skyscraper\". The video co-starred actor Jesse Williams. About filming the music video, Lovato commented, \"[Shooting the music video] was really fun too! We had a full on wedding and my best friends were even my bridesmaids and groomsmen.\"\n\nThe music video is six minutes and forty-seven seconds long. The first two minutes of the video are dedicated to the couple's engagement as well as the jealousies that strain their relationship before their wedding. The track eventually begins during the wedding sequence where, after a few suspenseful moments, Williams' groom tells Lovato's bride he is not ready and leaves them at the altar to the shock of their family and friends. The video ends with Lovato singing \"Everything I need, is standing right in front of me, I know that we will be alright, alright\" as they stand in front of a mirror.\n\nRelease and reception\nOn November 22, 2017, Lovato posted a photo of themselves in a wedding dress on their social media with no description. Rumors of the possibility of the photo being a sneak peek from the music video were made on social media. On November 27, 2017, Lovato announced that the official music video for the song would be released on December 1, 2017, by posting a wedding invitation from Lovato and Williams. According to Island Records' president David Massey, the music video reached 10 million views on its first day.\n\nMegan Armstrong of Billboard praised Lovato and Williams' acting performances, saying they \"make it hard to believe they aren't actually a couple in real life.\" Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal said the music video was \"superb from start to finish\" and called it one of Lovato's \"most compelling videos\". Sara M Moniuszko of USA Today praised the music video as one that \"perfectly matches the emotional and longing lyrics of the track.\" Kaitlyn Tiffany of The Verge described the video as \"a Lifetime movie you can watch at your desk\". Idolator listed the video 11th among the best music videos of the year.\n\nLive performances\nOn October 5, 2017, the singer performed the song for the first time on television on The Today Show, where they also performed \"Sorry Not Sorry\". On November 10, 2017, Lovato performed the song at BBC's Sounds Like Friday Night. On November 12, 2017, Lovato performed a medley of \"Sorry Not Sorry\" and \"Tell Me You Love Me\" at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards. The song was on Lovato's set list for the 2017 Jingle Ball Tour. On December 19, 2017, Lovato performed the song on the live finale of The Voice. Lovato performed the track on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 15, 2018. The song serves as the encore to the Tell Me You Love Me World Tour, where Lovato sings accompanied by a guest choir while confetti is raining down.\n\nTrack listings\nDigital download\n \"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:56\n\nDigital download – NOTD Remix\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:00\n\nDigital download – Dave Audé Remix\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:45\n\nDigital download – Remixes\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:56\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:46\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:01\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:57\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:58\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 2:37\n\"Tell Me You Love Me\" – 3:28\n\nCredits and personnel\nRecording and management\nRecorded at Rodeo Recordings (Santa Monica, California) and Venice Way Studios (North Vancouver, BC, Canada)\nVocals recorded at Jungle City Studios (New York City)\nMixed at MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia)\nMastered at Sterling Sound Studios (New York City)\nPublished by Rodeoman Music (GMR), EMI April Music, WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Roc Nation Music (ASCAP), A Song A Day (ASCAP), Stint Music Publishing (SOCAN)\n\nPersonnel\nDemi Lovato – lead vocals\nJohn Hill – production, bass, drums, guitar, horn, piano, programming\nStint – production, bass, drums, guitar, horn, piano, programming\nMitch Allan – vocal production\nScott Robinson – additional vocal production\nRob Cohen – recording, editing\nZeke Mishanec – vocals recording\nSerban Ghenea – mixing\nJohn Hanes – mixing engineering\nDave Palmer – keyboards\nKirby Lauryen – background vocals\nChris Gehringer – mastering\nWill Quinnell – mastering\n\nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Tell Me You Love Me.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n2010s ballads\n2017 singles\n2017 songs\nDemi Lovato songs\nHollywood Records singles\nIsland Records singles\nSafehouse Records singles\nGospel songs\nPop ballads\nContemporary R&B ballads\nSongs written by John Hill (record producer)\nMusic videos directed by Mark Pellington\nSongs about betrayal\nTorch songs\nSongs written by Ajay Bhattacharya\nSongs written by Kirby Lauryen\nSong recordings produced by Mitch Allan"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music",
"Can you tell me a little about the video?",
"featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves."
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | What happened afterwards? | 5 | What happened after Alex Rutterford made the iconic video? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | true | [
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy",
"What Happened may refer to:\n\n What Happened (Clinton book), 2017 book by Hillary Clinton\n What Happened (McClellan book), 2008 autobiography by Scott McClellan\n \"What Happened\", a song by Sublime from the album 40oz. to Freedom\n \"What Happened\", an episode of One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)\n\nSee also\nWhat's Happening (disambiguation)"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music",
"Can you tell me a little about the video?",
"featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves.",
"What happened afterwards?",
"Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track \"Eutow\" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea"
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | Is there any other interesting aspects? | 6 | Besides Rutterford's unofficial video for the track "Eutow, is there any other interesting aspects? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | false | [
"The interesting number paradox is a humorous paradox which arises from the attempt to classify every natural number as either \"interesting\" or \"uninteresting\". The paradox states that every natural number is interesting. The \"proof\" is by contradiction: if there exists a non-empty set of uninteresting natural numbers, there would be a smallest uninteresting number – but the smallest uninteresting number is itself interesting because it is the smallest uninteresting number, thus producing a contradiction.\n\n\"Interestingness\" concerning numbers is not a formal concept in normal terms, but an innate notion of \"interestingness\" seems to run among some number theorists. Famously, in a discussion between the mathematicians G. H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan about interesting and uninteresting numbers, Hardy remarked that the number 1729 of the taxicab he had ridden seemed \"rather a dull one\", and Ramanujan immediately answered that it is interesting, being the smallest number that is the sum of two cubes in two different ways.\n\nParadoxical nature\nAttempting to classify all numbers this way leads to a paradox or an antinomy of definition. Any hypothetical partition of natural numbers into interesting and uninteresting sets seems to fail. Since the definition of interesting is usually a subjective, intuitive notion, it should be understood as a semi-humorous application of self-reference in order to obtain a paradox.\n\nThe paradox is alleviated if \"interesting\" is instead defined objectively: for example, the smallest natural number that does not appear in an entry of the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS) was originally found to be 11630 on 12 June 2009. The number fitting this definition later became 12407 from November 2009 until at least November 2011, then 13794 as of April 2012, until it appeared in sequence as of 3 November 2012. Since November 2013, that number was 14228, at least until 14 April 2014. In May 2021, the number was 20067. (This definition of uninteresting is possible only because the OEIS lists only a finite number of terms for each entry. For instance, is the sequence of all natural numbers, and if continued indefinitely would contain all positive integers. As it is, the sequence is recorded in its entry only as far as 77.) Depending on the sources used for the list of interesting numbers, a variety of other numbers can be characterized as uninteresting in the same way.\n\nHowever, as there are many significant results in mathematics that make use of self-reference (such as Gödel's incompleteness theorems), the paradox illustrates some of the power of self-reference, and thus touches on serious issues in many fields of study.\n\nThe mathematician and philosopher Alex Bellos suggested in 2014 that a candidate for the lowest uninteresting number would be 247 because it was, at the time, \"the lowest number not to have its own page on Wikipedia\".\n\nSee also\n Berry paradox\n Church–Turing thesis\n Gödel's incompleteness theorems\n Grelling–Nelson paradox\n Kleene–Rosser paradox\n List of paradoxes\n Richard's paradox\n The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers\n Unexpected hanging paradox\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n April 11, 1954 was most boring day in history, Times of India\n\nMathematical paradoxes\nMathematical humor\nIntegers\nArticles containing proofs",
"Interesting Times: The Secret of My Success is a 2002 Chinese documentary film by director Duan Jinchuan about China's contemporary politics of democracy and the realities of the one child policy. The director shows how this policy is being implemented in Fanshen, a rural village in Northeast China.\n\nThis film is part of the 2002 series 'Interesting Times' showing different aspects of modern life in China:\nThe secret of my success - shows how Chinese politics are implemented in the countryside.\nThe war of love Directors: Duan Jinchuan & Jiang Yue - is a portrait of a marriage broker.\nXiao’s long march Director: Wu Gong - about the People's Liberation Army.\nThis happy life Director: Jiang Yue - aims to define the concept of political education in China.\n\nAwards\nIDFA Award for best Mid-Length Documentary (2002)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Interesting times: the secrets of my success documentary online\n\nChinese documentary films\n2002 films\n2002 documentary films\nChinese films\nOne-child policy"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music",
"Can you tell me a little about the video?",
"featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves.",
"What happened afterwards?",
"Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track \"Eutow\" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea",
"Is there any other interesting aspects?",
"The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive."
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | Is there anything that happened after that? | 7 | Is there anything that happened after the mixed reaction to Confield? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | true | [
"Something Happened is Joseph Heller's second novel (published in 1974, thirteen years after Catch-22). Its main character and narrator is Bob Slocum, a businessman who engages in a stream of consciousness narrative about his job, his family, his childhood, his sexual escapades, and his own psyche.\n\nPlot\n\nWhile there is an ongoing plot about Slocum preparing for a promotion at work, most of the book focuses on detailing various events from his life, ranging from early childhood to his predictions for the future, often in non-chronological order and with little if anything to connect one anecdote to the next. Near the end of the book, Slocum starts worrying about the state of his own sanity as he finds himself hallucinating or remembering events incorrectly, suggesting that some or all of the novel might be the product of his imagination, making him an unreliable narrator.\n\nSomething Happened has failed to achieve the renown of Catch-22 but has a cult following, with some considering it one of Heller's finest works.\n\nReception\nSomething Happened has frequently been criticized as overlong, rambling, and deeply unhappy. These sentiments are echoed in a review of the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., but are balanced with praise for the novel's prose and the meticulous patience Heller took in the creation of the novel, stating, \"Is this book any good? Yes. It is splendidly put together and hypnotic to read. It is as clear and hard-edged as a cut diamond. Mr. Heller's concentration and patience are so evident on every page that one can only say that 'Something Happened' is at all points precisely what he hoped it would be.\" In a contemporary write-up for Kirkus Reviews, the reviewer states that \"there is none of the rogue absurdism or imaginative verve\" of Heller's previous novel, but praises the book's \"bravura, expertise and cumulative hook\".\n\nSomething Happened has since garnered a small base of devoted fans. In 2015, Carmen Petaccio referred to it as the \"most criminally overlooked great novel of the past half century [...] one of the most pleasurable, engrossing, and in retrospect moving American novels ever written.\" Naturi Thomas-Millard called it the \"best book you've never read\"; while agreeing that it is overlong, she billed it as \"an invaluable study in how to portray the horror of everyday life.\" Novelist Jonathan Franzen prefers Something Happened to Catch-22, and Christopher Buckley referred to the work as \"dark and brilliant\". Comedian Richard Lewis claims he \"happily lost most of [his] hope\" after reading the novel.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nKurt Vonnegut on 'Something Happened' from The New York Times Book Review (1974).\n\n1974 American novels\nNovels by Joseph Heller\nAlfred A. Knopf books\nFiction with unreliable narrators\nBooks with cover art by Paul Bacon\nBureaucracy in fiction",
"Cruft is a Debian software package that finds cruft built up in a Linux computer system.\n\nOverview\nAccording to Debian's package list, \"cruft is a program to look over your system for anything that shouldn't be there, but is; or for anything that should be there, but isn't.\" Among other things, the software inspects the packages listed in the dpkg database and other files that were created during the lifetime of software packages, but were not removed after their lifetime.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDebian Package 'cruft' at the Debian wiki.\n\nUnix software"
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music",
"Can you tell me a little about the video?",
"featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves.",
"What happened afterwards?",
"Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track \"Eutow\" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea",
"Is there any other interesting aspects?",
"The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive.",
"Is there anything that happened after that?",
"In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp."
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | How did others feel about it? | 8 | How did others feel about 2003's Draft 7.30? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | though generally positive. | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | false | [
"Autcraft is a Minecraft server dedicated to be a safe haven for autistic children.\n\nHistory \nFounded in 2013, Autcraft was the first Minecraft server created with autistic children in mind. It was founded by Stuart Duncan, a web developer in Timmins, Canada who has an is autistic son, and is known in-game as AutismFather. Autcraft was created as a response to parents who did not know if their children could play their favourite game with others without facing the threat of bullying and discrimination. Autcraft is administrated by adults that include autistics, as well as parents of autistic children or a family member of an autistic. As of May 2017, the server has 8,000 unique players.\n\nWhen asked about the server, Duncan stated \"we just let them know that they're not alone... We're here for each other and will support each other for as long as need be... we all know how terrible it can feel sometimes and none of us want the others to feel that same way.\"\n\nReferences \n\nMinecraft servers\nInternet properties established in 2013\nSociological and cultural aspects of autism",
"How Does It Feel may refer to:\n\nMusic\n\nAlbums\n How Does It Feel, a 1999 album by Nancy Sinatra\n How Does It Feel (MS MR album), a 2015 album by MS MR\n\nSongs\n \"How Does It Feel\" (Anita Baker song)\n \"How Does It Feel\" (Slade song)\n \"How Does It Feel (to be the mother of 1000 dead)?\", a controversial song by Crass\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Avril Lavigne from Under My Skin\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Candlebox from Into the Sun\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Keri Hilson from In a Perfect World...\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by London Grammar from Californian Soil\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Men Without Hats from No Hats Beyond This Point\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by M-22\n \"How Does It Feel?\", a song by Pharrell Williams from In My Mind\n \"How Does It Feel?\", a song by The Ronettes from Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Toto from Isolation\n \"How Does It Feel\", a song by Westlife from Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Vol. 1\n \"Untitled (How Does It Feel)\", a song by D'Angelo from Voodoo\n \"Like a Rolling Stone\", song by Bob Dylan from Highway 61 Revisited, best known for the line \"How does it feel?\"\n \"Blue Monday\" (New Order song), a song whose first line is \"How does it feel\""
]
|
[
"Autechre",
"Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000-2007)",
"Can you provide me with a little more information on Confield, Draft 7.30? What happened?",
"The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003),",
"When you say drastic change, was it a positive or negative change?",
"I don't know.",
"What lead to the drastic change?",
"The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music",
"Can you tell me a little about the video?",
"featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves.",
"What happened afterwards?",
"Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track \"Eutow\" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea",
"Is there any other interesting aspects?",
"The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive.",
"Is there anything that happened after that?",
"In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp.",
"How did others feel about it?",
"though generally positive."
]
| C_454108867d284fd89d4d6f2f01a3df4f_1 | Is there anything else that is important with the draft? | 9 | Besides the generally positive reviews, is there anything else that is important with Draft 7.30? | Autechre | The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released two collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following three years (see collaborations). The reactions by both professional critics and fans to the release of Confield were mixed, though generally positive. According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive." Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before. CANNOTANSWER | Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. | Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music (IDM), though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
History
Early years (1987–1992)
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip-hop, and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent ( ). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
Incunabula and Amber (1993–1994)
In 1993 Warp released their debut album, Incunabula, which became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart. The album had a cool, calculated feel, with clear techno and electro roots, but also showed hints of the rhythmic flourishes and tuned percussion that would later become an important feature of their work. An EP of remixes of Incunabulas "Basscadet" was released in 1994, with animated computer graphics for the Bcdtmx version created by Jess Scott-Hunter. This music video featured on MTV Europe's Party Zone when Autechre were interviewed during the show in September that year. 1994 also saw the release of Amber, an album featuring a more ambient, less percussive approach than their debut.
The Anti EP was released shortly before Amber and is, as of yet, the only Autechre release to have an explicit purpose: it was a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which would prohibit raves, defined as any gathering of nine or more people where rave music is played. Rave music was defined as music which "includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". The record came wrapped in a seal, on which was printed a legal warning: "Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played at both forty five and thirty three revolutions under the proposed new law. However we advise DJs to have a lawyer and musicologist present at all times to confirm the non repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harassment."
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork Media, Rob Brown mentioned that Incunabula and Amber retrospectively sounded "cheesy". Brown later clarified that "they were perhaps more simple, but not in a shit way."
Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, and LP5 (1995–1999)
1995 saw the release of Tri Repetae, their third album, as well as the EPs Anvil Vapre and Garbage, featuring a monochrome cover designed by The Designers Republic, with whom Autechre have long held a close association. Tri Repetae and its associated EPs were combined into a two disc set entitled Tri Repetae++, which was released in the United States. An official promotional video was created for "Second Bad Vilbel" from Anvil Vapre by English visual artist Chris Cunningham (his first). The "Second Bad Vilbel" video featured rapidly cut shots of industrial machinery and robotic movement, synchronised with the music. Cunningham later re-edited the video in 2002, following his disappointment with the original: "It was intended to be completely abstract but it didn't quite work out that way". A two track vinyl-only EP entitled We R Are Why, was available to buy during certain concerts and via mail order during 1996. Also in 1995, Autechre's track "Nonima" was featured on Mind The Gap Volume 5, a Belgian compilation of electronic music.
Autechre released three records in 1997: the full length Chiastic Slide, and the EPs Envane, and Cichlisuite (pronounced "sickly sweet"). The latter EP consists of five remixed versions of "Cichli" from Chiastic Slide. Radio Mix was also released in 1997; a rare CD-only promotional recording, it contains an hour-long DJ mix of other artists' tracks, some of them remixed by Autechre, as well as a short interview edited sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
An untitled record (typically known as LP5 or simply Autechre) followed in 1998. It has been seen as a transitional work, with Brown commenting in 2005 that "a lot of people have cited it as a classic Autechre album because it bridges the gap between the guys who liked our old stuff and the guys who got propelled on to our new stuff."
1999 saw the release of their first Peel session EP, consisting of three tracks broadcast on John Peel's show for BBC Radio 1 in October 1995, as well as a vinyl-only limited edition promotional EP entitled Splitrmx12. 1999 also saw EP7, which is classed by the group as an EP despite being over an hour in length.
Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted (2000–2007)
The new millennium brought about a drastic change in Autechre's style, demonstrated by Confield (2001) and Draft 7.30 (2003), as well as the Gantz Graf EP (2002). The title track from Gantz Graf inspired an iconic video by British designer Alex Rutterford, featuring an object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronised to the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. Rutterford, who had previously created an unofficial video for the Tri Repetae track "Eutow" as part of the Channel 4 music programme Lo-Fi in 2001, claimed the idea for the "Gantz Graf" video came during one of his LSD trips. The second Autechre Peel session EP was also released in 2002, containing four tracks broadcast in 1999, named by John Peel himself. Autechre released three collaborative albums with Andrew M. McKenzie's Hafler Trio collective during the following five years (see collaborations).
Metacritic rated the critical reviews to Confield as "universal acclaim". According to Sean Booth, "most of Confield came out of experiments with Max that weren't really applicable in a club environment." In contrast, 2003's Draft 7.30 was seen by some as an easier record to grasp. Booth stated in an interview around the release of Draft 7.30 that "[rhythm] doesn't seem to limit us in the way it did when we first started. Now I think we just get it, we're totally fluent in it and can be more expressive."
Untilted (a play on the word "untitled"), the duo's eighth album, was released in 2005. It roughly continued the sound of their previous two LPs, though featured compositions that mutated greatly during their duration, typically alternating between passages of ambience and heavily processed, precise beats, such as on "Ipacial Section". Its final track, "Sublimit", is at almost sixteen minutes; Autechre's longest composition to feature on any of their albums until 2016's elseq 1-5. The release of Untilted was followed by a two-month tour that took the group around Europe, America and Japan, but withdrew them from studio work for an unusual length of time. The outcome of this, coupled with a forced change in studio setup, was a gap of three years between releases, longer than ever before.
Quaristice, Oversteps, and Exai (2008–2013)
Their ninth album, Quaristice, was released in early 2008. In contrast to Untilted, it is made up of twenty tracks, more than any other Autechre release, each typically around 2–5 minutes in length. The download-only Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae EP that accompanies it (as well as the Versions bonus disc and three tracks released exclusively through the Japanese iTunes Store) brings the total length of music released during their Quaristice era to over five hours. Among this is the hour-long "Perlence subrange 6-36" that closes the EP. Each track on Quaristice was edited down from lengthy improvised sessions between Booth and Brown, some of which were released in longer versions on Quaristice. Quadrange.ep.ae. Although Sean Booth has stated that the FLAC release of Quaristice is the actual product, the album was also released by Warp Records as a double LP and a single CD as well as an elaborate two CD edition by Warp Records. Limited to only 1000 copies, and containing both the regular album and Quaristice (Versions), this special edition was packaged in a photo-etched steel case. It sold out within 12 hours of being announced.
On 13 January 2010, Warp Records announced Oversteps, Autechre's tenth album. Originally slated to be released in March, it was released a month early in digital form on Bleep.com to those who preordered it; the CD and deluxe vinyl editions were released on 22 March 2010. A two-month European tour occurred in support of the album, followed by limited shows in Japan and Australia, the latter breaking a 15-year absence. Autechre then compiled a mix for the magazine FACT, released in February of the same year, that consisted of tracks by artists such as J Dilla and Necrophagist. On 25 May 2010, Warp Records announced the ten track Move of Ten, an EP by the duo in conjunction with the release of Oversteps. The digipack CD and the two 12" vinyl version, as well as a digital download, was released on 12 July 2010.
In April 2011 a boxset of EPs entitled EPs 1991 – 2002 (excluding Move of Ten) was released, with artwork from the Designers Republic. It includes a CD copy of their debut EP, Cavity Job, the first time it has been released on the format. In 2011 as part of Warp's 'Made in Japan' relief concert for the victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake, an eleven-minute piece was released entitled '6852', possibly part of a previous live recording.
The eleventh studio album entitled Exai was released on 5 March 2013, having been available for download from the official website as of Valentine's Day, 14 February 2013. The duo announced their 14th EP L-Event on 17 September 2013, which was released on 28 October 2013.
AENA tour, AE_LIVE, elseq 1–5, NTS Sessions (2014–2019)
During 2015, the duo embarked on a tour across North America, marketed as AENA. The tour was officially announced on the Warp Records website on 25 May 2015 but promotional material (specifically the logos for the upcoming tour) can be found that was released on 13 August 2014. On 29 October 2015 members of the Autechre mailing list were given invite-only permission to download a live recording from the duo titled , a collection of 4 hour-long soundboard recordings of a series of concerts that took place in 2014. On 1 November 2015 a Bleep.com substore opened up giving the public the ability to purchase and download the collection.
On 13 May 2016 a new Autechre track under the title of feed1 was played on Tom Ravenscroft's late evening show on BBC 6 Music after an announcement made on the Warp Records Twitter feed which was accompanied by a piece of geometric album art. On 18 May 2016 a second new track was played on KSUA, an Alaskan student radio station, again announced in a tweet by Warp. Afterwards, Warp released the snippet of the Autechre song on their soundcloud under the title "c16 deep tread". On 19 May 2016, their twelfth studio album, elseq 1-5, on Autechre's AE_STORE_ page. Warp Records have stated that there are no plans to release the album on a physical medium, making the album Autechre's first digital-only studio album release.
On 6 April 2018, a livestream of new material was broadcast on NTS Radio, marking the first of four live streams released every week of the month. On 9 April 2018, it was unveiled that the sessions, totalling eight hours of material, would be packaged and released as NTS Sessions 1–4 with a listing on the AE_STORE, including 12xLP and 8xCD boxsets. The livestreams coincided with the announcement of live sets in Japan and Australia, including their first ever performance in Tasmania at the Dark Mofo Festival.
In November 2018, Richard Devine joined the user chat room of the electronic music forum We Are The Music Makers and hinted at an easter egg on the AE_STORE website. Following a partially hidden link, the user could download instrument parameter files for Elektron's hardware which Autechre used for the 2008 Quaristice tour. When loaded into a Monomachine or Machinedrum these files allowed the user to create their own Quaristice tour soundboard.
SIGN and PLUS (2020–present)
On 1 September 2020 Warp Records announced that fans should sign up to the Autechre mailing list. The following day Autechre announced their next album SIGN, which was released on 16 October 2020.
In 2020 interviews, the duo stated that they started recording material for SIGN from the summer of 2018, after their Australian tour, up to February that year. Booth remarked that the songs were more emotional than other works, and that this was the first album recorded off their revamped systems.
Another album titled PLUS was surprise released digitally on 28 October, with physical and streaming releases planned on 20 November.
Influences
A wide variety of influences have been noted as discernible in Autechre's music. The duo's roots in tagging, early hip-hop and electro music, and b-boy culture in general are still evident, with many reviews noting hip-hop rhythms—sometimes heavily obscured or processed, and sometimes explicit even in later work. All of Autechre's live webcasts have featured large amounts of early hip-hop and electro. In a review of Oversteps, The Wire noted "Treale" as being "a reminder of Booth and Brown's musical apprenticeship as teenage B-boys". As Autechre's music and studio setup evolved, reviews started to note influences from farther afield; experiments in and generative synthesis, musique concrète, and FM synthesis drew comparisons with Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernard Parmegiani from critics such as Paul Morley. The group have mentioned musique concrète composers Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse as influences. Autechre also cite Coil as a major influence, with an unfinished collaboration of unknown completeness occurring around the release of LP5 and EP7. Chris Richards of The Washington Post stated in 2015 that Autechre create "some of the most complicated music you could ever hope to drown in" and are "recognized as pioneers in experimental music". Autechre’s work has been described as “music that sounds like it designed itself, with audio fractals that change constantly like living organisms.”
Recording
Booth and Brown record tracks collaboratively, but in separate studios with identical software and equipment. The process, as Booth describes in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, involves one sending a track to another, which is sent back with revisions before it is deemed finished. Brown remarks that, although they "behave differently, we sometimes try to achieve the same goal, but with greatly differing approaches (as) we really do get off on the fact that we’re on the same page most of the time.”
Equipment
Autechre use many different digital synths and a few analogue synths in their production, as well as analogue and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, software synthesisers, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesised sounds. Much of the hardware and software they use has been customised by the band themselves. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, and Kyma, amongst others, from 1997 onwards. From 2005 until 2009, they have used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, alongside Akai MPC and Nord Modular in their live performances. It has also been rumoured that Autechre have used military equipment in their work. In 2008, Sean Booth reported that if he were locked in a cell for a year with only one piece of software and one piece of hardware, he'd "probably take a copy of Digital Performer and an AKG C1000 microphone."
Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface and aesthetics as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead. According to the 2016 interview to Resident Advisor, both members haven't bought a piece of equipment "in the last 5 years", making MAX/MSP a primary production method, with Sean Booth stating that "in Max I can generally build the thing I need, and if I don't know how to do that it'll generally be worthwhile learning." Booth said that they use MAX as MIDI "only handles a limited set of information" and that instruments like the piano "separates the artist from the string."
Collaborations, remixes and covers
Both Booth and Brown are known to have been heavily involved with the majority of releases by the mysterious Gescom collective, although Booth admitted in an interview that around 20-30 musicians overall are connected with what he describes as an "umbrella project". Three elaborately packaged albums (æ³o & h³æ, æo³ & ³hæ, and ha³oe & ah³eo) have been made by Autechre in collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie's ongoing Hafler Trio project. These albums are significantly more minimal than any other Autechre release, featuring dense, claustrophobic and noisy drones. A track called "Elephant Gear", credited to both Autechre and Canadian breakcore musician Venetian Snares under the alias AEVSVS, was released on a compilation in tribute to Elektron co-founder Daniel Hansson, who died in a car accident. Autechre have collaborated with several artists for live performances, including Zoviet France, Fennesz and Roedelius 3. Telepathics Meh In-Sect Connection, an album by Sean Booth in collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic and Kouhei Matsunaga, was released in early 2010.
In 2009 they contributed a cover of an LFO song to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Tilapia" covered by John Callaghan.
The compilation CD The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol.1, issued in 2002 by David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records, contains a cover version of "Gnit" performed by Marie + Scratch. It is performed using only human voice samples.
The band Pink Freud has performed covers of several Autechre numbers, including Basscadet, Cichli, and Bike. These live performances are available on YouTube.
Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and curated the 2003 festival.
Radio
Autechre have been involved with radio since their early days, originally spinning for IBC Radio, a Manchester pirate radio station in 1991, where they had their own show playing Belgian techno alongside their own demos. Later they would appear as part of Gescom for their weekly "Disengage" show on Manchester's Kiss FM.
Webcasts
Autechre have streamed exceptionally long live DJ mixes as webcasts to coincide with the release of four albums so far:
A nearly nine-hour live mix on 1011 April 2005 (GMT) to coincide with the release of Untilted.
A twelve-hour live stream on 2324 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A twelve-and-a-half-hour live stream spanning 6pm6:30am (GMT) on 23 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps.
Two separate ten-hour live streams from 8pm to 6am (GMT) on 2 and 3 March 2013 to coincide with the release of Exai.
A 12-hour mix via radio streaming platform Mixlr on 13 October 2019.
On October 8, SIGN, was broadcast on the Autechre website.
DiscographyStudio albums Incunabula (1993)
Amber (1994)
Tri Repetae (1995)
Chiastic Slide (1997)
LP5 (1998)
Confield (2001)
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Untilted (2005)
Quaristice (2008)
Oversteps (2010)
Exai (2013)
elseq 1–5 (2016)
NTS Sessions 1–4 (2018)
SIGN (2020)
PLUS (2020)EP' Cavity Job (1991)
Basscadet (1993)
Anti EP (1994)
Garbage (1995)
Anvil Vapre (1995)
We R Are Why (1996)
Envane (1997)
Cichlisuite (1997)
Peel Session (1999)
EP7 (1999)
Splitrmx12 (1999)
Peel Session 2 (2000)
Gantz Graf (2002)
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae (2008)
Move of Ten (2010)
L-event (2013)
JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47'' (2017)
See also
List of ambient music artists
References
External links
– official site
Mainstream references
Autechre at Warp Records
Interviews and other
Autechre TV Interview on MTV Europe's Party Zone (September 1994)
Sean Booth Interview with Disquiet (November 1997)
Autechre interview with Sound on Sound (April 2004)
Rob Brown interview with BBC Collective (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with KultureFlash (April 2005)
Sean Booth interview with Cyclic Defrost (May 2005)
Rob Brown Interview about Quaristice with Barcode Magazine (January 2008)
Interview with Sean Booth in The List
Autechre, "Oversteps" by Billboard
Sean Booth Interview with Fail (April 2010)
English electronic music duos
Intelligent dance musicians
Warp (record label) artists
TVT Records artists
Nothing Records artists
Musical groups from Greater Manchester
Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
English experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1987
English techno music groups | true | [
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules",
"Tamana Airport is the airport serving Tamana, Kiribati.\n\nThe airport is served by Air Kiribati from Tabiteuea North, which is connected directly with the international airport at South Tarawa, but lands at Tamana too on its way from Arorae back to Tabiteuea North.\n\nAirlines and destinations\n\nAir Kiribati connection with Tamana\nLanding at Tamana is not a fuel stop: Since this is the only time in the week Tamana is served, passengers can get in or get out there. Thus, note that if one wants to fly from Tamana to Arorae, he cannot do anything else than make the big detour via Tabiteuea North (which lies much farther from Tamana than Arorae does), and wait a full week there, until the next flight to Arorae (because from Tabiteuea North, the plane continues its way to Bonriki International Airport).\n\nNotes\n\nAirports in Kiribati\nGilbert Islands"
]
|
[
"The Stooges",
"Post-breakup (1975-2003)"
]
| C_082e040a63e64c98aa66647456bfe0e7_0 | What happened after they broke up? | 1 | What happened after The Stooges broke up? | The Stooges | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career - the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration - but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975. In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year. In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003. CANNOTANSWER | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, | The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
After releasing two albums—The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970)—the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with a slightly altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass and James Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album, Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar and Mike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay, who had played briefly with the 1973-1974 lineup. Ron Asheton died in 2009, replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, also releasing their last album, Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007 they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement award at the Mojo Awards.
History
Formation (1967–68)
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including the Iguanas and, later, the Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning to Detroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bands The Sonics and The Kinks. Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass guitar) composed the rest of the band, with Osterberg as main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few (a covers band), believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!" The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled. Shortly after witnessing an MC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeing the Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey called the Untouchable perform. In a 1995 interview with Bust Magazine, he relates:
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house on Halloween night, followed by their next live gig, January 1968. During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the band MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to John Sinclair who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for the MC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."
The group's early sound differed from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes:
First two albums and first breakup (1968–71)
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.
In 1968 Elektra Records sent DJ/publicist Danny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film, Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released their self-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album, Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, Ohio and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play. He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadie Zeke Zettner and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Bill Cheatham, who was eventually replaced by James Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton, had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on 9 July 1971.
Raw Power and second breakup (1972–74)
With the band having broken up, Pop met David Bowie on 7 September 1971 at Max's Kansas City, and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music manager Tony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop met Clive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal. In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influential Raw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly (in subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the album Rough Power; in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release, Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from early punk rockers.
With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia soon after the release of Raw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship with Cyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road manager Leee Black Childers); guitarist Tornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on 15 June 1973 at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois), but Williamson soon returned to the group.
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior. The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan was captured and was released in 1976 as the live album Metallic K.O. along with the first half of an earlier show on 6 October 1973 at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the title Metallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set-lists.
Post-breakup (1975–2003)
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Reunion and Ron Asheton's death (2003–09)
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request, and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the 1997 Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater, touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier. He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".
On October 1, 2009, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu and Jeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer of Alice Cooper) was published in hardcover by Abrams.
Return of James Williamson and final breakup (2009–16)
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist. Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'". Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band through their Class of 2010. The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performed Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit author Brett Callwood published The Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book which focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album, Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 on Fat Possum. Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.
On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.
In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more.The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me.Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
Musical style
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act and as instrumental in the development of punk rock, alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. In the years before noise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.
Legacy
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics including: Radio Birdman, Penetration, Raw Power, Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" for Creem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album Fun House. Another music journalist, Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
The Sex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976. This introduced the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows. The first two of these songs also feature on his Sid Sings album.
According to Dee Dee Ramone, the members of the Ramones felt alienated from their community growing up, and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album Don't Worry About Me.
Iggy Pop paid tribute to his former Stooges bandmates in his song "Dum Dum Boys" on his first solo album The Idiot; his spoken intro mentions Zeke Zettner, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson one by one in a series of questions and answers about their individual fates.
The first album by British punk band the Damned, Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title.
Australian band Radio Birdman, which included fellow Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 album Radios Appear they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop" The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".
In 1982, the Birthday Party released Drunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album, Live 1981–82.
Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983's Confusion is Sex.
English space rock group Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986's album Sound of Confusion.
Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.
Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his no. 1 favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in his Journals.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their album The Spaghetti Incident?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute CD We Will Fall, the compilation CD Under the Covers, and the compilation CD The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
Thrash metal band Slayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover album Undisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in Harmonix's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album, Renegades.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.
Horror punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 Covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their Boxset Little Box of Horrors in 2006.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009, Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.
Slash, of Guns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favourite studio albums.
Peter Hook included their live album Metallic K.O. amongst his favourite albums.
Seattle Band Willard recorded "I Got A Right" in 1993 and released it in 2018 on their Underground record.
Band members
Final lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
James Williamson – lead guitar (1970–1971, 1972–1974, 2009–2016)
Mike Watt – bass guitar (2003–2016)
Toby Dammit – drums, percussion (2011–2016)
Classic lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Former members
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Steve Mackay – saxophone (1970, 2003–2015; died 2015)
Bill Cheatham – lead guitar (1970; died late 1990s)
Zeke Zettner – bass guitar (1970; died 1973)
Jimmy Recca – bass guitar (1971)
Bob Sheff – keyboards (1973; died 2020)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1973–1974; 2010, 2013 as guest)
Tornado Turner – lead guitar (1973)
Timeline
Discography
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
Raw Power (1973)
The Weirdness (2007)
Ready to Die (2013)
Videography
Live in Detroit (2003)
Iggy & the Stooges Reunion at Coachella! (2003)
Escaped Maniacs (2007)
Gimme Danger (2016)
References
External links
The Untouchable
1967 establishments in Michigan
Garage rock groups from Michigan
Bomp! Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical quartets
Protopunk groups
Punk rock groups from Michigan
Virgin Records artists
Musical backing groups
Sibling musical groups | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy"
]
|
[
"The Stooges",
"Post-breakup (1975-2003)",
"What happened after they broke up?",
"After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977,"
]
| C_082e040a63e64c98aa66647456bfe0e7_0 | How did he do that? | 2 | How did Pop begin a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977? | The Stooges | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career - the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration - but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975. In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year. In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003. CANNOTANSWER | Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order | The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
After releasing two albums—The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970)—the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with a slightly altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass and James Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album, Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar and Mike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay, who had played briefly with the 1973-1974 lineup. Ron Asheton died in 2009, replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, also releasing their last album, Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007 they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement award at the Mojo Awards.
History
Formation (1967–68)
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including the Iguanas and, later, the Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning to Detroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bands The Sonics and The Kinks. Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass guitar) composed the rest of the band, with Osterberg as main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few (a covers band), believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!" The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled. Shortly after witnessing an MC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeing the Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey called the Untouchable perform. In a 1995 interview with Bust Magazine, he relates:
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house on Halloween night, followed by their next live gig, January 1968. During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the band MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to John Sinclair who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for the MC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."
The group's early sound differed from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes:
First two albums and first breakup (1968–71)
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.
In 1968 Elektra Records sent DJ/publicist Danny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film, Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released their self-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album, Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, Ohio and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play. He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadie Zeke Zettner and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Bill Cheatham, who was eventually replaced by James Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton, had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on 9 July 1971.
Raw Power and second breakup (1972–74)
With the band having broken up, Pop met David Bowie on 7 September 1971 at Max's Kansas City, and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music manager Tony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop met Clive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal. In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influential Raw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly (in subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the album Rough Power; in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release, Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from early punk rockers.
With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia soon after the release of Raw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship with Cyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road manager Leee Black Childers); guitarist Tornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on 15 June 1973 at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois), but Williamson soon returned to the group.
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior. The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan was captured and was released in 1976 as the live album Metallic K.O. along with the first half of an earlier show on 6 October 1973 at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the title Metallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set-lists.
Post-breakup (1975–2003)
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Reunion and Ron Asheton's death (2003–09)
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request, and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the 1997 Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater, touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier. He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".
On October 1, 2009, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu and Jeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer of Alice Cooper) was published in hardcover by Abrams.
Return of James Williamson and final breakup (2009–16)
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist. Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'". Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band through their Class of 2010. The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performed Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit author Brett Callwood published The Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book which focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album, Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 on Fat Possum. Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.
On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.
In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more.The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me.Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
Musical style
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act and as instrumental in the development of punk rock, alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. In the years before noise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.
Legacy
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics including: Radio Birdman, Penetration, Raw Power, Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" for Creem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album Fun House. Another music journalist, Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
The Sex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976. This introduced the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows. The first two of these songs also feature on his Sid Sings album.
According to Dee Dee Ramone, the members of the Ramones felt alienated from their community growing up, and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album Don't Worry About Me.
Iggy Pop paid tribute to his former Stooges bandmates in his song "Dum Dum Boys" on his first solo album The Idiot; his spoken intro mentions Zeke Zettner, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson one by one in a series of questions and answers about their individual fates.
The first album by British punk band the Damned, Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title.
Australian band Radio Birdman, which included fellow Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 album Radios Appear they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop" The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".
In 1982, the Birthday Party released Drunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album, Live 1981–82.
Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983's Confusion is Sex.
English space rock group Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986's album Sound of Confusion.
Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.
Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his no. 1 favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in his Journals.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their album The Spaghetti Incident?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute CD We Will Fall, the compilation CD Under the Covers, and the compilation CD The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
Thrash metal band Slayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover album Undisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in Harmonix's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album, Renegades.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.
Horror punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 Covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their Boxset Little Box of Horrors in 2006.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009, Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.
Slash, of Guns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favourite studio albums.
Peter Hook included their live album Metallic K.O. amongst his favourite albums.
Seattle Band Willard recorded "I Got A Right" in 1993 and released it in 2018 on their Underground record.
Band members
Final lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
James Williamson – lead guitar (1970–1971, 1972–1974, 2009–2016)
Mike Watt – bass guitar (2003–2016)
Toby Dammit – drums, percussion (2011–2016)
Classic lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Former members
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Steve Mackay – saxophone (1970, 2003–2015; died 2015)
Bill Cheatham – lead guitar (1970; died late 1990s)
Zeke Zettner – bass guitar (1970; died 1973)
Jimmy Recca – bass guitar (1971)
Bob Sheff – keyboards (1973; died 2020)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1973–1974; 2010, 2013 as guest)
Tornado Turner – lead guitar (1973)
Timeline
Discography
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
Raw Power (1973)
The Weirdness (2007)
Ready to Die (2013)
Videography
Live in Detroit (2003)
Iggy & the Stooges Reunion at Coachella! (2003)
Escaped Maniacs (2007)
Gimme Danger (2016)
References
External links
The Untouchable
1967 establishments in Michigan
Garage rock groups from Michigan
Bomp! Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical quartets
Protopunk groups
Punk rock groups from Michigan
Virgin Records artists
Musical backing groups
Sibling musical groups | true | [
"\"How Do I Breathe\" is a song recorded by American singer Mario. It is the first single from his third studio album Go. The single was released on May 15, 2007. It was produced by Norwegian production team Stargate. On the issue date of July 7, 2007, the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 91. \"How Do I Breathe\" also debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 30 on download sales alone, the day before the physical release of the song. It also became Mario's last charting single in the UK. The song also peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The official remix of the song features Fabolous and the second official remix features Cassidy. A rare third one features both artists and switches between beats. The song was co-written by Mario.\n\nWriting and recording\nMario met Stargate, the producers from Norway. They met when Mario was overseas touring, and they talked about producing. They were up-and-coming at the time. Mario frequently heard their music on the radio and would later say he thought, \"Wow, I really like their music. These guys are classic.\" Mario and Stargate made two songs, which they collaborated on with Ne-Yo, but they did not make the cut. Then they did two more songs, which Mario co-wrote, one of which was \"How Do I Breathe\". Mario said: \"The truth is that I felt like the track already had a story to tell; but that there had to be a certain flow over the record. I had to show some vulnerability, and that is what the record is about. It's about being vulnerable and knowing that you lost something that so essential to your life. I'd say it's about 75% true to life, and the rest is just creative writing.\"\n\nCritical reception\nMark Edward Nero of About.com says \"The track isn't particularly groundbreaking, but it has a simple charm, in a sort of Ne-Yo meets Toni Braxton kind of way\".\n\nAaron Fields of KSTW.com stated: \"First single off the album, yet didn't have the success like \"Let me love you\" did. I remember thinking he was definitely back when I heard this song. I'm not sure why this song didn't get more attention as it is one of the better songs done by him, nevertheless I probably would have picked this for the first single as well. I still bump this one in the car.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe video was directed by Melina and premiered on BET's Access Granted on May 23, 2007. One scene where Mario is dressed in a white t-shirt while singing in smoke, is similar to the scene in Kanye West's video \"Touch the Sky\". After its premiere, \"How Do I Breathe\" received heavy airplay on BET's music video countdown show 106 & Park. It also appeared at number 87 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2007 countdown.\n\nVariations of \"How Do I Breathe\"\nAfter the song was released, there were two different variations that were available. The official version provided by Sony BMG, which was included within the official music video, has different lyrics than the one obtained via a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The specific difference in the lyrics is seen within the bridge of the song near the end.\n\nIn the official version, the bridge's lyrics are as follows:\"Ooh, I should've brought my love home, girl.And baby, I ain't perfect you know.The grind has got a tight hold.Girl, come back to me ... Cause girl you made it hard to breathe...When you're not with me...\"\nIn the other version obtained via a file sharing network, the bridge's lyrics are:\"Ooh, I can't get over you, no.Baby I don't wanna let go.Girl, you need to come home.Back to me ... Cause girl you made it hard to breathe...When you're not with me...\"\n\nThe other version obtained over a file sharing network also features a shout out to former NFL running back Shaun Alexander by an untold DJ near the end of the track.\n\nIn other media\nOn July 16, 2008, Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame from the US television reality program and dance competition So You Think You Can Dance danced to \"How Do I Breathe\" as the part of the competition.\n\nTrack listing\nUK CD:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Full Phat remix featuring Rhymefest)\n\nPromo CD:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (instrumental)\n\nHow Do I Breathe, Pt. 2:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Full Phat Remix featuring Rhymefest)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Allister Whitehead Remix)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (video)\n\nCD single\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit) – 3:38\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (instrumental) – 3:38\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (call out hook) – 0:10\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2006 songs\n2007 singles\nMario (American singer) songs\nJ Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Melina Matsoukas\nSong recordings produced by Stargate (record producers)\nSongs written by Tor Erik Hermansen\nSongs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen",
"\"How Do You Do It?\" was the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was written by Mitch Murray. The song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.\n\nHistory\nThe song was written by Mitch Murray, who offered it to Adam Faith and Brian Poole but was turned down. George Martin of EMI, feeling the song had enormous hit potential, decided to pick it up for the new group he was producing, the Beatles, as the A-side of their first single. The Beatles recorded the song on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums. The group was initially opposed to recording it, feeling that it did not fit their sound, but worked out changes from Murray's demo-disc version. These included a new introduction, vocal harmony, an instrumental interlude, small lyric changes and removal of the half-step modulation for the last verse. Although Murray disliked their changes, the decision not to release the Beatles' version was primarily a business one. In fact, George Martin came very close to issuing \"How Do You Do It?\" as the Beatles' first single before settling instead on \"Love Me Do\", recorded during the same sessions. Martin commented later: \"I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It?', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record.\" McCartney would remark: \"We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do 'How Do You Do It'.\"\n\nThe Beatles' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was officially unissued for over 30 years, finally seeing release in November 1995 on the retrospective Anthology 1.\n\nWhile the Beatles' recording remained in the vaults, Martin still had faith in the song's appeal. Consequently, he had another new client, Gerry and the Pacemakers, record \"How Do You Do It?\" as their debut single in early 1963. This version of \"How Do You Do It?\", also produced by Martin, became a number-one hit in the UK until it was replaced by \"From Me to You\" (the Beatles' third single). It was the title song of a 7-inch EP that also featured \"Away From You\", \"I Like It\" and \"It's Happened to Me\" (Columbia SEG8257, released July 1963).\n\nChart performance\nGerry and the Pacemakers' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was initially issued in the US and Canada in the spring of 1963, but made no impact on the charts. After the group had issued several chart singles in North America, the track was reissued in the summer of 1964. \"How Do You Do It?\" entered the US charts on 5 July 1964, eventually reaching number nine; it did even better in Canada, peaking at number six. Billboard described the song as a \"top-rated teen ballad\" with a \"great beat for dancing.\" Cash Box described it as a \"bright jumper...that's sure to get chart action right off the bat\" and also as \"a charming, teen-angled stomp-atwist’er...that the outfit knocks out in very commercial solo vocal and combo instrumental manner.\"\n\nIn their native UK, the single reached number one in the charts, staying there for three weeks in total.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGerry Marsden fan site\nClassic Bands history page\n\n1963 songs\n1963 debut singles\nSongs written by Mitch Murray\nGerry and the Pacemakers songs\nThe Beatles songs\nDick and Dee Dee songs\nSong recordings produced by George Martin\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nColumbia Graphophone Company singles"
]
|
[
"The Stooges",
"Post-breakup (1975-2003)",
"What happened after they broke up?",
"After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977,",
"How did he do that?",
"Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order"
]
| C_082e040a63e64c98aa66647456bfe0e7_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Besides the The Stooges post-breakup, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | The Stooges | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career - the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration - but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975. In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year. In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003. CANNOTANSWER | Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, | The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
After releasing two albums—The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970)—the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with a slightly altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass and James Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album, Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar and Mike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay, who had played briefly with the 1973-1974 lineup. Ron Asheton died in 2009, replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, also releasing their last album, Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007 they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement award at the Mojo Awards.
History
Formation (1967–68)
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including the Iguanas and, later, the Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning to Detroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bands The Sonics and The Kinks. Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass guitar) composed the rest of the band, with Osterberg as main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few (a covers band), believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!" The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled. Shortly after witnessing an MC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeing the Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey called the Untouchable perform. In a 1995 interview with Bust Magazine, he relates:
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house on Halloween night, followed by their next live gig, January 1968. During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the band MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to John Sinclair who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for the MC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."
The group's early sound differed from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes:
First two albums and first breakup (1968–71)
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.
In 1968 Elektra Records sent DJ/publicist Danny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film, Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released their self-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album, Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, Ohio and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play. He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadie Zeke Zettner and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Bill Cheatham, who was eventually replaced by James Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton, had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on 9 July 1971.
Raw Power and second breakup (1972–74)
With the band having broken up, Pop met David Bowie on 7 September 1971 at Max's Kansas City, and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music manager Tony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop met Clive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal. In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influential Raw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly (in subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the album Rough Power; in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release, Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from early punk rockers.
With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia soon after the release of Raw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship with Cyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road manager Leee Black Childers); guitarist Tornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on 15 June 1973 at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois), but Williamson soon returned to the group.
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior. The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan was captured and was released in 1976 as the live album Metallic K.O. along with the first half of an earlier show on 6 October 1973 at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the title Metallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set-lists.
Post-breakup (1975–2003)
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Reunion and Ron Asheton's death (2003–09)
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request, and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the 1997 Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater, touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier. He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".
On October 1, 2009, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu and Jeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer of Alice Cooper) was published in hardcover by Abrams.
Return of James Williamson and final breakup (2009–16)
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist. Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'". Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band through their Class of 2010. The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performed Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit author Brett Callwood published The Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book which focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album, Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 on Fat Possum. Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.
On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.
In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more.The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me.Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
Musical style
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act and as instrumental in the development of punk rock, alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. In the years before noise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.
Legacy
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics including: Radio Birdman, Penetration, Raw Power, Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" for Creem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album Fun House. Another music journalist, Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
The Sex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976. This introduced the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows. The first two of these songs also feature on his Sid Sings album.
According to Dee Dee Ramone, the members of the Ramones felt alienated from their community growing up, and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album Don't Worry About Me.
Iggy Pop paid tribute to his former Stooges bandmates in his song "Dum Dum Boys" on his first solo album The Idiot; his spoken intro mentions Zeke Zettner, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson one by one in a series of questions and answers about their individual fates.
The first album by British punk band the Damned, Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title.
Australian band Radio Birdman, which included fellow Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 album Radios Appear they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop" The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".
In 1982, the Birthday Party released Drunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album, Live 1981–82.
Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983's Confusion is Sex.
English space rock group Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986's album Sound of Confusion.
Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.
Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his no. 1 favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in his Journals.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their album The Spaghetti Incident?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute CD We Will Fall, the compilation CD Under the Covers, and the compilation CD The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
Thrash metal band Slayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover album Undisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in Harmonix's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album, Renegades.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.
Horror punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 Covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their Boxset Little Box of Horrors in 2006.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009, Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.
Slash, of Guns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favourite studio albums.
Peter Hook included their live album Metallic K.O. amongst his favourite albums.
Seattle Band Willard recorded "I Got A Right" in 1993 and released it in 2018 on their Underground record.
Band members
Final lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
James Williamson – lead guitar (1970–1971, 1972–1974, 2009–2016)
Mike Watt – bass guitar (2003–2016)
Toby Dammit – drums, percussion (2011–2016)
Classic lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Former members
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Steve Mackay – saxophone (1970, 2003–2015; died 2015)
Bill Cheatham – lead guitar (1970; died late 1990s)
Zeke Zettner – bass guitar (1970; died 1973)
Jimmy Recca – bass guitar (1971)
Bob Sheff – keyboards (1973; died 2020)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1973–1974; 2010, 2013 as guest)
Tornado Turner – lead guitar (1973)
Timeline
Discography
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
Raw Power (1973)
The Weirdness (2007)
Ready to Die (2013)
Videography
Live in Detroit (2003)
Iggy & the Stooges Reunion at Coachella! (2003)
Escaped Maniacs (2007)
Gimme Danger (2016)
References
External links
The Untouchable
1967 establishments in Michigan
Garage rock groups from Michigan
Bomp! Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical quartets
Protopunk groups
Punk rock groups from Michigan
Virgin Records artists
Musical backing groups
Sibling musical groups | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"The Stooges",
"Post-breakup (1975-2003)",
"What happened after they broke up?",
"After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977,",
"How did he do that?",
"Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles,"
]
| C_082e040a63e64c98aa66647456bfe0e7_0 | Where did he perform? | 4 | Where did Pop perform? | The Stooges | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career - the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration - but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975. In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year. In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003. CANNOTANSWER | ). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, | The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
After releasing two albums—The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970)—the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with a slightly altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass and James Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album, Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar and Mike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay, who had played briefly with the 1973-1974 lineup. Ron Asheton died in 2009, replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, also releasing their last album, Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007 they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement award at the Mojo Awards.
History
Formation (1967–68)
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including the Iguanas and, later, the Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning to Detroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bands The Sonics and The Kinks. Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass guitar) composed the rest of the band, with Osterberg as main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few (a covers band), believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!" The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled. Shortly after witnessing an MC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeing the Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey called the Untouchable perform. In a 1995 interview with Bust Magazine, he relates:
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house on Halloween night, followed by their next live gig, January 1968. During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the band MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to John Sinclair who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for the MC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."
The group's early sound differed from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes:
First two albums and first breakup (1968–71)
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.
In 1968 Elektra Records sent DJ/publicist Danny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film, Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released their self-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album, Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, Ohio and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play. He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadie Zeke Zettner and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Bill Cheatham, who was eventually replaced by James Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton, had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on 9 July 1971.
Raw Power and second breakup (1972–74)
With the band having broken up, Pop met David Bowie on 7 September 1971 at Max's Kansas City, and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music manager Tony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop met Clive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal. In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influential Raw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly (in subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the album Rough Power; in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release, Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from early punk rockers.
With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia soon after the release of Raw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship with Cyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road manager Leee Black Childers); guitarist Tornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on 15 June 1973 at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois), but Williamson soon returned to the group.
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior. The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan was captured and was released in 1976 as the live album Metallic K.O. along with the first half of an earlier show on 6 October 1973 at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the title Metallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set-lists.
Post-breakup (1975–2003)
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Reunion and Ron Asheton's death (2003–09)
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request, and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the 1997 Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater, touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier. He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".
On October 1, 2009, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu and Jeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer of Alice Cooper) was published in hardcover by Abrams.
Return of James Williamson and final breakup (2009–16)
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist. Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'". Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band through their Class of 2010. The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performed Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit author Brett Callwood published The Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book which focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album, Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 on Fat Possum. Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.
On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.
In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more.The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me.Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
Musical style
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act and as instrumental in the development of punk rock, alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. In the years before noise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.
Legacy
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics including: Radio Birdman, Penetration, Raw Power, Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" for Creem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album Fun House. Another music journalist, Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
The Sex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976. This introduced the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows. The first two of these songs also feature on his Sid Sings album.
According to Dee Dee Ramone, the members of the Ramones felt alienated from their community growing up, and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album Don't Worry About Me.
Iggy Pop paid tribute to his former Stooges bandmates in his song "Dum Dum Boys" on his first solo album The Idiot; his spoken intro mentions Zeke Zettner, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson one by one in a series of questions and answers about their individual fates.
The first album by British punk band the Damned, Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title.
Australian band Radio Birdman, which included fellow Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 album Radios Appear they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop" The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".
In 1982, the Birthday Party released Drunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album, Live 1981–82.
Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983's Confusion is Sex.
English space rock group Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986's album Sound of Confusion.
Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.
Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his no. 1 favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in his Journals.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their album The Spaghetti Incident?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute CD We Will Fall, the compilation CD Under the Covers, and the compilation CD The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
Thrash metal band Slayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover album Undisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in Harmonix's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album, Renegades.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.
Horror punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 Covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their Boxset Little Box of Horrors in 2006.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009, Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.
Slash, of Guns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favourite studio albums.
Peter Hook included their live album Metallic K.O. amongst his favourite albums.
Seattle Band Willard recorded "I Got A Right" in 1993 and released it in 2018 on their Underground record.
Band members
Final lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
James Williamson – lead guitar (1970–1971, 1972–1974, 2009–2016)
Mike Watt – bass guitar (2003–2016)
Toby Dammit – drums, percussion (2011–2016)
Classic lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Former members
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Steve Mackay – saxophone (1970, 2003–2015; died 2015)
Bill Cheatham – lead guitar (1970; died late 1990s)
Zeke Zettner – bass guitar (1970; died 1973)
Jimmy Recca – bass guitar (1971)
Bob Sheff – keyboards (1973; died 2020)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1973–1974; 2010, 2013 as guest)
Tornado Turner – lead guitar (1973)
Timeline
Discography
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
Raw Power (1973)
The Weirdness (2007)
Ready to Die (2013)
Videography
Live in Detroit (2003)
Iggy & the Stooges Reunion at Coachella! (2003)
Escaped Maniacs (2007)
Gimme Danger (2016)
References
External links
The Untouchable
1967 establishments in Michigan
Garage rock groups from Michigan
Bomp! Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical quartets
Protopunk groups
Punk rock groups from Michigan
Virgin Records artists
Musical backing groups
Sibling musical groups | true | [
"Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival is a rock festival currently held in Columbus, Ohio, United States and is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents.\n\nHistory\n\nIn 2018 it was announced that Rock on the Range would be replaced by Danny Wimmer Presents as the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival. The inaugural festival was held in May 2019 with sold-out crowds of 120,000.\n\nIn December 2019, the full lineup for Sonic Temple 2020 was revealed. Metallica were to headline both Friday and Saturday night, with Slipknot headlining on Saturday. Other performers were to include Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Evanescence, Sublime with Rome, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Cypress Hill, Pennywise, Royal Blood, The Pretty Reckless, Alter Bridge, Anthrax, Flatbush Zombies, Pop Evil, Hellyeah, Ghostemane, Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, Dance Gavin Dance, Ice Nine Kills, Sleeping with Sirens, The Darkness, Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Power Trip, Saint Asonia, Dirty Honey, Jinjer, City Morgue, Bones UK, Airbourne, Fire from the Gods, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Des Rocs, Counterfeit, Crobot, Cherry Bomb, DED, Goodbye June, Brutus, 3Teeth, BRKN Love, Killstation, Brass Against, Crown Lands, Ego Kill Talent, Dregg, Bloodywood, and Zero 9:36, with more to have been announced.\n\nIn February 2020, it was announced that Metallica would be replaced as headliners by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool, following frontman James Hetfield's entrance into a rehabilitation program for substance abuse. The following month, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, it was announced it would once again be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to return in 2022.\n\nEvents\n\n2019 \n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n System of a Down\n Ghost\n Halestorm\n Parkway Drive\n Beartooth\n Avatar\n Badflower\n\nEcho Stage:\n Meshuggah\n Black Label Society\n Bad Wolves\n Zeal & Ardor\n Wage War\n SHVPES\n The Jacks\n\nWave Stage:\n Tom Morello\n Pussy Riot\n Ho99o99\n Cleopatrick\n Hands Like Houses\n Radattack\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Henry Rollins\n Tom Morello\n Shapel Lacy\n Nadya\n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n Disturbed\n Papa Roach\n Lamb of God\n In This Moment\n Gojira\n Fever 333\n Black Coffee\n\nEcho Stage:\n The Cult\n Killswitch Engage\n Architects\n The Black Dahlia Murder\n While She Sleeps\n Evan Konrad\n The Plot in You\n\nWave Stage:\n Action Bronson (did not perform due to an \"unforeseen knee injury\")\n Mark Lanegan Band\n Don Broco\n Movements\n Boston Manor\n No1Cares\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Andrew Dice Clay\n Eleanor Kerrigan\n Mark Normand\n Craig Grass\n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n Foo Fighters\n Bring Me the Horizon (did not perform due to high winds)\n Chevelle (did not perform due to high winds)\n The Distillers (did not perform due to high winds)\n The Struts\n The Glorious Sons\n Amigo the Devil\n\nEcho Stage:\n Joan Jett and the Blackhearts\n The Hives (performance ended early due to high winds)\n The Interrupters\n Yungblud\n Palaye Royale\n Dirty Honey\n Teenage Wrist\n\nWave Stage:\n Scars on Broadway (did not perform due to high winds)\n Refused (did not perform due to high winds)\n Black Pistol Fire (did not perform due to high winds)\n Basement (did not perform due to high winds)\n Scarlxrd (did not perform due to high winds)\n Demob Happy (did not perform due to high winds)\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Pauly Shore (did not perform due to high winds)\n Carmen Lynch (did not perform due to high winds)\n Joe Deuce (did not perform due to high winds)\n Bill Squire (did not perform due to high winds)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nHeavy metal festivals in the United States\nMusic festivals established in 2019\nMusic festivals in Ohio\nRock festivals in the United States",
"The No Sound Without Silence Tour is the third arena tour by Irish pop rock band The Script. Launched in support of their fourth studio album No Sound Without Silence (2014), the tour began in Tokyo on 16 January 2015 and visited Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The opening acts were American singer Phillip Phillips for the South African dates, and English singer Tinie Tempah for the European dates. Pharrell Williams served as a co-headliner for the Croke Park concert on 20 June 2015.\n\nOpening acts\nColton Avery (Europe, North America, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia)\nMary Lambert (North America)\nPhillip Phillips (South Africa)\nSilent Sanctuary (Philippines)\nTinie Tempah (Europe)\nPharrell Williams (Dublin)\nThe Wailers (Dublin)\nThe Sam Willows (Singapore)\nKensington (Band) (Europe)\n\nSetlist\nThis setlist is based on previous performances of the tour.\n\n \"Paint the Town Green\"\n \"Hail Rain or Sunshine\"\n \"Breakeven\"\n \"Before the Worst\"\n \"Superheroes\"\n \"We Cry\"\n \"If You Could See Me Now\"\n \"Man on a Wire\"\n \"Nothing\"\n \"Good Ol' Days\"\n \"Never Seen Anything (Quite Like You)\"\n \"The Man Who Can't Be Moved\"\n \"You Won't Feel A Thing\"\n \"It's Not Right For You\"\n \"Six Degrees of Separation\"\n \"The Energy Never Dies\"\n \"For the First Time\"\n \"No Good in Goodbye\"\n \"Hall of Fame\"\n\nAdditional information\nDuring the performance in Sheffield, The Script didn't perform \"We Cry\" due to a fan collapsing. Danny called for Paramedic to check on her, she was fine and they carried on.\n\nDuring the performance in Barcelona, The Script didn't perform \"The End Where I Begin\" or \"Nothing\". They also did not perform \"Six Degrees Of Separation\" and \"It's Not Right For You\".\n\nDuring the performance in Oakland, The Script didn't perform \"The End Where I Begin\", \"We Cry\", or \"Six Degrees of Separation\".\n\nDuring the performance in Toronto, The Script did not perform \"The End Where I Begin\" and \"Six Degrees of Separation\".\n\nDuring the performance im Hamburg, The Script did not perform \"Nothing\" and \"Never Seen Anything (Quite Like You)\".\n\nTour dates\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n2015 concert tours\nThe Script concert tours"
]
|
[
"The Stooges",
"Post-breakup (1975-2003)",
"What happened after they broke up?",
"After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977,",
"How did he do that?",
"Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles,",
"Where did he perform?",
"). Relocated to Los Angeles, California,"
]
| C_082e040a63e64c98aa66647456bfe0e7_0 | Did they ever reunite? | 5 | Did The Stooges ever reunite? | The Stooges | After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career - the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration - but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975. In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year. In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003. CANNOTANSWER | Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, | The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
After releasing two albums—The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970)—the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with a slightly altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass and James Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album, Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar and Mike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay, who had played briefly with the 1973-1974 lineup. Ron Asheton died in 2009, replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, also releasing their last album, Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007 they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement award at the Mojo Awards.
History
Formation (1967–68)
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including the Iguanas and, later, the Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning to Detroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bands The Sonics and The Kinks. Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass guitar) composed the rest of the band, with Osterberg as main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few (a covers band), believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!" The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled. Shortly after witnessing an MC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeing the Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey called the Untouchable perform. In a 1995 interview with Bust Magazine, he relates:
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house on Halloween night, followed by their next live gig, January 1968. During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the band MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to John Sinclair who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for the MC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."
The group's early sound differed from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes:
First two albums and first breakup (1968–71)
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.
In 1968 Elektra Records sent DJ/publicist Danny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film, Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released their self-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album, Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, Ohio and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play. He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadie Zeke Zettner and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Bill Cheatham, who was eventually replaced by James Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton, had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on 9 July 1971.
Raw Power and second breakup (1972–74)
With the band having broken up, Pop met David Bowie on 7 September 1971 at Max's Kansas City, and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music manager Tony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop met Clive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal. In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influential Raw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly (in subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the album Rough Power; in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release, Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from early punk rockers.
With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia soon after the release of Raw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship with Cyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road manager Leee Black Childers); guitarist Tornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on 15 June 1973 at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois), but Williamson soon returned to the group.
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior. The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan was captured and was released in 1976 as the live album Metallic K.O. along with the first half of an earlier show on 6 October 1973 at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the title Metallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set-lists.
Post-breakup (1975–2003)
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albums The Idiot (1977) and Lust for Life (1977). Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band the New Order (not to be confused with the UK band New Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor-based "anti-rock" group Destroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, including New Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career in electronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired from Sony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his alcohol-induced pancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and Firehose) teamed with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as J. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Reunion and Ron Asheton's death (2003–09)
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request, and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the 1997 Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater, touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec. Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier. He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".
On October 1, 2009, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu and Jeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer of Alice Cooper) was published in hardcover by Abrams.
Return of James Williamson and final breakup (2009–16)
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist. Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'". Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band through their Class of 2010. The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performed Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit author Brett Callwood published The Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book which focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album, Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 on Fat Possum. Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.
On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.
In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more.The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me.Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
Musical style
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminal proto-punk act and as instrumental in the development of punk rock, alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large. In the years before noise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.
Legacy
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics including: Radio Birdman, Penetration, Raw Power, Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" for Creem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album Fun House. Another music journalist, Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
The Sex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976. This introduced the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows. The first two of these songs also feature on his Sid Sings album.
According to Dee Dee Ramone, the members of the Ramones felt alienated from their community growing up, and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop. Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album Don't Worry About Me.
Iggy Pop paid tribute to his former Stooges bandmates in his song "Dum Dum Boys" on his first solo album The Idiot; his spoken intro mentions Zeke Zettner, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson one by one in a series of questions and answers about their individual fates.
The first album by British punk band the Damned, Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title.
Australian band Radio Birdman, which included fellow Ann Arbor native Deniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 album Radios Appear they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop" The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".
In 1982, the Birthday Party released Drunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album, Live 1981–82.
Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983's Confusion is Sex.
English space rock group Spacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986's album Sound of Confusion.
Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.
Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his no. 1 favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in his Journals.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their album The Spaghetti Incident?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions for Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute CD We Will Fall, the compilation CD Under the Covers, and the compilation CD The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
Thrash metal band Slayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover album Undisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in Harmonix's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album, Renegades.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.
Horror punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 Covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their Boxset Little Box of Horrors in 2006.
In 2007, R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti Smith in their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009, Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.
Slash, of Guns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favourite studio albums.
Peter Hook included their live album Metallic K.O. amongst his favourite albums.
Seattle Band Willard recorded "I Got A Right" in 1993 and released it in 2018 on their Underground record.
Band members
Final lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
James Williamson – lead guitar (1970–1971, 1972–1974, 2009–2016)
Mike Watt – bass guitar (2003–2016)
Toby Dammit – drums, percussion (2011–2016)
Classic lineup
Iggy Pop – lead vocals (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2016)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Former members
Scott Asheton – drums (1967–1971, 1972–1974, 2003–2014; died 2014)
Ron Asheton – lead guitar (1967–1971, 2003–2009), bass guitar (1972–1974; died 2009)
Dave Alexander – bass guitar (1967–1970; died 1975)
Steve Mackay – saxophone (1970, 2003–2015; died 2015)
Bill Cheatham – lead guitar (1970; died late 1990s)
Zeke Zettner – bass guitar (1970; died 1973)
Jimmy Recca – bass guitar (1971)
Bob Sheff – keyboards (1973; died 2020)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1973–1974; 2010, 2013 as guest)
Tornado Turner – lead guitar (1973)
Timeline
Discography
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
Raw Power (1973)
The Weirdness (2007)
Ready to Die (2013)
Videography
Live in Detroit (2003)
Iggy & the Stooges Reunion at Coachella! (2003)
Escaped Maniacs (2007)
Gimme Danger (2016)
References
External links
The Untouchable
1967 establishments in Michigan
Garage rock groups from Michigan
Bomp! Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Michigan
Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Detroit
Musical quartets
Protopunk groups
Punk rock groups from Michigan
Virgin Records artists
Musical backing groups
Sibling musical groups | true | [
"Reunite may refer to:\n\n Reunite International Child Abduction Centre, a UK charity focusing on international child abduction\n Reunite (album), a 2010 album by The O.C. Supertones",
"Reunite International Child Abduction Centre is recognized as the leading UK charity focusing on international child abduction.\n\nHistory\n\nReunite began in 1986 as reunite National Council for Abducted Children, a parent support network formed by parents trying to navigate their way through the legal issues surrounding international parental child abduction. It was registered as a charity in 1990 and over the years evolved and developed into an information and resource centre. It was in 1999 that it changed its name to reunite International Child Abduction Centre\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nreunite's website\n\nNon-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom\nInternational child abduction\nChild safety\nLaw enforcement in the United Kingdom"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy"
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | what was his legacy? | 1 | what was J. R. Jayewardene's legacy? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | true | [
"A legacy game is a variant of tabletop board games in which the game itself is designed, through various mechanics, to change permanently over the course of a series of sessions.\n\nHistory \nGame designer Rob Daviau claims to have come up with the idea at a work meeting after jokingly asking why the murderous characters in Clue are always invited back to dinner. Realizing that each new game resets, Daviau thought about what it would be like if everyone would remember who the murderer was, and he pitched the idea of a Clue legacy game to Hasbro. While that idea was rejected, Daviau was later asked to use the mechanic in a new version of Risk. Risk Legacy was released in 2011 and was his first game to use this format.\n\nDaviau followed up with an award-winning Pandemic variant, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, which was released in 2015 to positive reviews and praised as a leap forward in modern board game design. Daviau continues to develop legacy games and co-developed a mechanic, the Echo System, to retain permanent changes through subsequent games in a franchise.\n\nDaviau cited his work on Betrayal at House on the Hill (which was later adapted into a legacy version) and Trivial Pursuit: DVD – Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition as predecessors to the legacy idea. The latter was designed in such a way that pre-programmed games sorted the cards by difficulty. This caused some vocal backlash as the game was perceived by many to have a more definite end than other versions.\n\nCommon mechanics and themes \nLegacy games are designed to be played over the course of a campaign, usually with the same players, and permanently change over time. As such they have been compared to tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. New rules can be introduced as the campaign goes on, allowing for the game to expand both mechanically and thematically. Games can use the expanding campaign as a mode of storytelling; Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 uses a three-act structure to tell its story. Daviau describes legacy games as \"experiential\" in contrast to traditional games, which are \"repeatable\". He compared his legacy games to that of a concert where you \"buy a ticket for an experience\" while Haoran Un of Kotaku describes the idea as \"avant-garde performance art\".\n\nLegacy games break certain covenants that players expect from traditional board games. Permanent, physical changes can occur to components based on game outcomes and player choices. For instance players might be instructed to write names on cards, place stickers on the game board, or destroy some components. This causes each copy of the game to be unique at the end and has earned the legacy genre criticism in that there is a finite amount of replayability. Some games have been designed to be replayable with refill packs or non-permanent stickers while others are still playable with the final permanent changes once the campaign is over.\n\nList of legacy and legacy-styled games\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Legacy 'family' page at BoardGameGeek\n Keynote by Rob Daviau on legacy games from the Game Developers Conference 2017",
"Tron: Legacy Reconfigured (stylized on the album artwork as Tron: Legacy R3C0NF1GUR3D) is a remix album of music by Daft Punk, released by Walt Disney Records on 5 April 2011. The album features remixes of selections of the Tron: Legacy film score by various contemporary electronic musicians. Tron: Legacy Reconfigured charted in several countries and peaked at number one in the Billboard Dance/Electronic chart. The album was released to mixed reviews.\n\nBackground\nTron: Legacy Reconfigured was released to coincide with the home video release of Tron: Legacy. The remix album was sold as either a standalone record or as part of box sets including the film, an EP of bonus tracks from the original score, a copy of the comic book miniseries tie-in Tron: Betrayal, and a poster of Daft Punk as they appear in the film. The \"ultimate\" box order included a five-disc set featuring Tron: The Original Classic as well as a collectible lithograph.\n\nDaft Punk's former manager Pedro Winter was displeased with Tron: Legacy Reconfigured and asserted that the duo was not involved with the remix album. He wrote in an open letter to Disney that, \"Of course some of it is nice, and you know there are some of my friends on this CD. But this is not enough! [...] I am sad to discover the A&R at Disney records is apparently buying most of his electronic music in airports stores...\"\n\nCritical reception\n\nReception to the remix album was generally mixed. On Metacritic, the album holds an aggregate score of 59/100, indicating \"mixed or average reviews\". Heather Phares of AllMusic believed that Tron: Legacy Reconfigured was made in response to the perceived lack of \"dancefloor movers\" in the original score and noted that, \"While the acts involved don't offer many surprises, they do what they do well\". A Consequence of Sound review also felt that the record was a more accessible version of the film soundtrack: \"Listening to the album straight through feels more like an eclectic concert than a compilation, and that’s meant as a compliment.\"\n\nJess Harvell of Pitchfork wrote that the album is successful \"about 50% of the time\" with the conclusion that, \"taken as a whole, what we're left with is a solidly middle-of-the-road project building off a solidly middle-of-the-road movie score. In a negative review, PopMatters believed that Tron: Legacy Reconfigured was a \"cash-in release\" based on the \"disappointing\" original soundtrack. \"The remixes that depart sharply from the originals, and sound more like their creators than like Daft Punk, often sound the best.\"\n\nThe Photek remix of \"End of Line\" was nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2011. The Glitch Mob's remix of \"Derezzed\" is used in various promos and trailers for the film's animated prequel, Tron: Uprising.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAlbum entry at Walt Disney Records\nTron: Legacy Reconfigured at Metacritic\n\n2011 remix albums\nDaft Punk remix albums\nElectro house remix albums\nTron music\nWalt Disney Records remix albums"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy",
"what was his legacy?",
"On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive."
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | what is bitterly divisive about it? | 2 | What is bitterly divisive about J. R. Jayewardene's legacy? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | false | [
"Divisive may refer to:\n\n divisive clustering, which is a type of hierarchical clustering\n divisive rhythm\n Divide and rule",
"In music, the terms additive and divisive are used to distinguish two types of both rhythm and meter:\n\n A divisive (or, alternately, multiplicative) rhythm is a rhythm in which a larger period of time is divided into smaller rhythmic units or, conversely, some integer unit is regularly multiplied into larger, equal units.\n\n This can be contrasted with additive rhythm, in which larger periods of time are constructed by concatenating (joining end to end) a series of units into larger units of unequal length, such as a meter produced by the regular alternation of and .\n\nWhen applied to meters, the terms perfect and imperfect are sometimes used as the equivalents of divisive and additive, respectively .\n\nFor example, 4 may be evenly divided by 2 or reached by adding 2 + 2. In contrast, 5 is only evenly divisible by 5 and 1 and may be reached by adding 2 or 3. Thus, (or, more commonly, ) is divisive while is additive.\n\nThe terms additive and divisive originate with Curt Sachs's book Rhythm and Tempo (1953), while the term aksak rhythm was introduced for the former concept at about the same time by Constantin Brăiloiu, in agreement with the Turkish musicologist Ahmet Adnan Saygun. The relationship between additive and divisive rhythms is complex, and the terms are often used in imprecise ways. In his article on rhythm in the second edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Justin London states that:\n\nWinold recommends that, \"metric structure is best described through detailed analysis of pulse groupings on various levels rather than through attempts to represent the organization with a single term\".\n\nSub-Saharan African music and most European (Western) music is divisive, while Indian and other Asian musics may be considered as primarily additive. However, many pieces of music cannot be clearly labeled divisive or additive.\n\nDivisive rhythm\n\nFor example: consists of one measure (whole note: 1) divided into a stronger first beat and slightly less strong second beat (half notes: 1, 3), which are in turn divided, by two weaker beats (quarter notes: 1, 2, 3, 4), and again divided into still weaker beats (eighth notes: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &).\n\nAdditive rhythm features nonidentical or irregular durational groups following one another at two levels, within the bar and between bars or groups of bars. This type of rhythm is also referred to in musicological literature by the Turkish word aksak, which means \"limping\". In the special case of time signatures in which the upper numeral is not divisible by two or three without a fraction, the result may alternatively be called irregular, imperfect, or uneven meter, and the groupings into twos and threes are sometimes called long beats and short beats.\n\nThe term additive rhythm is also often used to refer to what are also incorrectly called asymmetric rhythms and even irregular rhythms – that is, meters which have a regular pattern of beats of uneven length. For example, the time signature indicates each bar is eight quavers long, and has four beats, each a crotchet (that is, two quavers) long. The asymmetric time signature , on the other hand, while also having eight quavers in a bar, divides them into three beats, the first three quavers long, the second three quavers long, and the last just two quavers long.\n\nThese kinds of rhythms are used, for example, by Béla Bartók, who was influenced by similar rhythms in Bulgarian folk music. The third movement of Bartók's String Quartet No. 5, a scherzo marked alla bulgarese features a \" rhythm (4+2+3)\". Stravinsky's Octet for Wind Instruments \"ends with a jazzy 3+3+2 = 8 swung coda\". Stravinsky himself found a kinship with additive rhythms in music of the renaissance and baroque periods. For example, he marvelled at the Laudate Pueri from Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, where the music follows the natural accentuation of the Latin words to create metrical groupings of twos, threes and fours at the very start: “I know of no music before or since…. which so felicitously exploits accentual and metrical variation and irregularity, and no more subtle rhythmic construction of any kind than that which is set in motion at the beginning of the ‘Laudate Pueri,’ if, that is, the music is sung according to the verbal accents instead of… the editor’s bar-lines.” \n\nAdditive patterns also occur in some music of Philip Glass, and other minimalists, most noticeably the \"one-two-one-two-three\" chorus parts in Einstein on the Beach. They may also occur in passing in pieces which are on the whole in conventional meters. In jazz, Dave Brubeck's song \"Blue Rondo à la Turk\" features bars of nine quavers grouped into patterns of at the start. George Harrison's song \"Here Comes the Sun\" on the Beatles' album Abbey Road features a rhythm \"which switches between , and on the bridge\". \"The special effect of running even eighth notes accented as if triplets against the grain of the underlying backbeat is carried to a point more reminiscent of Stravinsky than of the Beatles\".\n\nOlivier Messiaen made extensive use of additive rhythmic patterns, much of it stemming from his close study of the rhythms of Indian music. His \"Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes\" from The Quartet for the End of Time is a bracing example. A gentler exploration of additive patterns can be found in \"Le Regard de la Vierge\" from the same composer's piano cycle Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus.\n\nGyörgy Ligeti's Étude No. 13, \"L'escalier du diable\" features patterns involving quavers grouped in twos and threes. The rhythm at the start of the study follows the pattern , then . According to the composer's note, the time signature \"serves only as a guideline, the actual meter consists of 36 quavers (three 'bars'), divided assymetrically\".\n\nSub-Saharan African rhythm\n\nA divisive form of cross-rhythm is the basis for most Sub-Saharan African music traditions. Rhythmic patterns are generated by simultaneously dividing a span of musical time by a triple-beat scheme and a duple-beat scheme.\n\nIn the development of cross rhythm, there are some selected rhythmic materials or beat schemes that are customarily used. These beat schemes, in their generic forms, are simple divisions of the same musical period in equal units, producing varying rhythmic densities or motions. At the center of a core of rhythmic traditions within which the composer conveys his ideas is the technique of cross-rhythm. The technique of cross-rhythm is a simultaneous use of contrasting rhythmic patterns within the same scheme of accents or meter... By the very nature of the desired resultant rhythm, the main beat scheme cannot be separated from the secondary beat scheme. It is the interplay of the two elements that produces the cross-rhythmic texture.\n\n\"the entire African rhythmic structure... is divisive in nature\".\n\nTresillo: divisive and additive interpretations\n\nIn divisive form, the strokes of tresillo contradict the beats. In additive form, the strokes of tresillo are the beats. From a metrical perspective then, the two ways of perceiving tresillo constitute two different rhythms. On the other hand, from the perspective of simply the pattern of attack-points, tresillo is a shared element of traditional folk music from the northwest tip of Africa to southeast tip of Asia.\n\nAdditive structure\n\"Tresillo\" is also found within a wide geographic belt stretching from Morocco in North Africa to Indonesia in South Asia. Use of the pattern in Moroccan music can be traced back to slaves brought north across the Sahara Desert from present-day Mali. This pattern may have migrated east from North Africa to Asia through the spread of Islam. In Middle Eastern and Asian music, the figure is generated through additive rhythm.\n\nDivisive structure\nThe most basic duple-pulse figure found in the Music of Africa and music of the African diaspora is a figure the Cubans call tresillo, a Spanish word meaning 'triplet' (three equal beats in the same time as two main beats). However, in the vernacular of Cuban popular music, the term refers to the figure shown below.\n\nAfrican-based music has a divisive rhythm structure. Tresillo is generated through cross-rhythm: 8 pulses ÷ 3 = 2 cross-beats (consisting of three pulses each), with a remainder of a partial cross-beat (spanning two pulses). In other words, 8 ÷ 3 = 2, r2. Tresillo is a cross-rhythmic fragment.\n\nBecause of its irregular pattern of attack-points, \"tresillo\" in African and African-based musics has been mistaken for a form of additive rhythm.\n\nAlthough the difference between the two ways of notating this rhythm may seem small, they stem from fundamentally different conceptions. Those who wish to convey a sense of the rhythm's background [main beats], and who understand the surface morphology in relation to a regular subsurface articulation, will prefer the divisive format. Those who imagine the addition of three, then three, then two sixteenth notes will treat the well-formedness of 3 + 3 + 2 as fortuitous, a product of grouping rather than of metrical structure. They will be tempted to deny that African music has a bona fide metrical structure because of its frequent departures from normative grouping structure.\n\nSee also\nCounting (music)\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Reprinted 1988, New York: Columbia University Press. (cloth); (pbk).\n \n \n \n\nRhythm and meter\n\nfr:Division du temps (solfège)\npl:Rytmika zmienna\npl:Rytmika okresowa\nsv:Asymmetrisk rytm"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy",
"what was his legacy?",
"On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive.",
"what is bitterly divisive about it?",
"When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace."
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | did he help with the tensions? | 3 | Did J. R. Jayewardene help with the tensions that were present when taking office? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | false | [
"Morocco–Syria relations refers to bilateral and political ties between Morocco and Syria.\n\nHistory\nBoth countries share a common history: they were formerly colonized by the Roman Empire, and later Arab conquests that saw both Morocco and Syria became Muslim countries. However, Morocco became an independent Berber-Arab Kingdom while Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire until both were again together occupied by France.\n\nModern relations\nMorocco and Syria began to establish relations upon the withdrawal of France from Morocco at 1956. However, Syria was later met with political turmoil, as the wave of pan-Arabism and anti-Israeli sentiment was on the rise. This fervour soon reached Morocco, but unlike Syria, Morocco was able to stand its ground. This was the initial cause of the tensions between the countries.\n\nMoroccan-Syrian tensions soon erupted, with Morocco siding with the West and Syria, whilst the United Arab Republic, sided with Algeria during the Sand War. Since then, Syria had a distrust for Morocco due to its close ties with the West, particularly, the United States and Israel and they often had limited cooperation. In 1965, Moroccan King Hassan II secretly invited Mossad and Shin Bet agents to record the Arab League's meeting in Casablanca, which was instrumental in leading to the Six-Day War and Syrian defeat, which further strained relations between two. The relations improved slightly when Morocco sent troops to help its Arab allies, including Syria, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this slight improvement, however, did not last long.\n\nDespite Morocco's efforts during the 1973 conflict, Syria supported the Polisario against the Moroccans during Western Sahara War from 1975, angering Morocco, and was later admitted by Bashar al-Assad over Syria's efforts to help Polisario militants fighting Royal Moroccan Armed Forces in 2013. This was even further gone by Hafez al-Assad's decision to cut tie with Morocco after Hassan II held a secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.\n\nMorocco would remain in tensions with Syria throughout the rest of both leaders' reigns, and their relations only got little improvement since the death of both Hafez al-Assad and Hassan II.\n\nSyrian Civil War\n\nThe outbreak of civil war in Syria once again strained relations, with Morocco supporting the Syrian opposition against Assad regime in Syria and has hosted meeting anti-Assad coalition in 2012 and 2013. Even though Morocco has tried to distance from the conflict and even endorsed a political solution instead of military intervention, Morocco has been accused by Syria for financing and helping the Free Syrian Army against Assad. Morocco expelled Syrian ambassador in 2012 as a protest against Assad.\n\nWhile Morocco maintains supportive of Syrian refugees, cases like Syrians trapped between Algerian–Moroccan border also gave concerns to Moroccan authorities.\n\nIn 2019, due to the changing tide in favor to Bashar al-Assad, Morocco opted to secure a position that would accept Syria's return to Arab League; but tensions between both countries developed by historical mistrusts still play a role on hampering its development.\n\nReferences\n\n \nBilateral relations of Morocco\nBilateral relations of Syria",
"Polio (Infantile paralysis or poliomyelitis) epidemics were a concern during the summer months for children globally, with records of polio from the Egyptians and Greeks to the 1950s epidemics. Two U.S. virologists, Jonas Salk of the University of Pittsburgh and Albert B. Sabin of the University of Cincinnati emerged as the most prominent among dozens of American researchers on the quest for a polio vaccine.\n\nSalk's vaccine\nBy 1950, Jonas Salk had tested both live attenuated polio vaccines and formaldehyde-killed polio vaccines in monkeys and by 1952, began testing on humans. The killed vaccine, with proper filtration of the biological culture, was found to be effective. A problem with this vaccine was the perception that to be adequately protected; a child needed three properly spaced injections and a recommended booster shot every year, which was expensive. However, Jonas Salk stated in interviews that this perception was not true. The Salk vaccine was the first polio vaccine to receive approval of the U.S. government and was used in the United States until 1961, when the Sabin vaccine was recommended to replace it.\n\nSabin's vaccine\nAlbert Sabin, a virologist who publicly disagreed with Salk and his killed vaccine, worked on creating a vaccine with live attenuated vaccines. In January 1956, despite Cold War tensions, Mikhail Chumakov, the director of Moscow's Polio Research Institute, along with his wife virologist Marina Voroshilova, and his colleague Anatoli Smorodentsev, traveled to the U.S. in order to study the Salk vaccine. They also visited the laboratory of Albert Sabin. With the clearance of the FBI, Sabin flew to Leningrad in June 1956. As a result of the cooperation between Sabin and Chumakov, Sabin was able to test his attenuated vaccine in the USSR when funding in America became unavailable. Sabin's work behind the Iron Curtain led to the determination that the Sabin–Chumakov vaccine was safe and effective.\n\nCold war tensions\n\nCold War tensions caused Western scientists to discount reports from the Russians about the effectiveness of the Sabin vaccine. However, mass vaccinations of Sabin's vaccine spread throughout Eastern Europe from 1960 to 1963. Just as some Soviet virologists did not trust the American Salk vaccine, Americans had similar reservations about the Sabin vaccine. However, other Soviet virologists argued that the Salk vaccine could be considered safe because the Americans had tested it on their own people, and that the Sabin vaccine must be potentially dangerous because the Americans did not want to test it on their own society.\n\nFederal licensing\nThe documented achievement of the Sabin–Chumakov collaboration eventually overcame the ideological differences of the Cold War. Their oral live-virus vaccine became federally licensed in 1962, and was used for over three decades to help eliminate polio globally, replacing the Salk vaccine. Using these vaccines, the threat of polio remains a serious threat only in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.\n\nReferences\n\nPolio\nVaccination\nPolio\nAftermath of World War II\nSoviet Union–United States relations\nHealth in the Soviet Union"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy",
"what was his legacy?",
"On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive.",
"what is bitterly divisive about it?",
"When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace.",
"did he help with the tensions?",
"Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically."
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | what other legacies did he have? | 4 | What other legacies did J. R. Jayewardene have other than politically? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | true | [
"Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. It is most controversial in college admissions, where students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students. The practice is particularly widespread in the college admissions in the United States; almost three-quarters of research universities and nearly all liberal arts colleges grant legacy preferences in admissions.\n\nSchools vary in how broadly they extend legacy preferences, with some schools granting this favor only to children of undergraduate alumni, while other schools extend the favor to children, grandchildren, siblings, nephews, and nieces of alumni of undergraduate and graduate programs. A 2005 analysis of 180,000 student records obtained from nineteen selective colleges and universities found that, within a set range of SAT scores, being a legacy raised an applicant's chances of admission by 19.7 percentage points.\n\nHistory\nA 1992 survey found that of the top seventy-five universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, only one (the California Institute of Technology) had no legacy preferences at all; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also affirmed that it does not practice legacy admissions. Legacy preferences were almost ubiquitous among the one hundred top-ranked liberal arts colleges as well. The only liberal arts college in the top one hundred that explicitly said it did not use legacy preferences was Berea. Notably, in 2014 Johns Hopkins University said it was ending legacy practices, and in 2021 Amherst College also ended legacy practices.\n\nCurrent practices\nCurrently, the Ivy League institutions are estimated to admit 10% to 15% of each entering class using legacy admissions. For example, in the 2008 entering undergraduate class, the University of Pennsylvania admitted 41.7% of legacies who applied during the early decision admissions round and 33.9% of legacies who applied during the regular admissions cycle, versus 29.3% of all students who applied during the early decision admissions round and 16.4% of all who applied during the regular cycle. In 2009, Princeton admitted 41.7% of legacy applicants—more than 4.5 times the 9.2% rate of non-legacies. Similarly, in 2006, Brown University admitted 33.5% of alumni children, significantly higher than the 13.8% overall admissions rate. In short, Ivy League and other top schools typically admit legacies at two to five times their overall admission rates. Among top universities, the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University are known to weigh legacy status heavily in their application processes.\n\nThe advantages that colleges offer legacy students extend well beyond admission preferences. Many colleges have various mechanisms for coaching legacies through the admissions process and for advising them about strategies for constructing successful applications, including notifying legacies of the edge that they can gain by applying early. Some universities have alumni councils that provide legacies with special advising sessions, pair these would-be students with current legacy students, and generally provide advice and mentoring for legacy applicants. Some universities employ admissions counselors dedicated solely to legacy applicants, and it is common to provide scholarships or tuition discounts earmarked especially for legacies and for legacies to be charged in-state tuition fees when they are out-of-state residents. In cases where legacies are rejected, some universities offer legacy admissions counseling and help with placement at other colleges. Such students are often encouraged to enroll at a lesser ranked school for one or two years to prove themselves and then to reapply as transfer students. Because rankings by U.S. News & World Report and other media take into account only the SAT scores and high school grades of entering freshmen, a college can accept poor achieving legacies as transfer students without hurting its standing. Harvard caters to the children of well-connected alumni and big donors through the \"Z-list.\" Z-listers are often guaranteed admittance while in high school but are obliged to take a year off between high school and Harvard, doing whatever they wish in the interim.\n\nFormer Harvard University president Lawrence Summers has stated, \"Legacy admissions are integral to the kind of community that any private educational institution is.\" In the 1998 book The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions, authors William G. Bowen, former Princeton University president, and Derek Bok, former Harvard University president, found \"the overall admission rate for legacies was almost twice that for all other candidates.\" While the preference is quite common in elite universities and liberal arts colleges, it is quite controversial, with 75% of Americans opposing the preference.\n\nEconomists, on the other hand, are divided over whether the practice is beneficial overall. Some studies suggest legacy admissions practices marginally increase donations from alumni, though other analyses have disputed this conclusion.\n\nIn comparison to other programs\nAt some schools, legacy preferences have an effect on admissions comparable to other programs such as athletic recruiting or affirmative action. One study of three selective private research universities in the United States showed the following effects (admissions disadvantage and advantage in terms of SAT points on the 1600-point scale):\n African Americans: +230\n Hispanics: +185\n Asians: -50\n Recruited athletes: +200\n Legacies (children of alumni): +160\n\nAlthough it may initially appear that non-Asian students of color are the most favored of all the groups in terms of college admissions, in practice, widespread legacy preferences have reduced acceptance rates for black, Latino, and Asian-American applicants because the overwhelming majority of legacy students are white. According to a 2008 study, Duke's legacies are more likely to be white, Protestant, American citizens, and private high school graduates than the overall student body. In 2000-2001, of 567 alumni children attending Princeton, 10 were Latino and 4 were black. Similarly, a 2005 study reported that half of the legacy applicants to selective colleges boasted family incomes in the top quartile of American earnings, compared to 29% of non-legacy students. In 2003, Texas A&M—which no longer practices legacy admissions—enrolled 312 white students and only 27 Latino and 6 black students who would not have been admitted if not for their family ties. Since 1983, there have been formal complaints to the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that Asian-American applicants are being rejected in favor of students with lesser credentials.\n\nIn 1990, the OCR determined that Harvard had admitted legacies at twice the rate of other applicants, that in several cases legacy status \"was the critical or decisive favor\" in a decision to admit an applicant, and that legacy preferences help explain why 17.4% of white applicants were admitted compared with only 13.2% of Asian-American applicants during the previous decade. The OCR also found that legacies on average were rated lower than applicants who were neither legacies nor athletes in every important category (excluding athletic ability) in which applicants were judged.\n\nIn the 1990s, the University of California's Board of Regents voted to ban the use of affirmative action preferences throughout the system, and legacy privilege was abandoned across the University of California system soon after.\n\nThe Supreme Court upheld race-conscious admissions policies in its 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision, involving the University of Michigan's law school. The only significant criticism of legacy preferences from the Court came from Justice Clarence Thomas, the sole member of the Supreme Court who grew up poor.\n\nWhile the majority of Americans have been shown to strongly oppose legacy admissions, its beneficiaries hold key positions in Congress and the judiciary, protecting this practice from political and legal challenge.\n\nEffect on alumni donations\nWhile many schools say that a main reason for legacy preferences is to increase donations, at an aggregate (school-wide) level the decision to prefer legacies has not been shown to increase donations. However, in some instances, while alumni donations may go up if a child is intending on applying, donations fall if that child is rejected.\n\nCriticism\nBecause private universities in the U.S. rely heavily on donations from alumni, critics argue that legacy preferences are a way to indirectly sell university placement. Opponents accuse these programs of perpetuating an oligarchy and plutocracy as they lower the weight of academic merit in the admissions process in exchange for a financial one. Legacy students tend to be the white and wealthy, contributing to socioeconomic inequality.\n\nIn 2008, alumni donations accounted for 27.5% of all donations to higher education in the U.S. In effect, in an era of steeply declining governmental funding to post-secondary education, universities and colleges feel forced to rely heavily on private donations from alumni for donations to fund university operations budgets and infrastructure.\n\nSupporters of the elimination of all non-academic preferences point out that many European universities, including highly selective institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and London School of Economics do not use legacy, racial, or athletic preferences in admissions decisions.\n\nThere are also legal arguments against legacy preferences. In public schools, legacy preferences may violate the Nobility Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by creating a hereditary privilege and discriminating on the basis of ancestry. Legacy preferences in both public and private universities may be illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (now codified in Section 1981 of the U.S. Code).\n\nA 2019 survey of leading economists showed that there was near-unanimity that legacy admissions crowded out applicants with greater academic potential. However, the economists were divided as to whether the existence of legacy admissions meant that universities had a less beneficial \"net effect\" on society than if there were no legacy admissions.\n\nSee also\n Affirmative action\n Class discrimination\n Development case\n Nepotism\n Numerus clausus\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\"Meritocracy in America\", The Economist, December 29, 2004.\n\"For Groton grads, Academics aren't the Only Keys to Ivy Schools\", Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2003, by Daniel Golden.\n\"Candidate opposes legacy places\", The Daily Princetonian, February, 2003\n\"Will Bush Truly Renounce Privilege in Admissions?\", The Boston Globe\n\"The Curse of Nepotism\", The Economist, January 8, 2004.\n \"Study: Ending affirmative action would devastate most minority college enrollment\"\n\nUniversity and college admissions\nEducation issues\nHistory of education\nEducation policy\nDiscrimination in the United States\nAffirmative action in the United States",
"Abatement of debts and legacies is a common law doctrine of wills that holds that when the equitable assets of a deceased person are not sufficient to satisfy fully all the creditors, their debts must abate proportionately, and they must accept a dividend.\n\nIn the case of legacies when the funds or assets out of which they are payable are not sufficient to pay them in full, the legacies abate in proportion, unless there is a priority given specially to any particular legacy. Annuities are also subject to the same rule as general legacies.\n\nThe order of abatement is usually:\n Intestate property\n The residuary of the estate\n General Devises—i.e., cash gifts\n Demonstrative Devises—i.e., cash gifts from a specific account, stocks, bonds, securities, etc.\n Specific Devises—i.e., specified items of personal property, real property, etc.\nNon-probate property—i.e., life insurance policies—do not abate.\n\nDefinitions\nA specific devise, is a specific gift in a will to a specific person other than an amount of money. For example, if James's will states that he is leaving his $500,000 yacht to his brother Mike, the yacht would be a specific devise.\n\nA general devise, is a monetary gift to a specific person to be satisfied out of the overall estate. For example, if James's will states that he is leaving $500,000 to his son Sam then the money would be a general devise.\n\nA demonstrative devise, is money given from a particular account. For example, \"$10,000 to be paid from the sale of my GM stock.\"\n\nA residual devise is one left to a devisee after all specific and general devices have been made. For example, James's will might say: \"I give all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to my daughter Lilly.\" Lilly would be the residual devisee and entitled to James's residuary estate.\n\nReferences\n\nCommon law\nWills and trusts"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy",
"what was his legacy?",
"On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive.",
"what is bitterly divisive about it?",
"When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace.",
"did he help with the tensions?",
"Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically.",
"what other legacies did he have?",
"Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan"
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | wdid he receive any honors? | 5 | Did J. R. Jayewardene receive any honors? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | true | [
"WDID-LD, virtual channel 26 (UHF digital channel 33), is a low-power Novelisima-affiliated television station licensed to Savannah, Georgia, United States. The station is owned by HC2 Holdings.\n\nHistory \nThe station's construction permit was issued in 2015 under the calls of W15EN-D. The current callsign of WDID-LD was adapted on November 10, 2014.\n\nSubchannels\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nHC2 Holdings\nClassic Reruns TV affiliates\nLow-power television stations in the United States\nDID-LD\nTelevision channels and stations established in 2015\n2015 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)",
"WQQW was a commercial daytime-only radio station that was licensed to serve Highland, Illinois at 1510 AM, and broadcast from 1998 to 2019. The station's transmitter site was located in the town of Pierron, Illinois.\n\nThe station's license was revoked by the Federal Communications Commission on March 20, 2020, after it was revealed that the principal ownership—Entertainment Media Trust—was set up as a shell company for a convicted felon. This license cancellation also included three other AM stations in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area owned by the group: KFTK (1490 AM), KQQZ and KZQZ.\n\nHistory\nOriginally licensed on May 19, 1998, WINU became WDID on June 14, 2001; WDID changed to WXOZ on May 11, 2006; and finally WXOZ changed to the current WQQW on November 18, 2009.\n\nOn March 4, 2019, WQQW went silent, citing a transmitter prone to turning itself off for unknown reasons and issues with the internet delivery of its programming to the transmitter site.\n\nIn 2012, Mark Kern challenged the license renewals of WQQW and its sister stations, alleging that Robert Romanik, a convicted felon who is also known as the \"Grim Reaper of Radio\", was controlling the stations in violation of FCC rules that prohibit felons from owning broadcast stations and had arranged a local marketing agreement for one of them. On June 5, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission designated all four EMT stations' licenses for hearing, finding that Romanik had established EMT and provided all the funding to acquire its stations even though he was not a party to any FCC applications.\n\nThe station's license was cancelled on March 20, 2020.\n\nFCC Auction 109 \nThe FCC announced on February 8, 2021, that the former EMT-licensed AM allocations in the St. Louis market, including WQQW's frequency, would go up for auction on July 27, 2021. The day after the auction process started, blank applications for new stations, using the facility ID numbers for WQQW and KFTK, appeared in the FCC database. No bids were received for any of the four frequencies during the eight-day auction.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nRadio stations established in 1998\n1998 establishments in Illinois\nQQW\nRadio stations disestablished in 2020\n2020 disestablishments in Illinois\nDefunct radio stations in the United States\nQQW\nQQW"
]
|
[
"J. R. Jayewardene",
"Legacy",
"what was his legacy?",
"On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive.",
"what is bitterly divisive about it?",
"When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace.",
"did he help with the tensions?",
"Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically.",
"what other legacies did he have?",
"Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan",
"wdid he receive any honors?",
"a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor."
]
| C_c46031891449489cab288e956ef5fb5e_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 6 | Are there any other interesting aspects about J. R. Jayewardene other than the statue at the Kamakura Temple? | J. R. Jayewardene | On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy was decisive. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. Since Jayewardene's reforms, the island has maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country as a whole was at peace. By the end of his tenure, Sri Lanka was facing not one but two civil wars, both featuring unprecedented levels of violence and brutality. Though Jayewardene indeed did not take measures to stop the attack on Tamils, he was not opposed to them personally, only politically. One of his most esteemed friends was a supreme court judge of Tamil ethnicity, a member of an elite family and raised in Colombo, but who was strongly linked to his Jaffna Tamil heritage. This is but one close Tamil friend of the president's, and it is quite clear that he was not a racist but rather a man who knew how to exploit racism to win the majority. Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor. In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as President. CANNOTANSWER | In 1988, the J.R Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament | Junius Richard Jayewardene (, ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second (First Executive) President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.
A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies, Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Early life and marriage
Childhood
Born to a prominent Ceylonese family with a strong association with the legal profession, Jayewardene was the eldest of twelve children, of Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena a wealthy timber merchant. He was known as Dickie within his family. His younger brothers included Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Rolly Jayewardene, FRCP. His uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewardene, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by an English nanny, he received his primary education at Bishop's College, Colombo.
Education and early career
Jayewardene gained admission to Royal College, Colombo for his secondary education. There he excelled in sports, played for the college cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925; captained the rugby team in 1924 at the annual "Royal-Trinity Encounter" (which later became known as the Bradby Shield Encounter); he was the vice captain of the football team in 1924; and was a member of the boxing team winning sports colours. He was a Senior Cadet; Captain, Debating Team; Editor, College Magazine; first Secretary in Royal College Social Services League in 1921 and he became the head prefect in 1925. In later life, he served as president, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka; President, Sinhalese Sports Club; and Secretary, Royal College Union.
Following the family tradition, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo in 1926 pursuing the Advocate's course, reading English, Latin, Logic and Economics for two years, after which he entered Ceylon Law College in 1928. He formed the College Union based on that of the Oxford Union with assistance of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who had recently return to Ceylon. At the Ceylon Law College he won the Hector Jayewardene Gold Medal and the Walter Pereira Prize in 1929. During this time he worked as his father's Private Secretary, while latter served as a Puisne Justice of Supreme Court of Ceylon and in July 1929, he joined three others in forming a dining club they called The Honorable Society of Pushcannons, which was later renamed as the Priya Sangamaya. In 1931, he passed his advocates exams, starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.
Marriage
On 28 February 1935, Jayewardene married the heiress Miss Elina Bandara Rupasinghe, only daughter of Nancy Margaret Suriyabandara and Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a notary public turned successful businessmen. Their only child Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene was born the year after. Having originally settled at Jayewardene's parents house Vaijantha, the Jayewardene's moved to their own house Braemar in 1938, where they remained the rest of their lives, when not holidaying at their holiday home in Mirissa.
Early political career
Jayewardene was attracted to national politics in his student years and developed strong nationalist views. He converted from Anglicanism to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.
Jayewardene did not practice law for long. In 1943 he gave up his full time legal practice to become an activist in the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), which provided the organizational platform for Ceylon's nationalist movement (the island was officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972). He became its Joint Secretary with Dudley Senanayake in 1939 and in 1940 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward.
State Council
He was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka. His victory is credited to his use of an anti-Christian campaign against his opponent, the nationalist E. W. Perera. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese and discussed a rebellion to drive the British from the island. In 1944, Jayewardene moved a motion in the State Council that Sinhala alone should replace English as the official language.
First finance minister of Ceylon
After joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946 as a founder member, he was reelected from the Kelaniya electorate in the 1st parliamentary election and was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as the Minister of Finance in the island's first Cabinet in 1947. Initiating post-independence reforms, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon under the guidance of the American economist John Exter. In 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. He played a major role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. He was re-elected in 1952 parliamentary election and remained as finance minister.
Minister of agriculture and food
His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies on which many poor people depended on for survival provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign, and had to be called off. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake after the 1953 Hartal, the new Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala appointed Jayewardene as Minister of Agriculture and Food and Leader of the House.
Defeat and opposition
Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala called for early elections in 1956 with confidence that the United National Party would win the election. The 1956 parliamentary election saw the United National Party suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the socialist and nationalist coalition led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Jayewardene himself lost his parliamentary seat in Kelaniya to R. G. Senanayake, who had contested both his own constituency Dambadeniya and Jayewardene's constituency of Kelaniya with the objective of defeating the latter after he had forced Senanayake out of the party.
Having lost his seat in parliament, Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, which was bitterly opposed by the island's minorities. When Bandaranaike came to an agreement with S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957, to solve the outstanding problems of the minorities, Jayawardene led a "March on Kandy" against it, but was stopped at Imbulgoda S. D. Bandaranayake. The U.N.P.'s official organ the Siyarata subsequently ran several anti-Tamil articles, including a poem,containing an exhortation to kill Tamils in almost every line.
Throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene felt the UNP should be willing to play the ethnic card, even if it meant losing the support of ethnic minorities.
Minister of finance
Jayewardene became the Vice President and Chief Organizer of the United National Party, which achieved a narrow win in the March 1960 parliamentary election, forming a government under Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene having been elected to parliament once again from the Kelaniya electorate was appointed once again as Minister of Finance. The government lasted only three months and lost the July 1960 parliamentary election to the a new coalition lead by Bandaranayake's widow. Jayewardene remained in parliament in the opposition having been elected from the Colombo South electorate.
Minister of state
The United National Party won the next election in 1965 and formed a national government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party led by C. P. de Silva. Jayewardene was reelected from the Colombo South electorate uncontested and was appointed Chief Government Whip. Senanayake appointed Jayewardene to his cabinet as Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs thereby becoming the de-facto deputy prime minister. No government had given serious thought to the development of the tourism industry as an economically viable venture until the United National Party came to power in 1965 and the subject came under the purview of J. R. Jayewardene. Jayewardene saw tourism as a great industry capable of earning foreign exchange, providing avenues of mass employment, and creating a workforce which commanded high employment potential globally. He was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation, providing it a 'conceptional base and institutional support.' This was necessary to bring dynamism and cohesiveness into an industry, shunned by leaders in the past, ignored by investors who were inhibited by the lack of incentive to invest in projects which were uncertain of a satisfactory return. Jayewardene considered it essential for the government to give that assurance and with this objective in view he tabled the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966 followed by Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act No 14 of 1966. At present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is major foreign exchange earner with tourist resorts in almost all cities and an annual turnover of over 500,000 tourists are enjoying the tropical climes and beautiful beaches.
Leader of the opposition
In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, when the SLFP and its newly formed coalition of leftist parties won almost 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. Once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake. After Senanayake's death in 1973, Jayewardene succeeded him as UNP leader. He gave the SLFP government his fullest support during the 1971 JVP Insurrection (even though his son was arrested by the police without charges) and in 1972 when the new constitution was enacted proclaiming Ceylon a republic. However he opposed the government in many moves, which he saw as short sighted and damaging for the country's economy in the long run. These included the adaptation of the closed economy and nationalization of many private business and lands. In 1976 he resigned from his seat in parliament in protest, when the government used its large majority in parliament to extend the duration of the government by two more years at the end of its six-year term without holding a general election or a referendum requesting public approval.
Prime minister
Tapping into growing anger with the SLFP government, Jayewardene led the UNP to a crushing victory in the 1977 election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in parliament—a total that was magnified by the first-past-the-post system, and one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded for a democratic election. Having been elected to parliament from the Colombo West Electoral District, Jayewardene became Prime Minister and formed a new government.
Presidency
Shortly thereafter, he amended the constitution of 1972 to make the presidency an executive post. The provisions of the amendment automatically made the incumbent prime minister—himself—president, and he was sworn in as president on 4 February 1978. He passed a [constitution] on 31 August 1978 which came into operation on 7 September of the same year, which granted the president sweeping—and according to some critics, almost dictatorial—powers. He moved the legislative capital from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. He had likely SLFP presidential nominee Sirimavo Bandaranaike stripped of her civic rights and barred from running for office for six years, based her decision in 1976 to extend the term of parliament. This ensured that the SLFP would be unable to field a strong candidate against him in the 1982 election, leaving his path to victory clear. This election was held under the 3rd amendment to the constitution which empowered the president to hold a Presidential Election anytime after the expiration of four years of his first term. He held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and allow the 1977 parliament to continue until 1989. He also passed a constitutional amendment barring from Parliament any MP who supported separatism; this effectively eliminated the main opposition party, the Tamil United Liberation Front.
Economy
There was a complete turnaround in economic policy under him as the previous policies had led to economic stagnation. He opened the heavily state-controlled economy to market forces, which many credit with subsequent economic growth. He opened up the economy and introduced more liberal economic policies emphasizing private sector led development. Policies were changed to create an environment conducive to foreign and local investment, with the objective of promoting export led growth shifting from previous policies of import substitution. To facilitate export oriented enterprises and to administer Export Processing Zones the Greater Colombo Economic Commission was established. Food subsidies were curtailed and targeted through a Food Stamps Scheme extended to the poor. The system of rice rationing was abolished. The Floor Price Scheme and the Fertilizer Subsidy Scheme were withdrawn. New welfare schemes, such as free school books and the Mahapola Scholarship Programme, were introduced. The rural credit programme expanded with the introduction of the New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme and several other medium and long-term credit schemes aimed at small farmers and the self-employed.
He also launched large scale infrastructure development projects. He launched an extensive housing development program to meet housing shortages in urban and rural areas. The Accelerated Mahaweli Programme built new reservoirs and large hydropower projects such as the Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Ulhitiya. Several Trans Basin Canals were also built to divert water to the Dry Zone.
Conservation
His administration launched several wildlife conservation initiatives. This included stopping commercial logging in rain forests such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve which was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988.
Tamil militancy and civil war
Jayewardene moved to crack down on the growing activity of Tamil militant groups active since the mid 1970s. He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979, giving police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. This only escalated the ethnic tensions. Jayewardene claimed he needed overwhelming power to deal with the militants. After the 1977 riots, the government made one concession to the Tamils; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little and too late, and violent attacks continued with calumniating in the ambush of Four Four Bravo which led to the Black July riots. Black July riots transformed the militancy into a civil war, with the swelling of ranks of the militant groups. By 1987, the LTTE had emerged as the dominant of the Tamil militant groups and had a free hand over the Jaffna Peninsula, limiting government activities. Jayewardene's administration responded with a massive military operation codenamed Operation Liberation to eliminate the LTTE leadership. Jayewardene had to halt the offensive after pressure from India pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict after executing Operation Poomalai. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi finally concluded the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which provided for devolution of powers to Tamil dominated regions, an Indian peacekeeping force in the north, and the demobilization of the LTTE.
The LTTE rejected the accord, as it fell short of even an autonomous state. The provincial councils suggested by India did not have powers to control revenue, policing, or government-sponsored Sinhala settlements in Tamil provinces. Sinhala nationalists were outraged by both the devolution and the presence of foreign troops on Sri Lankan soil. An attempt was made on Jayewardene's life in 1987 as a result of his signing of the accord. Young, deprived Sinhalese soon rose in a revolt, organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which was eventually put down by the government by 1989.
Foreign policy
In contrast with his predecessor, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jayewardena's foreign policy was aligned with American policies (earning him the nickname 'Yankie Dickie') much to the chagrin of India. Before Jayewardena's ascendency into the presidency, Sri Lanka had doors widely open to neighboring India. Jayewardena's tenure in the office restricted the doors to India a number of times; once an American company tender was granted over an Indian company tender.
Post-presidency
Jayewardene retired from politics in 1989 after his second term as president at the age of 82; his successor Ranasinghe Premadasa was formally inaugurated on 2 January 1989. He did not re-enter politics during his retirement even after the assassination of Premadasa in 1993.
Death
Jayewardene died of colon cancer, on 1 November 1996, aged 90, at a hospital in Colombo. He was survived by his wife, Elina, and his son, Ravi.
Legacy
On the economic front, Jayewardene's legacy is decisively a positive one. His economic policies are often credited with saving the Sri Lankan economy from ruin. For thirty years after independence, Sri Lanka had struggled in vain with slow growth and high unemployment. By opening up the country for extensive foreign investments, lifting price controls and promoting private enterprise (which had taken a heavy hit because of the policies of the preceding administration), Jayewardene ensured that the island maintained healthy growth despite the civil war. William K. Steven of The New York Times observes, ''President Jayawardene's economic policies were credited with transforming the economy from one of scarcity to one of abundance.''
On the ethnic question, Jayewardene's legacy is bitterly divisive. When he took office, ethnic tensions were present but the country but were not overly volatile. But relations between the two ethnicities heavily deteriorated during his administration and his response to these tensions and the signs of conflict has been heavily criticized. President Jayewardene saw these differences between the Sinhalese and Tamils as being ''an unbridgeable gap''. Jayewardene said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, 11 July 1983, "Really, if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy" in reference to the widespread anti-Tamil sentiments among the Sinhalese at that time.
Highly respected in Japan for his call for peace and reconciliation with post-war Japan at the Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951, a statue of Jayewardene was erected at the Kamakura Temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in his honor.
J.R Jayewardene Centre
In 1988, the J.R. Jayewardene Centre was established by the J.R Jayewardene Centre Act No. 77 of 1988 by Parliament at the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo. It serves as archive for J.R Jayewardene's personal library and papers as well as papers, records from the Presidential Secretariat and gifts he received in his tenure as president.
Further reading
De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. (1988), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography, University of Hawaii Press
Jayewardene, J. R. (1988), My quest for peace: a collection of speeches on international affairs,
Dissanayaka, T. D. S. A. (1977), J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: the inside story of how the Prime Minister led the UNP to victory in 1977, Swastika Press
See also
Jayewardene cabinet
Braemar, Colombo
Vaijantha
List of political families in Sri Lanka
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
References
External links
The JAYEWARDENE Ancestry
The WIJEWARDENA Ancestry
The Statesman Misunderstood
Humble son of a humble President
Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Official Website of United National Party (UNP)
J.R. Jayewardene Centre
95th Birth Anniversary
Remembering the most dominant Lankan political figure. by Padma Edirisinghe
J.R. Jayewardene by Ananda Kannangara
President JRJ and the Export Processing Zone By K. Godage
Methek Kathawa Divaina
Methek Kathawa Divaina
1906 births
1996 deaths
Presidents of Sri Lanka
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
Finance ministers of Sri Lanka
Leaders of the United National Party
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese lawyers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan anti-communists
Sinhalese nationalists
Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the Ceylon University College
Converts to Buddhism
Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese politicians
People of British Ceylon
People from Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Defence ministers of Sri Lanka
Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka
Housing ministers of Sri Lanka
Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka
JR
Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese people of World War II
Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)
Colombo municipal councillors
Deaths from cancer in Sri Lanka
Deaths from colorectal cancer | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut"
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | What was his highest acheivement? | 1 | What was Malcolm Marshall's highest acheivement? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | true | [
"George William Jupp (30 October 1875 – 6 July 1938) was an English cricketer who played in first-class cricket matches for Somerset between 1901 and 1907 and for Scotland from 1905 to 1912. He was born at Clevedon, Somerset and died at Longniddry, East Lothian, Scotland.\n\nEducated at Uppingham School, Jupp played most of his cricket in Scotland where he was a civil servant in the Office of Works. He was a right-handed lower order batsman and a bowler of unknown type; in five games for his native Somerset, his highest score was just 23 and he bowled only three overs, conceding a single run but taking no wickets. His record in Scottish minor cricket was much more substantial, however, and at his death in 1938 he was termed \"a dominating personality in Scottish cricket\" and \"for many years an automatic choice in representative matches\". First-class matches played by Scotland were very limited in Jupp's heyday, but against the 1912 Australian side he scored 27 and 56, his two highest first-class scores, in what would prove to be his final first-class game.\n\nReferences\n\n1875 births\n1938 deaths\nEnglish cricketers\nSomerset cricketers\nScotland cricketers",
"Henry Hilliard (7 November 1826 – 19 March 1914) was an Australian cricketer. He played in New South Wales' first match, in 1856, against Victoria, and was the last surviving player from either side.\n\nLife and career\nHarry Hilliard played in Sydney when he was 12 for the Union Club against the Military. On one occasion in his youth he was jailed for two days for absconding from his cabinet-making apprenticeship in order to play cricket.\n\nA batsman and good fielder who occasionally kept wicket and bowled, Hilliard played in New South Wales' first match, in 1855-56, against Victoria, and in the next four of what became an annual match. His highest score was 20, against Victoria in 1856-57, the fourth-highest score in a low-scoring match. He and William Gilbert Rees, W. G. Grace's cousin, added 32 for the second wicket in New South Wales' first innings, the highest partnership of the match. He top-scored for New South Wales in his last match, scoring 15 in the first innings of a match in which New South Wales made 44 and 42 and Victoria won easily. New South Wales' highest total in these five matches was 86.\n\nA stroke a few months after his last match in 1860 ended his playing career. He was unable to walk for some time afterwards, but by swimming daily he gradually recovered. He kept up his daily swim for 40 years.\n\nHe and his wife had a large family. After his stroke a benefit concert was held for them at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Sydney.\n\nHe remained a keen spectator of interstate cricket for the rest of his life, never missing a match, in Sydney or Melbourne, between New South Wales and Victoria. He also followed the Australians on their tour of England in 1878.\n\nHe spent most of his working life as a maker and repairer of cricket bats. He was the last surviving player from the first match between New South Wales and Victoria.\n\nSee also\n List of New South Wales representative cricketers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1826 births\n1914 deaths\nCricketers from Sydney\nAustralian cricketers\nNew South Wales cricketers"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut",
"What was his highest acheivement?",
"At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa,"
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | How did he get his start in his career? | 2 | How did Malcolm Marshall get his start in his career? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | false | [
"How Did This Get Made? is a comedy podcast on the Earwolf network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas.\n\nGenerally, How Did This Get Made? is released every two weeks. During the show's off-week, a \".5\" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie, as well as challenges for the fans. In addition to the shows and mini-shows, the How Did This Get Made? stream hosted the first three episodes of Bitch Sesh, the podcast of previous guests Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider, in December 2015. It has also hosted episodes of its own spin-off podcast, the How Did This Get Made? Origin Stories, in which Blake Harris interviews people involved with the films covered by the main show. In December 2017, an episode was recorded for the Pee Cast Blast event, and released exclusively on Stitcher Premium.\n\nEvery episode has featured Paul Scheer as the host of the podcast. The only episode to date in which Scheer hosted remotely was The Smurfs, in which he Skyped in. Raphael has taken extended breaks from the podcast for both filming commitments and maternity leave. Mantzoukas has also missed episodes due to work, but has also Skyped in for various episodes. On the occasions that neither Raphael nor Mantzoukas are available for live appearances, Scheer calls in previous fan-favorite guests for what is known as a How Did This Get Made? All-Stars episode.\n\nList of episodes\n\nMini episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n List of How Did This Get Made? episodes\n\nHow Did This Get Made\nHow Did This Get Made",
"How Did This Get Made? (HDTGM) is a podcast on the Earwolf network. It is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas. Each episode, which typically has a different guest, features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.\n\nFormat\nThe hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads \"second opinions\" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by Amazon.com users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks.\n\nDuring the show's off week a \".5\" episode (also known as a \"minisode\") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's \"explanation hopeline\" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying.\n\nSome full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original \"second opinion\" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.\n\nHistory\nHow Did This Get Made? began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has never been covered on the podcast.\n\nAwards\nIn 2019, How Did This Get Made? won a Webby Award in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film.\n\nIn 2020, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nIn 2022, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nSpinoffs\n\nHow Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories\nBetween February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories, author Blake J. Harris would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director Mel Brooks, who served as executive producer on Solarbabies, and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote Surf Ninjas.\n\nUnspooled\nIn May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled Unspooled that is also devoted to movies. Unlike HDTGM?, however, Unspooled looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in How Did This Get Made? by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that HDTGM covers.\n\nHow Did This Get Played?\nIn June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast How Did This Get Played?, hosted by Doughboys host Nick Wiger and former Saturday Night Live writer Heather Anne Campbell. The podcast is positioned as the video game equivalent of HDTGM?, where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games.\n\nEpisodes\n\nAdaptation\nThe program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title 2 heures de perdues (http://www.2hdp.fr/ and available on Spotify and iTunes), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style (mainly American, French, and British films). The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné (biggest French-speaking cinema website) or Amazon.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n How Did This Get Made on Earwolf\n\nAudio podcasts\nEarwolf\nFilm and television podcasts\nComedy and humor podcasts\n2010 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut",
"What was his highest acheivement?",
"At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa,",
"How did he get his start in his career?",
"Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978."
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | What was his first big success? | 3 | What was Malcolm Marshall's first big success? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | false | [
"\"Big Thing\" is a song recorded by Lisa Stansfield's band, Blue Zone. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Blue Zone. At first, \"Big Thing\" was released on the B-side of \"Thinking About His Baby\" on 25 January 1988.\n\n\"Big Thing\" was picked up by DJs on Kiss-FM and Tony Blackburn on his BBC Radio London show. Thanks to that the single sold 10,000 copies in a week. Because of this success, \"Big Thing\" was released on the A-side, and \"Thinking About His Baby\" on its B-side. For this release, \"Big Thing\" was also remixed by Blue Zone (Big Dub Club Mix).\n\nAlthough Blue Zone's 1988 album was titled Big Thing, it did not feature \"Big Thing.\" The song was later included on \"This Is the Right Time\" single (1989), The Complete Collection box set (2003), and \"Easier/Treat Me Like a Woman\" single (2004). Stansfield performed it during her 2013 Seven Tour.\n\nTrack listings\nUK 12\" single\n\"Big Thing\" (Extended) – 6:40\n\"Big Thing\" (Big Dub Club Mix) – 7:30\n\"Thinking About His Baby\" – 4:01\n\nOther remixes\n\"Big Thing\" – 4:57\n\"Big Thing\" (Extended Edit) – 5:40\n\"Big Thing\" (Redux) – 5:25\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1988 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1988 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"Celia Montalván was a Mexican film, stage and television actress, who had a big impact on the development of Mexican cinema and photography.\n\nBiography \nCelia Montalván was born in august in 1899 in Mexico City, Mexico.\n\nHer first theater debut was along Aurora Walker in the \"Las Walkirias\" play. Her next big success was in the Spanish play \"Las Corsarias\".\n\nIn 1920, she made her debut as a leading actress. She gained a very large popularity - people started printing post cards with her image. The postcards with Celia Montalván's image resulted in breaking the records for sales at the time, especially after her great success in the Revista Theater.\n\nThe next big step in Montalván's career was her appearances in magazines like \"¡Ra-Ta-Plan!\".\n\nAfter having success with theater and magazines, her focus turned toward movies and she had a big success with El milagro de la Guadalupana in 1925. She became the first Mexican woman to film in Europe.\n\nIn 1929, she started filming in Hollywood with the Rodriguez brothers. In 1935 she filmed her most famous piece of cinema, which was directed by Jean Renoir.\n\nFilmography \n\n El milagro de la Guadalupana (1925)\n Don Juan diplomático (1931)\n El proceso de Mary Dugan (1931)\n Sangre mexicana (1931)\n Toni (1935)\n Club Verde (1945)\n\nReferences \n\n1899 births\n1958 deaths\nMexican actresses"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut",
"What was his highest acheivement?",
"At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa,",
"How did he get his start in his career?",
"Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978.",
"What was his first big success?",
"but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire,"
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | Most noticeable aspect of international debut? | 4 | What was Malcolm Marshall's most noticeable aspect of international debut? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | false | [
"Nijemo kolo () is a silent dance originating from the Dalmatian hinterland in southern Croatia. In 2011 it was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.\n\nDescription\nNijemo kolo is performed by a group forming a closed circle with the men leading their female partners in quick steps, which are often vigorous and daunting. The most noticeable aspect of the dance is that it performed entirely without music.\n\nToday, Nijemo kolo continues to be performed by local village groups and can be seen in festivals, competitions, fairs, church celebrations, and weddings.\n\nSee also\n Croatian dances\n Kolo (dance)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n (UNESCO video)\n\nCroatian folk dances\nMasterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity",
"Palomar 5 is a globular cluster discovered by Walter Baade in 1950. It was independently found again by Albert George Wilson in 1955. After the initial name of Serpens, it was subsequently catalogued as Palomar 5.\n\nThere is a process of disruption acting on this cluster because of the gravitation of the Milky Way – in fact there are many stars leaving this cluster in the form of a stellar stream. The stream has a mass of 5000 solar masses and is 30,000 light years long. The cluster is currently from the Galactic Center. It shows a noticeable amount of flattening, with an aspect ratio of between its semimajor axis and semiminor axis.\n\nSee also\n List of globular clusters\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSEDS Palomar 5\n \n \n\nPalomar 05\nPalomar 05\n09792\nPalomar 5 Stream"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut",
"What was his highest acheivement?",
"At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa,",
"How did he get his start in his career?",
"Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978.",
"What was his first big success?",
"but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire,",
"Most noticeable aspect of international debut?",
"a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career."
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | Notable matches or countries played in? | 5 | What were Malcolm Marshall's notable matches or countries played? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | true | [
"This article summarizes the outcomes of all official matches played by the Belgium national football team by opponent and by decade, since they first played in official competitions in 1904.\n\nRecord per opponent\n\nThe following table shows Belgium's all-time international record per opponent. It excludes any unofficial matches.\n\nNote: countries considered as a continuity by the FIFA are put in italics. Their statistics are in fact composed of multiple countries that are also included separately.\n\nResults in chronological order\nThe summarizing tables below show Belgium's official matches per decade. More extensive reports (with dates, scores, goal scorers and match circumstances) can be found on the main articles per decade. This detailed information is currently available only for the 1900s, 1910s, and 1980s onward.\n\n1904–1909\n\n19 matches played:\n\n1910–1919\n\n28 matches played:\n\n1920–1929\n\n61 matches played:\n\n1930–1939\n\n70 matches played:\n\n1940–1949\n\n29 matches played:\n\n1950–1959\n\n70 matches played:\n\n1960–1969\n\n68 matches played:\n\n1970–1979\n\n57 matches played:\n\n1980–1989\n\n84 matches played:\n\n1990–1999\n\n89 matches played:\n\n2000–2009\n\n98 matches played:\n\n2010–2019\n\n111 matches played:\n\n2020–2029 \n\n25 matches played (as of 16 November 2021):\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nBelgium national results in chronological order, and head to head record against all countries – RSSSF\nThe Red Devils Archive",
"This article summarizes the outcomes of all official matches played by the Netherlands national football team by opponent and by decade, since they first played in official competitions in 1904.\n\nRecord per opponent\nThe following table shows Netherlands's all-time international record per opponent. It excludes any unofficial matches.\n\n Draws include Penalty shoot-outs\n\nResults in chronological order\n\n1900s\n18 matches played:\n\n1910s\n27 matches played:\n\n1920s\n61 matches played:\n\n1930s\n51 matches played:\n\n1940s\n24 matches played:\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nReferences\n\nNetherlands national results in chronological order, and head to head record against all countries – RSSSF"
]
|
[
"Malcolm Marshall",
"International debut",
"What was his highest acheivement?",
"At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa,",
"How did he get his start in his career?",
"Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978.",
"What was his first big success?",
"but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire,",
"Most noticeable aspect of international debut?",
"a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.",
"Notable matches or countries played in?",
"His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India,"
]
| C_3ce6c16c298847d0b8544cdd30a306bb_0 | Highest achievement? | 6 | What was Malcolm Marshall's highest achievement? | Malcolm Marshall | Marshall made his Test debut in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League. Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career. In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid. CANNOTANSWER | an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, | Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as the greatest and most accomplished fast bowler of the modern era in Test cricket. He is often acknowledged as the greatest West Indian fast bowler of all time, and certainly one of the most complete fast bowlers the cricketing world ever saw. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets. He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers of his time, a short man – he stood at , while most of the great quicks have been well above and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. He also statistically went on to become the most successful test match bowler of the 1980s with 235 scalps with an average of 18.47 within a time period of just five years.
Marshall was also a very dangerous lower middle-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries. He ended his career as the all-time highest wicket taker for West Indies in test cricket with 376 wickets, a record which he held up until November 1998 before Courtney Walsh surpassed his milestone.
In 2009, Marshall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Early years
Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil DeCoster Edghill, also an outstanding cricketer who played for Kingspark cricket club in St. Philip and the son of Claudine Edghill and Guirdwood Ifill, was a policeman; he died in a traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother was Eleanor Welch. Malcolm had three half-brothers and three half-sisters. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.
He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs. He idolised legendary West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers at his young age and he started admiring Sobers after watching the magnificent test century by Sobers against New Zealand in 1972.
Marshall's initial senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he got out without scoring and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs, he claimed 6–77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery and later claimed he did not know where India was.
International debut
Marshall made his test début in the second test against India at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his aggressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player as a successor to Andy Roberts for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time, but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5–13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.
Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7–24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.
In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. In 1982, he signed a one year contract with Melbourne Sub-District side Moorabbin and he eventually became the first active international cricketer to sign up for the Sub-District league. Marshall was reportedly approached by the Moorabbin officials during the first test match between Australia and West Indies at Melbourne in December 2021 after learning that Marshall was interested in playing domestic cricket in Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.
At the peak
Marshall relinquished his county duties during the 1984 tour of England. In a Test series that came to be known as the "Blackwash", the West Indians completed a 5–0 triumph, to date the only visiting team in England to have achieved such a feat. Marshall played a key role, taking the second-most wickets in the series with 24, behind only Joel Garner who took 29, and establishing his reputation as one of the finest bowlers in the world. In the series, he took five or more wickets in an innings three times, had the best bowling average - conceding only 18.20 runs per wicket, and the best strike rate - averaging one wicket every 42 deliveries.
In the first test at Edgbaston, which the West Indies won by an innings and 180 runs, he ended the Test career of local Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd after half an hour; he had already faced a few short deliveries from both Marshall and Garner but was then caught unawares by a delivery from Marshall that rose sharply and struck him flush on the temple behind his right eye. Lloyd soon had to retire hurt when he realized he was suffering blurred vision in his right eye and was hospitalized for several days. Lloyd would remain stranded on 10 runs without being dismissed and he never went onto play international cricket again leaving him with a unique record of being the only opening batsman in test cricket to have never been dismissed by any bowler.
In the third Test at Headingley, Marshall ran through England's batting order in the second innings to finish with 7/53, despite having broken his thumb in two different places when he attempted to field a stroke played by Chris Broad on the first morning in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster). Marshall himself also contributed to the team with the bat scoring a boundary with an inside-out forehand down the line. Marshall was dismissed soon after Larry Gomes had completed the century. Even though the partnership lasted for just 16 minutes and with only 12 runs being produced, it turned out to be one of the most memorable test match partnerships for the tenth wicket. His heroics by batting and bowling with a broken thumb also impressed his captain Clive Lloyd who recalled the incident as one of the greatest and most courageous efforts that he ever witnessed during his playing career.
In 1984/85 Marshall had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both directions. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.
1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. These efforts led him to retain the number 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowling Rankings for the year 1990 (which he attained in 1989).
Later career
Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket – the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.
He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his final senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international teammate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.
Illness, death and legacy
In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way. In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged 41, weighing little more than 25 kg.
"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered." At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall whispered the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven. His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.
The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, England. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".
The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.
His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, wrote a moving tribute to him.
See also
List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Malcolm Marshall
Bibliography
Symes, Pat. "Memories of Maco." The Wisden Cricketer, May 2008.
References
External links
Barbadian cricketers
West Indian cricketers of 1970–71 to 1999–2000
West Indies Test cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Barbados cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Deaths from colorectal cancer
1958 births
1999 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Barbados
Barbadian cricket coaches
Scotland cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Coaches of the West Indies cricket team
Barbadian expatriates in South Africa
Barbadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cricketers from Bridgetown
Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers | false | [
"The Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest award presented by the Jim Thorpe Association. Without consideration of athletic accomplishments, the award recognizes a lifetime of achievement by people who \"set the living examples that influence others to strive for the highest goals and leadership of men, and who blaze the trails of accomplishments which leave behind the pathways of tradition for others to follow.\"\n\nOnly seven people have received this award since the association was founded in 1986.\n\nLifetime Achievement Award winners\n1989 – Abe Lemons\n1992 – George Nigh\n1993 – Allie Reynolds\n1999 – Chris Schenkel\n2000 – Tom Osborne\n2002 – Lynne Draper\n2004 – Barry Switzer\n\nFootnotes\n\nExternal links\nLifetime Achievement Award. The Jim Thorpe Association and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame official website\n\nLifetime achievement awards\nAmerican sports trophies and awards\nAwards established in 1989",
"The DGA Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction is an American television award presented by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) honoring career achievement in television direction. Created as a counterpart to the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction, it was first awarded at the 67th Directors Guild of America Awards in 2015. Together with the motion picture lifetime achievement award, the award is considered one of the Directors Guild's two highest honors and its recipients are selected by the present and past presidents of the DGA.\n\nRecipients\n\nSee also \n Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award – Feature Film\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official DGA website\n\nAwards established in 2015\nAmerican television awards\nDirectors Guild of America Awards\nLifetime achievement awards"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | When did they decide on a style | 1 | When did Earth Crisis decide on a style? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"\"The One with Ross's Tan\" is the third episode of Friends tenth season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on October 9, 2003.\n\nPlot\nAfter Ross sees Monica's tan, which Chandler reveals she got at a tanning salon, he decides to get a spray-on tan. After hearing seemingly straightforward instructions, he gets confused and accidentally gets a double dose on the front of his body and nothing on his back. Through a series of mishaps he gets more spray tan on his front until he is incredibly dark. A visit to another tanning salon does not help remedy the issue, as the experience is even more confusing and results in a octuple dose of spray tan only on the front, which Chandler takes a photo of after tricking him into opening the door.\n\nDuring their first date as a couple, Rachel and Joey attempt to take their relationship to the next level but Rachel keeps accidentally slapping Joey, while Joey cannot get Rachel out of her clothes, unable to unhook her bra. After talking to Monica, who reminds her of when she first started going out with Ross and started moving past the awkwardness, Rachel decides she and Joey should power through. However, when she tries to have rough sex with him on the barcalounger, she accidentally knees him in the crotch, preventing him from performing. After talking to Chandler about their difficulties, they ask if things felt wrong when he and Monica first had sex; he affirms that they felt right and he felt it was meant to be. After reflecting on their friendship, Joey and Rachel concur their friendship is too strong for them to take things any further, and ultimately decide to stay friends.\n\nMonica and Phoebe are annoyed when an obnoxious old friend from the building, Amanda Buffamonteezi (Jennifer Coolidge), visits from England. They decide to \"cut her\" out, by ignoring her calls and dodging her until she leaves them alone. They first start out by not picking up the phone, which backfires when Chandler picks up the phone, resulting in Monica arranging a meeting at Central Perk. Once Amanda arrives there, she brings up memories of the time when Phoebe tried to \"cut out\" Monica many years before. Monica is mad at Phoebe, who reveals that it happened after they lived together: Monica was driving her crazy because of her shrillness and compulsiveness. However, Phoebe came to realize what a kind and generous person Monica is and is glad that she did not follow through with cutting her out. The two make up and decide to give Amanda another chance, but quickly leave when they see her giving Chandler a strange dance.\n\nReception\nIn the original broadcast, the episode was viewed by 21.87 million viewers. Sam Ashurst from Digital Spy ranked the episode #14 on their ranking of the 236 Friends episodes. Telegraph & Argus ranked the episode #19 on their ranking of all 236 Friends episodes.\n\nReferences\n\n2003 American television episodes\nFriends (season 10) episodes",
"The Insomniac on the Bridge (French: L'Éveillé du pont de l'Alma) is a 1985 French film directed by Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz.\n\nPlot \nThe plot of this film revolves around two insomniacs, a hunchback boxer and a voyeuristic teacher, who after meeting one another on a bridge decide to rape a pregnant woman. The two men discuss what it is like not being able to sleep and how they both feel disconnected from the rest of the world. Both men start to lose their grip on reality when they believe that by not sleeping, they somehow have a newfound power that will allow them to control all of the awake people. Ruiz's style of filmmaking becomes noticeably more convoluted and dreamlike as the character's journey through this nightmarish trance.\n\nReception\nAlthough some true \"Ruizian\" fans commend this work for staying true to Ruiz's unique style of filmmaking, many others view it as a lost opportunity to delve deeper into a more philosophical analysis of the relationship between two insomniacs and the world. Many believe this opportunity was lost because the film was so experimental with its bombardment of confusing dream sequences and \"supernatural events\" that any salvageable themes or motifs were buried too deep to make any lasting impression on its audience.\n\nOne review from Lenny Borger from Variety, quotes the Ruiz as directing this film in an almost “comatose state”. He goes on to commend Ruiz’s rapid fire style of filmmaking, at the time this was the 6th film he had made that year, all of which were on a “shoestring” budget to make things even more impressive. Unfortunately, the reviews from the time stay true to viewers interpretations today. Borger says it best when he writes that “there are numerous consequences and surprises in this metaphysical farce but little enjoyable sense or nonsense to be had by the viewer.”\n\nIn Ruizian Cinema \n\nThe common trend when discussing or analyzing any of Ruiz’s works is to not focus on them individually, but rather in the context of his larger body of work. Ruiz was a rapid-fire filmmaker who wrote and directed numerous films with little to no budget around the clock. The result was that he got to make over 100 movies before his death in 2011, but many of them did not live up to the high standards of a critical audience. This is not to say that Insomniac on The Bridge does not have good elements, but rather illustrates that Ruiz’s style is just so avant-garde, that many of his films fail to resonate with an audience. Hollywood filmmakers would view this as a failure as their goal is to make money from films with an audience. However, Ruiz did not make films in the name of entertainment, he made them in the name of art and sometimes social or political commentary. One of his most well known films, Time Regained (1999), acts as a prime example of when his experimental style meshes well with an already established adaptation of a novel, making his unique artistic vision more palatable for the average viewer. It is a shame that many of his films go unnoticed or ignored for this reason, but at the end of the day, it is the price paid for such an incredibly vast body of work manifested in a single lifetime.\n\nCast\nMichael Lonsdale : Antoine\nOlimpia Carlisi : Violette\nJean Badin : The doctor\nJean-Bernard Guillard : Marcel\nKim Massee : Anne\nMelvil Poupaud : Michel\n\nReferences\n\n http://thelastexit.net/cinema/ruiz.html#Insomniac%20on%20the%20Bridge,%20The\n https://cinefiles.bampfa.berkeley.edu/cinefiles/DocDetail?docId=15277\n\nExternal links\n\n1985 films\nFrench films\nFilms directed by Raúl Ruiz\nFilms produced by Paulo Branco"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All."
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | Are they from New york | 2 | Is Earth Crisis from New York? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | New York | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"This is a list of notable people from York County, New Brunswick and Canada. Although not everyone in this list was born in York County, they all live or have lived in York County and have had significant connections to the communities.\n\nThis article does not include people from Fredericton, as they have their own section.\n\nSee also\nList of people from New Brunswick\n\nReferences\n\nPeople\nYork",
"The Duke of York Islands (formerly ) are a group of islands located in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. They are found in StGeorge's Channel between New Britain and New Ireland islands and form part of the Bismarck Archipelago. The Duke of York Islands were named in 1767 by Philip Carteret to honour Prince Edward, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom.\n\nHistory\nIn the 1870s and 1880s German commercial firms began to site trading stations in New Guinea. Agents of J. C. Godeffroy & Sohn reached the Bismarck Archipelago from the Caroline Islands in 1872 and had established a trading post on the Islands from 1876.\n\nThe wreck of HMAS AE1, lost in 1914 possibly due to a diving accident, was located near these islands in December 2017 after 13 search missions. The submarine was found at a depth of and was seen to be well preserved and in one piece. The exact location of the wreck was not announced by the Australian government at the time of discovery, to protect it from \"unauthorized salvage attempts\". The government's stated position is that the wreck will be treated as a war grave.\n\nGeography\n\nThe Duke of York islands consist of a total of 13 islands and cover in area. The largest island of the group is Duke of York Island, and other islands include Makada, Kabakon, Kerawara, Ulu, Mioko, and Mualim.\n\nThe island group lies in a seismic active zone, where two tectonic plates push upon each other. Earthquakes and tsunamis are not uncommon for inhabitants of the islands.\n\nThe islands are low-lying, and are threatened with inundation due to rising sea levels. On 28 November 2000 the evacuation and resettlement of one thousand inhabitants to New Britain was announced.\n\nSee also\nDuke of York Rural LLG\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Photo from the Duke of York Islands\n\nIslands of Papua New Guinea\nEast New Britain Province"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | Who inspiered them | 3 | Who inspired Earth Crisis? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"Payback is a television show on the Speed Channel that debuted in 2006. In the show, celebrities who have made it big pay back one of the people in their lives who in the past helped them along the way to their success, by building them a tricked out, one of a kind, new car designed specifically for them.\n\nPlot\nThe show starts out by telling the story between the celebrity and the person who helped them out in the past (agent, parents, friend, etc.). Then the celebrity states the plans for the new car, but leaves room for the build team to add in some cool extras.\n\nAfter that, the show turns over to the build team. This part of each episode takes place at a famous auto shop in Detroit, named Wheel to Wheel.\n\nFinally, the climax of the show involves the celebrity handing over the new car's keys to the person who helped them out in the past, thanking them for all the help they have been.\n\nCelebrities \nCelebrities who have appeared on the show include:\nJay Leno\nJim Caviezel\nBrooke Burke\nDale Earnhardt, Jr.\nTim Duncan\nKorn\nJaime Pressly\nKen Shamrock\nTim Allen\nRobert Downey, Jr.\n\nExternal links\nWheel to wheel's website \nPayback's website\n\nAutomotive television series\n2000s American reality television series\n2010s American reality television series\n2006 American television series debuts\nSpeed (TV network) original programming",
"Quraysh (, \"Chapter Quraysh\") is the 106th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an consisting of 4 ayat or verses. The surah takes its name from the word \"Quraysh\" in the first verse.\n\nSummary\n1-4 The Quraish exhorted to thank God for commercial privileges.\n\nText and meaning\n\nText and transliteration\n\nHafs from Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud\n\n¹ \n\n² \n\n³ \n\n⁴ \n\nWarsh from Nafiʽ al-Madani\n\n¹ \n\n² \n\n³ \n\n \n\n⁵\n\nMeanings\n\n(It is a great Grace and Protection from Allah), for the taming of the Quraish,\n\n(And with all those Allah's Grace and Protections for their taming, We cause) the (Quraish) caravans to set forth safe in winter (to the south), and in summer (to the north without any fear),\n\nSo let them worship (Allah) the Lord of this House (the Ka'bah in Makkah).\n\n(He) Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear.\n\nFor the accustomed security of the Quraysh –\n\nTheir accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer –\n\nLet them worship the Lord of this House,\n\nWho has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe, [saving them] from fear.\n\nFor the covenants (of security and safeguard enjoyed) by the Quraish,\n\nTheir covenants (covering) journeys by winter and summer,-\n\nLet them adore the Lord of this House,\n\nWho provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear (of danger).\n\nFor the taming of Qureysh\n\nFor their taming (We cause) the caravans to set forth in winter and summer.\n\nSo let them worship the Lord of this House,\n\nSo let them worship the Lord of this House,\n\nAsbāb al-nuzūl\nAsbāb al-nuzūl (أسباب النزول), meaning occasions or circumstances of revelation, refers to the historical context in which Quranic ayaat were revealed. Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier \"Meccan surah\", which means it is believed to have been revealed in Mecca, rather than later in Medina. Alī ibn Ahmad al-Wāhidī (d. 468/1075), is the earliest scholar of the branch of the Qur'anic sciences known as Asbāb al-Nuzūl. He records that\n\nSummary\nThis surah urges the Quraysh tribe who dominated Mecca to serve God, who had protected them, for the sake of their own future. It is one of two suras containing 4 ayat; the other is Al-Ikhlas. It forms a pair with the preceding sura, al-Fil, reminding the Quraysh of the favors that Allah had bestowed upon them.\n\nThe Kaaba was central to the life of the Quraysh, being a center of pilgrimage which brought much trade and prestige. Sura al-Fil describes how God saved the Kaaba from destruction, while Sura Quraysh describes God as Lord of the Kaaba. It also urges the Quraysh to worship God so that, among other things, he would protect them on their trading journeys.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nQuran 106 Clear Quran translation\n\nQuraysh\nQuraysh"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York",
"Who inspiered them",
"DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden."
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | What is the lead members name | 4 | What is the name of the lead member of Earth Crisis? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | Scott Crouse | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"Omega X () is a South Korean boy band formed by Spire Entertainment. The group consists of 11 members: Hangyeom, Jaehan, Hwichan, Sebin, Taedong, Xen, Jehyun, Kevin, Junghoon, Hyuk, Yechan.\n\nHistory\n\nPre-debut\nAll of Omega X's members had appeared in survival shows or debuted in previous K-pop groups before debuting in Omega X. Hangyeom is a former member of Seven O'Clock who also participated in Mix Nine, finishing in 6th place. Jaehan was a contestant on Produce 101 (season 2) and a former member of Spectrum. Hwichan also participated in Mix Nine and is a former member of Limitless. Sebin is a former member of Snuper and participated in The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project. Taedong participated in Boys24 and Produce 101 (season 2), and is a former member of Gidongdae. Xen and Jehyun are former members of 1Team. Kevin, Junghoon and Hyuk are former members of ENOi. Yechan participated in Under Nineteen and is a former member of 1the9.\n\n2021: Debut with Vamos and What's Goin' On\nOn June 30, Omega X debuted with the release of their first EP, Vamos, and its lead single of the same name.\n\nOn September 6, Omega X released their first single album, What's Goin' On, and its lead single of the same name.\n\n2022: Love Me Like\nOn January 5, Omega X released their second EP, Love Me Like, and its lead single of the same name.\n\nMembers\nAdapted from their Naver profile and official website.\nJaehan (재한)\nHwichan (휘찬)\nSebin (세빈)\nHangyeom (한겸)\nTaedong (태동)\nXen (젠)\nJehyun (제현)\nKevin (케빈)\nJunghoon (정훈)\nHyuk (혁)\nYechan (예찬)\n\nDiscography\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingle albums\n\nSingles\n\nVideography\n\nMusic videos\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nAccolades\n\nReferences \n\nK-pop music groups\nMusical groups established in 2021\nSouth Korean boy bands\nSouth Korean pop music groups\nSouth Korean dance music groups\nMusical groups from Seoul\n2021 establishments in South Korea",
"Name Is 4Minute is the fourth extended play by South Korean girl group 4minute, released on April 26, 2013. It features the lead single \"What's Your Name?\", which became the group's most successful single after peaking at number one on the Gaon Singles Chart and being one of the best selling singles of the year.\n\nBackground \nOn February 4, 2013, Cube Entertainment announced that 4Minute would release new material in the first half of the year.\n\nIt was further explained that their new music would more closely resemble their debut sound, more \"groovy and powerful\" according to their record label Cube Entertainment.\n\nThe mini-album includes the single \"What's Your Name?\" which was produced by Brave Brothers. It features a \"hip-hop style where it uses unique sounds and has a fast-paced and rhythm-packed melody\". The single is preceded by \"What's My Name?\" which introduces the track. Three other songs follow: \"Whatever\" is described by the album's producers as \"unique\". \"Gimme That\" is an \"ambitious\" song that \"asks a man to show his manly side for love\". \"Domino\" is described as a \"strong hip hop and blues genre, together with a powerful rocking melody.\"\n\nPromotion and release \nOn April 19, the lead single was confirmed to be “What’s Your Name?”.\n\nThe EP was intended to be released April 25, however, because of additional music video filming for the title track \"What's Your Name?\", on April 19, Cube delayed the release to the 26th, “Although it’s just one day, to console the fans about the delay, we’ll prepare it to the best of our ability.”\n\nThe music video premiered on April 26 on the same day of the album's release.\n\nThe group promoted the song \"What's Your Name?\" on music shows along with the track \"Whatever\". \"What's Your Name?\" reached number 1 on the weekly Gaon chart and the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100. It was also number 6 on Gaon's year-end chart for 2013.\n\nOn May 6, Hyuna suddenly fainted due to high fever and dehydration, and was hospitalized on May 7. Cube announced that the other four members would continue with the promotions and performances. Hyuna rejoined the group for the May 16 performance on M! Countdown\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nAlbum\n\nSales and certifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\"What's Your Name?\" Teaser\n\"What's Your Name?\" Music Video\n\n4Minute EPs\nCube Entertainment EPs\n2013 EPs\nKorean-language EPs\nDance-pop EPs"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York",
"Who inspiered them",
"DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.",
"What is the lead members name",
"Scott Crouse"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | When did the follow up | 5 | When did the follow up occur? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | To the Death, | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"In statistics, median follow-up is the median time between a specified event and the time when data on outcomes are gathered. The concept is used in cancer survival analyses.\n\nMany cancer studies aim to assess the time between two events of interest, such as from treatment to remission, treatment to relapse, or diagnosis to death. This duration is generically called survival time, even if the end point is not death.\n\nTime-to-event studies must have sufficiently long follow-up durations to capture enough events to reveal meaningful patterns in the data. A short follow-up duration is appropriate for studying very severe cancers with poor prognoses, whereas a long follow-up duration is better suited to studying less-severe disease, or participants with good prognoses.\n\nMedian follow-up time is included in about half the survival analyses published in cancer journals, but of those, only 31% specify the method used to compute it.\n\nReferences\n\nBiostatistics",
"A Hard Act to Follow is an extended play by American country music singer Keith Whitley. It was released in October 1984 by RCA Records. The album includes the singles \"Turn Me to Love\" and \"A Hard Act to Follow\" and which respectively reached numbers 59 and 76 on the U.S. country singles charts. Al Campbell of Allmusic gave the album two stars out of five, saying that it did not \"match up with the tremendous success\" of his later albums for RCA.\n\nThe title song, \"A Hard Act to Follow\" had originally been released by Conway Twitty on his By Heart album earlier in 1984.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Turn Me to Love\" (Wayland Holyfield, Norro Wilson) – 3:21\n\"Living Like There's No Tomorrow (Finally Got to Me Tonight)\" (Jim McBride, Roger Murrah) – 3:28\n\"A Hard Act to Follow\" (Gary Nicholson, David Chamberlain) – 2:36\n\"If a Broken Heart Could Kill\" (Holyfield, Wilson, Allen Henson) – 3:05\n\"If You Think I'm Crazy Now (You Should Have Seen Me When I Was a Kid)\" (Bob McDill) – 2:39\n\"Don't Our Love Look Natural\" (Harlan Howard, Don Cook) – 3:07\n\nChart Performance\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\n1984 EPs\nRCA Records EPs\nKeith Whitley albums\nAlbums produced by Norro Wilson"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York",
"Who inspiered them",
"DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.",
"What is the lead members name",
"Scott Crouse",
"When did the follow up",
"To the Death,"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | What was the name of the album | 6 | What was the name of the follow up album? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | Breed the Killers, | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"White Witch is the title of the second studio album by the group Andrea True Connection. It was released in 1977. The album had two singles: and \"N.Y., You Got Me Dancing\" and \"What's Your Name, What's Your Number\". This was the last album released by the group and the vocalist Andrea True would release a new album as a solo release only in 1980.\n\nBackground and production\nAfter the success of her first album and the gold-certified single More, More, More, the band begun to prepeare for their second release. The album production included studio musicians with a new band assembled for the tour, the second line-up, which included future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick, it was also produce by the disco pioneers Michael Zager and Jerry Love.\n\nSingles\nThe first single of the album was \"N.Y., You Got Me Dancing\", it was released in 1977 and became True's second biggest hit, reaching No. 27 on Billboard's pop chart, and #4 on the U.S. club chart, it also peaked #89 in the Canadian RPM's chart. \"What's Your Name, What's Your Number\" was released as the second and last single of the album (and also of the group) in 1978 and reached #9 on the U.S. club chart, #34 in the UK and #56 on the Billboard Hot 100\n\nCritical reception\n\nThe album received mixed reviews from music critics. Alex Henderson from the Allmusic website gave the album two and a half stars out of five in a mixed review which he wrote that \"while White Witch isn't a bad album, it falls short of the excellence her first album, More, More, More.\" He also stated that there are a few gems in the album \"including the Michael Zager-produced \"What's Your Name, What's Your Number\" and the exuberant, Gregg Diamond-produced \"N.Y., You Got Me Dancing\"\" according to him they're both \"exercises in unapologetically campy fun.\" He concluded that the album \"LP is strictly for diehard disco collectors.\"\n\nTrack listing\nsource:\n\nReferences\n\n1977 albums\nAndrea True albums\nBuddah Records albums",
"Third Eye Open is a 1992 album by American funk/rock supergroup Hardware. Hardware consists of lead guitarist Stevie Salas, P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins, and drummer Buddy Miles, formerly of the Band of Gypsys. The album was produced by Bill Laswell and Salas, and was the first release to be part of Laswell's Black Arc Series, which includes Lord of the Harvest by Zillatron, Out of the Dark by O.G. Funk, and Under the 6 by Slave Master.\n\nAlbum history\nWhen the album was first released in Japan on the Polystar label, the band was called The Third Eye and the name of the album was \"Hardware\". When the album secured distribution in the U.S., it was found that another band had owned the name \"The Third Eye\". To avoid any further legal hassles, it was opted that the title of the album and the name of band would simply be switched, thus the name of the band would be Hardware and the title of the album became Third Eye Open.\n\nThe song \"Leakin'\" is a version of a track that appeared on Collins' 1988 album What's Bootsy Doin'?, which featured Salas playing guitar. On this album, the song is credited to Salas, whereas the previous version is credited to Collins, George Clinton and Trey Stone.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nStevie Salas – guitars, vocals\nBootsy Collins – space bass, vocals\nBuddy Miles – drums, fuzz bass, vocals\nGeorge Clinton, Gary \"Mudbone\" Cooper, Bernard Fowler – background vocals\nDavid Friendly, Vince McClean, Matt Stein – digital bollocks\n\nHardware (band) albums\n1992 albums\nAlbums produced by Bill Laswell\nRykodisc albums"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York",
"Who inspiered them",
"DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.",
"What is the lead members name",
"Scott Crouse",
"When did the follow up",
"To the Death,",
"What was the name of the album",
"Breed the Killers,"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | What is the band memebers name | 7 | What are the Earth Crisis band members names? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | Scott Crouse | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"is a comedy manga serialized in ASCII Media Works’ Weekly ASCII and Ubuntu Magazine Japan between May 2008 and June 2013. Its name is a play on words combining the Linux distribution Ubuntu and a Japanese onomatopoeia for a kiss, .\n\nPlot \n\nThe story follows the activities of the three memebers of the Ichinomiya High School’s system administration club. Each chapter is focussed on a certain aspect of the Ubunu operating system or a related topic, such as command-line interfaces, input methods, and software licensing.\n\nCharacters \n\nPresident of the system administration club, Akane is a *nix evangelist and very knowledgeable about network and Linux system administration.\n\nVice-president of the system administration club, Masato is a Windows user and very versed in internet culture.\n\nThe system administration club’s only regular member, Risa is a Mac user and not very skilled with computers except for media design.\n\nPresident of the computer science club, Akiha is in part responsible for the school’s IT equipment and generally opposed to FLOSS solutions.\n\nRelease \n\nBesides print publication in ASCII Media Works’ magazines, most of the manga's chapters are freely available online and released under a Creative Commons license. Furthermore, a tankōbon was published in 2012 containing the first eight chapters as well as two short extra stories.\n\nBecause of its release under a permissive license allowing use in derivative works, Ubunchu! has been translated to at least 17 different languages by fans.\n\nExternal links \nOfficial manga website \nEnglish translations (chapters 1–9)\nEnglish translations (chapters 9-14)\n\nReferences \n\nComedy anime and manga",
"\"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" is a song by German musical group Scooter. It was released as the first single from their 13th studio album, Jumping All Over the World. The B-side, \"The Fish is Jumping\", is a jumpstyle remix of \"How Much Is the Fish?\".\n\nSamples used\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" samples the song \"How Do You Do\" by Mouth & MacNeal, taken from the 1972 album of the same name.\n \"The Fish Is Jumping\" samples the song \"Zeven Dagen Lang\" by the Dutch band Bots. This same piece of music is used on the 1998 Scooter single \"How Much Is The Fish?\", taken from the album No Time to Chill.\n\nTrack listings\nGerman CD maxi and download\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (radio edit) (3:46)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" ('A Little Higher' Clubmix) (6:02)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (extended) (5:50)\n \"The Fish Is Jumping\" (3:50)\n\n12-inch\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" ('A Little Higher' Clubmix) (6:02)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (extended) (5:50)\n \"The Fish Is Jumping\" (3:50)\n\nUK CD maxi and download\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (radio edit) (3:46)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (extended) (5:50)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (Headhunters Remix) (5:54)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (Alex K Remix) (6:28)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (Flip & Fill Remix) (5:50)\n \"The Question Is What Is the Question?\" (Micky Modelle Remix) (6:49)\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nScooter (band) songs\n2007 singles\n2007 songs\n2008 singles\nAll Around the World Productions singles\nJumpstyle songs\nSongs written by H.P. Baxxter\nSongs written by Hans van Hemert\nSongs written by Jens Thele\nSongs written by Michael Simon (DJ)\nSongs written by Rick J. Jordan"
]
|
[
"Earth Crisis",
"Musical style and influences",
"When did they decide on a style",
"Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All.",
"Are they from New york",
"New York",
"Who inspiered them",
"DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.",
"What is the lead members name",
"Scott Crouse",
"When did the follow up",
"To the Death,",
"What was the name of the album",
"Breed the Killers,",
"What is the band memebers name",
"Scott Crouse"
]
| C_0556211e95ec4a95be7d274ab73090af_0 | How many bands inspired them | 8 | How many bands inspired Earth Crisis? | Earth Crisis | Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick Of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats. Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses. Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of European melodic metalcore" and faster songs. When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden. CANNOTANSWER | ten | Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards and drummer Dennis Merrick. Their third and current rhythm guitarist Erick Edwards joined the band in 1998.
The band has released eight studio albums, three compilations, two live albums and six music videos. The band is known for supporting animal rights, promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, and addressing further social and political issues. Earth Crisis is considered a crucial developer and influence for both the metalcore genre and vegan straight edge movement.
History
Initial career (1989–1995)
The band originally formed in 1989, after bassist Karl Buechner proposed the idea to his friend DJ Rose, whom he knew because both skateboarded together. Rose became the vocalist and they were joined by Jesse Buckley on drums and John Moseman on guitar. Established in the latter part of the youth crew heyday, where many groups disbanded and their members stopped being straight edge, they wanted to "keep that torch burning", as Buechner said. "The feeling of disappointment we had in those bands lead us to promote straight edge as being a lifetime commitment to never touch a drop of poison. We wanted people to know they can believe in us." Rose named the band after the 1984's album of the same name from the British reggae band Steel Pulse, because its cover portrayed many of the things they "would stand against", such as the starving African children, the two blocs of the Cold War and Klansmen.
Its initial lineup was short-lived; they had two or three practices and played a show in Utica, New York. After that performance, Rose decided to quit the group to spend more time booking shows. Buechner continued composing and formed a new lineup of the band in 1991, after attending a skateboard demonstration where he met members of the vegan straight edge band Framework. He switched to lead vocals in the process and was joined by four of the five members of Framework: guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards, guitarist Ben Read and drummer Michael Riccardi, all of who participated in Earth Crisis as a side project. Both Earth Crisis and Framework appeared on the 1992 various artists tape compilation Structure Hardcore Compilation, released by the members of Chokehold. Earth Crisis' three-song EP All Out War marked their debut release later in 1992, and shortly afterwards the band became a first priority.
In the summer of 1993, at the start of the All Out War tour, Earth Crisis recorded the Firestorm EP in the studio of Bill Korecky in Cleveland and released it through Victory Records. For this album, Riccardi was replaced by Dennis Merrick. Later on, Ben Read was replaced by Kris Wiechmann.
Destroy the Machines, their first full-length record, was released in 1995 and would eventually become the best-selling album in the history of Victory Records. Later this year, the band's touring van was involved in an accident that injured all band members, most severely Merrick. During his recovery time, the other band members began the group Path of Resistance with Riccardi, Rose and another friend to remain occupied.
Subsequent years and breakup: (1996–2001)
1996's Gomorrah's Season Ends brought a more complex and developed form of metalcore and, shortly thereafter, they were asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest, including one song for its live album. Their popularity grew, resulting in a deal with Roadrunner Records, and the band released Breed the Killers in 1998, the first with guitarist Erick Edwards (bassist Ian Edwards's brother) replacing Wiechmann. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and featured a guest appearance by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn.
The band later returned to Victory Records, releasing 2000's Slither soon after. With more emphasis on production and a change of style steered towards nu metal, it drew mixed reactions from critics and fans but had a wider exposure in mainstream music. Their final album before their breakup was 2001's Last of the Sane, which included cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Dead Kennedys.
In 2001, Earth Crisis disbanded on good terms because some members could no longer engage in a full-time touring band due to their personal lives. They played the final show of their initial career at Hellfest in Syracuse. After the band's breakup in 2001, Buechner, Bulldog and Erick Edwards went on to form Freya, a band named for the Norse goddess of fertility. Meanwhile, Crouse and Dennis Merrick moved to California and formed the group Isolated.
Reformation (2007–2009)
On January 27, 2007, the reunited Earth Crisis played the Maryland Metal and Hardcore Festival. Although it was originally planned as a one-off concert, numerous American and European dates followed thereafter. Earth Crisis headlined the Firestorm Fest in early 2008.
On September 10, 2008 it was announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media. They entered the studio on October 16, 2008 to record a new record, and Tue Madsen was hired to mix the project. The finished album, To the Death, was released in Europe on April 20, 2009 and in North America on May 5, 2009.
In August and September 2009, Earth Crisis played America and Europe on the Hell on Earth Tour, alongside Sworn Enemy, Neaera, Waking the Cadaver, War of Ages, Thy Will Be Done and War from a Harlots Mouth.
Latest releases: (2010–present)
In March 2010, they announced that drummer Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy and formerly Racetraitor would serve as a touring musician for a portion of the band's upcoming tour, as Merrick will only be available for certain dates.
In July 2011, Earth Crisis released their seventh studio album, Neutralize the Threat. The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss. The tracks "Raise" and "Total War" were released online as an album teaser.
Earth Crisis released their eighth studio album Salvation of Innocents on March 4, 2014. A comic book of the Liberator series published by Black Mask Studios was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with the album, sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork.
Musical style and influences
Although ideologically tied to the straight edge movement, the initial musical influences of Earth Crisis were mainly from New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. After the All Out War EP, they developed an increasingly technical and heavier style, citing death metal bands Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Obituary as prime inspirations. Buechner's vocals became rougher with each release as well, culminating in the completely gutturally screamed Gomorrah's Season Ends. Terrorizer magazine referred to this album as "heavy hardcore taken to a new level, all the blackness that was hinted at on Firestorm realized in all its formidable glory." In this period, many of their songs were built on Merrick's drum beats.
Their third studio album, Breed the Killers, maintained the previous aggressiveness and its growled vocals were "taken about as far as possible", but it followed a structure more akin to the "post-Judge hardcore of the Path of Resistance record Who Dares Wins", according to Shawn Macomber of Decibel. Dennis Merrick said: "On Breed the Killers I think we achieved the most honest representation of our sound without sounding too raw or too slick". Its follow-up, Slither, had a change of style that steered towards nu metal. Buechner declared that, rather than being influenced by other styles, they "resurrected" the sound of All Out War in a proper way, which also had melodic choruses and spoken word verses.
Their first post-reunion album, To the Death, was described by Buechner as "a mixture between Destroying the Machines and Breed the Killers." According to Stereo Killer, it was "arguably the band's heaviest offering" but with "more traditional verse/chorus/verse" material. Neutralize the Threat followed a similar path, but "with a Gomorrah's Season Ends vibe thrown in", the band stated. Scott Crouse said that he always tried "to get the perfect blend of heaviness, imagery and listenability" and that these two albums were the first to "hit that mark". Salvation of Innocents included, in addition, some clean vocals that were compared by one reviewer to the sludge metal band Crowbar, as well as "some elements of melodic metalcore" and faster songs.
When asked what ten bands inspired Earth Crisis over the years in a 2016 interview, Scott Crouse named DYS, Judge, Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Conviction, Zero Tolerance and Iron Maiden.
Lyrics, views and activism
The name of the band, Earth Crisis, indicates how their members see the current state of the planet and in their lyrics they seek to offer solutions to it; these are either "educational" or encourage direct-action. Most of them focus on rejection of recreational drugs, animal products, animal testing, industrial livestock production, illegal drug trade and an impending earth's doom caused by wars or an ecological collapse. On the other hand, they promote straight edge, veganism, self-empowerment and organizations such as Earth First!, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Liberation Front. In the words of the academic Jonathan Pieslak, some of their lyrics "read like passages" taken from "direct-action essays" of these institutions. Other subjects include criticism against white supremacy and, especially on Breed the Killers, oppressive governments. 2000's record Slither incorporated more topical issues, such as genetic engineering and second amendment rights. Their seventh and eighth albums, Neutralize the Threat and Salvation of Innocents, are concept albums entirely dedicated to real-life vigilantes and animal rights/anti-vivisection, respectively. The albums All Out War, Gomorrah's Season Ends and Breed the Killers included essays that delve into their lyrics and beliefs. According to the sociologist Ross Haenfler, Earth Crisis combined "youth crew's outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner's direct politics".
In a 1998 interview with Roadrunner Records, Karl Buechner described Earth Crisis' philosophy: "I want to boil it down to one notion: personal accountability. Respect for yourself, respect for the lives of innocent beings around us." He added that "Just being drug-free doesn't make you a good person, you need to use that clarity of the mind to become actively involved in the struggle that is being waged for earth, human and animal liberation." Their message disjoined from the "posicore" attitudes in its advocation for violent direct action. However, they believe that it must be used only as a last resort: "destruction and violence are the last thing I want to see but tragically, they are sometimes necessary. We place so far greater value on the lives of the innocent beings than any type of worth that could be put upon someone who's sadistic or greedy and doesn't want to change their profit system", said Buechner.
The band cited authors Peter Singer, John Robbins and Huey P. Newton as inspirations. In their live shows, there is usually literature about PETA, Greenpeace and others distributed. They have been longtime supporters for organizations such as the Animal Defense League, having done several benefit concerts for them. Nevertheless, they are not part of any of these groups or a political party: "We're about things we're interested in and we sing about things that happen politically, but we're not left-core or right wing. We don't want to get tangled up in someone else's agenda, which can happen if you join up in certain organizations."
Earth Crisis was occasionally misidentified with the hardline subculture, but they are not against homosexuality and believe that abortion should remain as an option in some instances. They also do not have a religious agenda and think that that is mainly a personal choice.
Legacy
Earth Crisis had a huge impact on both the hardcore punk music and its ideals. MetalSucks said: "For anybody who was not in the hardcore scene back then, it is hard to describe the impact they had or how controversial they were. You either loved them or hated them for bringing both metal and veganism into the hardcore scene". Sociologist Ross Haenfler stated in The Vinyl Factory that "Earth Crisis became the face of straight edge throughout the 1990s" through "the convergence of 'radical' animal rights activism, a more aggressive 'metalcore' sound, and hardcore crews", becoming "one of the most controversial bands in the scene's history."
Their albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were particularly influential for the emerging metalcore genre. According to Andrew O'Neill, "Earth Crisis inspired a much more heavy metal sound in hardcore" and "the distinction between the two [genres] started to crumble" shortly after those records were released.
To a large extent, Earth Crisis was responsible for the rising of vegan straight edge militancy in the mid- to late 90s, when veganism was rarely present in mainstream culture. Haenfler said that, while "earlier straight edge bands advocated vegetarianism – for example Youth of Today, Insted and Manliftingbanner", Earth Crisis "made animal rights (and environmentalism) central to the scene" as a "self-described 'vegan straight edge' band", "inspiring thousands of kids to give up animal products entirely." They also spawned many activists in the scene because their message "imparted the sense of urgency in a way that nothing else that ever come before had", according to Peter Daniel Young.
Some of their songs went on to be considered by some as anthems, such as "Firestorm" for straight edge and "Ultramilitance" for eco-terrorists. They also drew major media attention, having been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS and The New York Times, while lead singer Karl Buechner was invited to address the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Comments from other musicians
Many artists have cited Earth Crisis as an influence or have expressed their admiration for them, including Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI and XTRMST, Hatebreed, Throwdown, Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Jona Weinhofen of I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring Me the Horizon, Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Glassjaw, Andy Hurley and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Racetraitor, Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Paul Waggoner and Thomas Giles of Between the Buried and Me, Matt Fox of Shai Hulud, Heaven Shall Burn, Unearth, Brian Cook of Botch, Code Orange, Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, Greg Bennick of Trial, Maroon, Deadlock, Marc Görtz of Caliban, Born from Pain, Saving Grace, Twelve Tribes, Dan Smith of The Dear & Departed, First Blood, No Innocent Victim and Clear; as well as activists such as Peter Daniel Young.
Members
Current members
Karl Buechner – vocals (1989–2001, 2007–present) bass (1989)
Scott Crouse – lead guitar (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass (1991–2001, 2007–present)
Dennis Merrick – drums (1993–2001, 2007–present)
Erick Edwards – rhythm guitar (1998–2001, 2007–present)
Former members
Ben Read – rhythm guitar (1991–1994)
Kris Wiechmann – rhythm guitar (1994–1998)
Michael Riccardi – drums (1991–1993)
Touring musicians
Jim Winters – rhythm guitar (1993–1996)
Andy Hurley – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Destroy the Machines (1995, Victory Records)
Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996, Victory Records)
Breed the Killers (1998, Roadrunner Records)
Slither (2000, Victory Records)
Last of the Sane (2001, Victory Records)
To the Death (2009, Century Media Records)
Neutralize the Threat (2011, Century Media Records)
Salvation of Innocents (2014, Candlelight Records)
EPs
All Out War (EP) (1992, Conviction Records, re-released 1995 on Victory Records)
Firestorm (EP) (1993, Victory Records, re-released 1995)
Forced to Kill (7") (2009, Seventh Dagger Records)
The Discipline (EP) (2015, Bullet Tooth Records)
Music videos
"Broken Foundation" (1996)
"Killing Brain Cells" (2000)
"Provoke" (2000)
"Nemesis" (2000)
"To Ashes" (2009)
"Total War" (2011)
Live and compilation albums
The California Takeover (1996), Victory Records, split live album with Strife and Snapcase)
The Oath That Keeps Me Free (1998, Victory Records)
Forever True – 1991–2001 (Compilation) (2001, Victory Records)
See also
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Musical groups from Syracuse, New York
Straight edge groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Victory Records artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Veganism activists
Political music groups | true | [
"The Italian hardcore punk scene was active throughout the 1980s.\n\nHistory\nItalian hardcore as a genre was extremely influential throughout the 1980s, and still is for many hardcore bands across the world. Although there were important scenes in the USA and the UK, in the 1980s Italy punks grew up in a difficult social and political situation, once the era of political terrorism (both left and right wing) ended up and the moment was ready for mass-firing in Italian factories.\n\nMany punks of that years came directly from the Italian working and underclass, so the lyrics of the bands were focused on the social situation and on the distance between punk movement and the growing Italian-yuppie philosophy.\n\nInspired by bands such as Crass and Discharge, many lyrics were anti-war and NATO.\n\nList of Italian hardcore bands\n\n Cripple Bastards\n Negazione\n Raw Power\n Wretched\n\nReferences\n\nHardcore punk\nHardcore",
"The Uruguayan Invasion was a musical phenomenon of the 1960s similar to the British Invasion, with rock bands from Uruguay gaining popularity in Argentina.\n\nHistory\nInspired by British bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, many young musicians in Montevideo, Uruguay began to imitate their sounds. Two bands in particular, Los Shakers and Los Mockers mirrored The Beatles and The Rolling Stones respectively. Popular bands of the Uruguayan Invasion sang mostly in English.\n\nIn the mid-1960s, as the British Invasion was at its height in the United States, Uruguayan bands began a similar rise to fame in Argentina. Record labels began rapidly signing Uruguayan rock bands to promote in Argentina. Argentine television shows like Escala Musical were also a springboard for many of the bands' popularity.\n\nLike the British Invasion, the Uruguayan Invasion had died down by the late 1960s, as it became more popular to record harder-hitting Spanish-language music. Spurred on by the band Los Gatos's 1967 hit record \"La Balsa\", most bands began to record in Spanish. With the coming of the military dictatorship in 1973, the Uruguayan Invasion effectively ended.\n\nUruguayan Invasion bands\nLos Shakers\nLos Malditos\nLos Mockers\nKano y Los Bulldogs\n\nSee also\n\n Uruguayan rock\n Argentine rock\n Korean Wave\n Taiwanese Wave\n Garage rock\n\nExternal links\nThe Beat Years\nThe Uruguayan Invasion\n\nArgentine music\nUruguayan music"
]
|
[
"Phillis Wheatley",
"Style, structure, and influences on poetry"
]
| C_0f20336bb8b74b4c9fc81bf48d2e34e7_0 | What influence did Wheatley have on poetry? | 1 | What influence did Phillis Wheatley have on poetry? | Phillis Wheatley | Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable. John C. Shields notes that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature that she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields writes, "Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her." This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc. She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity. Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of her contemporaries. He writes, "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Shields sums up Wheatley's writing by characterizing it as "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering." CANNOTANSWER | Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment. | Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was an American author who was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.
On a 1773 trip to London with her master's son, seeking publication of her work, Wheatley met prominent people who became patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.
Wheatley was emancipated by her masters shortly after the publication of her book. They soon died, and she married poor grocer John Peters, lost three children, and died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31.
Early life
Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. She was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the British Colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. It was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.
On arrival in Boston, she was bought by the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named her Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.
The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, was Phillis's first tutor in reading and writing. Their son, Nathaniel, also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family afforded Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and one unusual for a woman of any race. By the age of 12, she was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge [Harvard], in New England". Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left household labor to their other domestic enslaved workers. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her readings of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace, and Virgil, Phillis began to write poetry.
Later life
In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health (she suffered from chronic asthma), but largely because Susanna believed Phillis would have a better chance of publishing her book of poems there. She had an audience with Frederick Bull, who was the Lord Mayor of London, and other significant members of British society. (An audience with King George III was arranged, but Phillis returned to Boston before it could take place.) Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, became interested in the talented young African woman and subsidized the publication of Wheatley's volume of poems, which appeared in London in the summer of 1773. As Hastings was ill, she and Phillis never met.
After her book was published, by November 1773, the Wheatleys emancipated Phillis. Her former enslaver Susanna died in the spring of 1774, and John in 1778. Shortly after, Wheatley met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They lived in poor conditions and two of their babies died.
John was improvident and was imprisoned for debt in 1784. With a sickly infant son to provide for, Phillis became a scullery maid at a boarding house, work she had not done before. She died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31. Her infant son died soon after.
Other writings
Phillis Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs stating that enslaved people should be given their natural-born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who discussed Wheatley and her poetry in correspondence with John Newton. Along with her poetry, she was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.
In 1775, she sent a copy of a poem entitled "To His Excellency, George Washington" to the then-military general. The following year, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776. Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.
In 1779 Wheatley issued a proposal for a second volume of poems but was unable to publish it because she had lost her patrons after her emancipation; publication of books was often based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was also a factor. However, some of her poems that were to be included in the second volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.
Poetry
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty", in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act. As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.
In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes. She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":
Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest to influential people in London.
There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine in 1773, which published as a "specimen" of her work her poem 'Hymn to the Morning', and said: "these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in 11 editions until 1816.
In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). His master Lloyd had temporarily moved with his slaves to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon thought that Wheatley had succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so his "Address" consisted of 21 rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.
In 1838 Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave. Wheatley's memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light but did not include poems by Horton.
Thomas Jefferson, in his book Notes on the State of Virginia, was unwilling to acknowledge the value of her work or the work of any black poet. He wrote:Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
Style, structure, and influences on poetry
Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable. John C. Shields, noting that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs, writes:
"Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her."This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter, followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Shields sums up her writing as being "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."
She repeated three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship was part of what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture, which may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.
Classical allusions are prominent in Wheatley's poetry, which Shields argues set her work apart from that of her contemporaries: "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Particularly extended engagement with the Classics can be found in the poem "To Maecenas", where Wheatley uses references to Maecenas to depict the relationship between her and her own patrons, as well as making reference to Achilles and Patroclus, Homer and Virgil. At the same time, Wheatley indicates to the complexity of her relationship with Classical texts by pointing to the sole example of Terence as an ancestor for her works:
The happier Terence all the choir inspir'd,
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race;
While some scholars have argued that Wheatley's allusions to classical material are based on the reading of other neoclassical poetry (such as the works of Alexander Pope), Emily Greenwood has demonstrated that Wheatley's work demonstrates persistent linguistic engagement with Latin texts, suggesting good familiarity with the ancient works themselves. Both Shields and Greenwood have argued that Wheatley's use of classical imagery and ideas was designed to deliver "subversive" messages to her educated, majority white audience, and argue for the freedom of Wheatley herself and other enslaved people.
Scholarly critique
Black literary scholars from the 1960s to the present in critiquing Wheatley's writing have noted the absence in it of her sense of identity as a black enslaved person. A number of black literary scholars have viewed her work—and its widespread admiration—as a barrier to the development of black people during her time and as a prime example of Uncle Tom syndrome, believing that Wheatley's lack of awareness of her condition of enslavement furthers this syndrome among descendants of Africans in the Americas.
Some scholars thought Wheatley's perspective came from her upbringing. The Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature. Using this to their advantage, the Wheatley family was able to mold and shape her into a person of their liking. The family separated her from other slaves in the home and she was prevented from doing anything other than very light housework. This shaping prevented Phillis from ever becoming a threat to the Wheatley family or other people from the white community. As a result, Phillis was allowed to attend white social events and this created a misconception of the relationship between black and white people for her.
The matter of Wheatley's biography, "a white woman's memoir", has been a subject of investigation. In 2020, American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a sentimental novel; the poems by Jeffers attempt to fill in the gaps and recreate a more realistic portrait of Wheatley.
Legacy and honors
With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo." She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who wrote to her (after she wrote a poem in his honor) that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."
Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.
In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.
Wheatley is featured, along with Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone, in the Boston Women's Memorial, a 2003 sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2012, Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley.
Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for Phillis Wheatley.
In 1892 a Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi. and in 1896 the Phyllis Wheatley Circle.
She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C. and the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, are named for her, as was the historic Phillis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126 (Jensen Beach, Florida). A branch of the Richland County Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which offered the first library services to black citizens, is named for her. Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans, opened in 1954 in, Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US. The Phillis Wheatley Community Center opened in 1920 in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On July 16, 2019, at the London site where A. Bell Booksellers published Wheatley's first book in September 1773 (8 Aldgate, now the location of the Dorsett City Hotel), the unveiling took place of a commemorative blue plaque honoring her, organized by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Black History Walks.
Wheatley is the subject of a project and play by British-Nigerian writer Ade Solanke entitled Phillis in London, which was showcased at the Greenwich Book Festival in June 2018.
See also
African-American literature
AALBC.com
Elijah McCoy
Phillis Wheatley Club
Slave narrative
References
Further reading
Primary materials
Wheatley, Phillis (1988). John C. Shields, ed. The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wheatley, Phillis (2001). Vincent Carretta, ed. Complete Writings. New York: Penguin Books.
Biographies
Borland, (1968). Phillis Wheatley: Young Colonial Poet. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Carretta, Vincent (2011). Phillis Wheatley: Biography of A Genius in Bondage Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2003). The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers, New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Richmond, M. A. (1988). Phillis Wheatley. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
Secondary materials
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phillis Wheatley," In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: p. 1606.
Barker-Benfield, Graham J. Phillis Wheatley Chooses Freedom: History, Poetry, and the Ideals of the American Revolution (NYU Press, 2018).
Bassard, Katherine Clay (1999). Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women's Writing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chowdhury, Rowshan Jahan. "Restriction, Resistance, and Humility: A Feminist Approach to Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley’s Literary Works." Crossings 10 (2019) 47–56 online
Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 2009.
Langley, April C. E. (2008). The Black Aesthetic Unbound: Theorizing the Dilemma of Eighteenth-century African American Literature. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Ogude, S. E. (1983). Genius in Bondage: A Study of the Origins of African Literature in English. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press.
Reising, Russel J. (1996). Loose Ends: Closure and Crisis in the American Social Text. Durham: Duke University Press.
Robinson, William Henry (1981). Phillis Wheatley: A Bio-bibliography. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1982). Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1984). Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. New York: Garland.
Shockley, Ann Allen (1988). Afro-American Women Writers, 1746–1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide. Boston: GK Hall.
Waldstreicher, David. "The Wheatleyan Moment." Early American Studies (2011): 522–551. online
Waldstreicher, David. "Ancients, Moderns, and Africans: Phillis Wheatley and the Politics of Empire and Slavery in the American Revolution." Journal of the Early Republic 37.4 (2017): 701–733. online
Zuck, Rochelle Raineri. "Poetic Economics: Phillis Wheatley and the Production of the Black Artist in the Early Atlantic World." Ethnic Studies Review 33.2 (2010): 143–168 online.
Poetry (inspired by Wheatley)
Clarke, Alison (2020). Phillis. University of Calgary Press.
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne (2020). The Age of Phillis. Wesleyan University Press.
External links
"Phillis Wheatley" National Women's History Museum
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Phillis Wheatley collection, 1757–1773
1753 births
1784 deaths
Deaths in childbirth
American women poets
American people of Senegalese descent
American people of Gambian descent
American Congregationalists
Cultural history of Boston
Writers from Boston
People of colonial Massachusetts
People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
African-American women writers
African-American poets
Colonial American poets
18th-century American poets
People from colonial Boston
African-American Christians
18th-century American women writers
Free Negroes
Black Patriots
18th-century African-American women
Literate American slaves
Colonial American expatriates in Great Britain | true | [
"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England (published 1 September 1773) is a collection of 39 poems written by Phillis Wheatley, the first professional African-American woman poet in America and the first African-American woman whose writings were published.\n\nSignificance \n\nPhillis Wheatley broke barriers as the first American black woman poet to be published, opening the door for future black authors. James Weldon Johnson, author, politician, diplomat and one of the first African-American professors at New York University, wrote of Wheatley that \"she is not a great American poet—and in her day there were no great American poets—but she is an important American poet. Her importance, if for no other reason, rests on the fact that, save one, she is the first in order of time of all the women poets of America. And she is among the first of all American poets to issue a volume.\"\n\nVerification \n\nPhillis Wheatley had gathered 28 poems and ran advertisements searching for subscribers in Boston newspapers in February 1772 with the aid of her mistress, Mrs. Wheatley. She was unable to find a publisher in the American colonies, as it was common among the white educated colonial elite in America to perceive a racial superiority of whites over blacks. This belief was also held among prominent Enlightenment thinkers, among them David Hume who wrote that \"I am apt to suspect the Negroes, and in general all the other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites\" and Immanuel Kant who believed that \"[t]he Negroes of Africa have by nature no feeling that rises above the trifling.\" Black Africans were thought unable to reason and therefore only fit for manual labor, and could not produce literature or poetry as they required higher cognitive ability. They looked to London for a publisher more favorable towards poetry authored by an African slave. Wheatley sent her poem On the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, which had previously brought her national attention, to Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, a Calvinist evangelist, who had been a member of Whitefield's parish. She directed Wheatley to a Bostonian bookseller, Archibald Bell, London's foremost bookseller and printer. Bell replied that since Phillis was a slave, he would need proof that she had written the poems herself. It therefore became necessary for Phillis, her master, John Wheatley, as well as many respectable members of Boston to explain how a slave had come to read and write poetry, and to convince readers that the work was truly Wheatley's own.\n\nPreface \nIn what became standard practice for black authors writing in the 18th and early 19th centuries (including Olaudah Equiano and Venture Smith), Wheatley included in her book an apologetic and deferential preface, explaining how the poems \"were written originally for the Amusement of the Author, as they were the products of her leisure Moments.\" her humble upbringings and asks that \"the Critic will not severely censure their Defects; and we presume they have too much Merit to be cast aside with Contempt, as worthless and trifling Effusions.\"\n\nLetter to the publisher \n\nIncluded in editions of Poems on Various Subjects is a letter from John Wheatley to Archibald Bell, explaining how Phillis Wheatley was brought from Africa to America at the age of eight as a slave, that she had no prior knowledge of the English language and what she did know, she did not learn from formal education, but from the Wheatley family. The letter also stated that Phillis had begun to learn to Latin and was making \"some progress in it\".\n\nAttestations \n\nOn 8 October 1772, Phillis Wheatley, then about 18 years of age, was interviewed by 18 gentlemen identified publicly \"as the most respectable characters in Boston.\" Among them were John Hancock, who served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and would be remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, the Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson, the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Andrew Oliver and the Reverend Samuel Mather, son of Cotton Mather and grandson of Increase Mather. The men signed an attestation clause verifying that they believed Wheatley had written the poems herself, as claimed by her owner, John Wheatley. This clause was addressed To the Publick in Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. What sort of questioning Wheatley was subjected to is unknown, for according to Henry Louis Gates \"no transcript of the exchanges that occurred between Miss Wheatley and her eighteen examiners\" exists today, but Wheatley appears to have \"passed [her inquiry] with flying colors.\"\n\n\"AS it has been repeatedly suggested to the Publisher, by Persons, who have seen the Manuscript, that Numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the Writings of PHILLIS, he has procured the following Attestation, from the most respectable Characters in Boston, that none might have the least Ground for disputing their Original.\n\nWE whose Names are under-written, do assure the World, that the POEMS specified in the following Page,* were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years since, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the Disadvantage of serving as a Slave in a Family in this Town. She has been examined by some of the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them\n\nHis Excellency THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Governor\nThe Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Lieutenant-Governor\nThe Hon. Thomas Hubbard\nThe Hon. John Erving\nThe Hon. James Pitts\nThe Hon. Harrison Gray\nThe Hon. James Bowdoin\nJohn Hancock, Esq\nJoseph Green, Esq\nRichard Carey, Esq\nThe Rev. Charles Chauncey, D. D.\nThe Rev. Mather Byles, D. D.\nThe Rev. Ed. Pemberton, D. D.\nThe Rev. Andrew Elliot, D. D.\nThe Rev. Samuel Cooper, D. D.\nThe Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather\nThe Rev. Mr. John Moorhead\nMr. John Wheatley, her Master\n\nN. B. The original Attestation, signed by the above Gentlemen, may be seen by applying to Archibald Bell, Bookseller, No. 8, Aldgate-Street.\"\n\nContent \n\nPhillis Wheatley was an avid student of the Bible and especially admired the works of Alexander Pope (1688–1744), the British neoclassical writer. Through Pope's translation of Homer, she also developed a taste for Greek mythology, all which have an enormous influence on her work, with much of her poetry dealing with important figures of her day.\n\nPoems\n\n\"To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing his Works\" \n\nWritten to Scipio Moorhead, an enslaved African American artist living in Boston, credited with engraving the frontispiece of Wheatley used in Poems on Various Subjects. The poem follows Wheatley's pattern of offering praise for individuals, in this instance seemingly as gratitude for the frontispiece.\nTO show the lab'ring bosom's deep intent,\nAnd thought in living characters to paint,\nWhen first thy pencil did those beauties give,\nAnd breathing figures learnt from thee to live,\nHow did those prospects give my soul delight,\nA new creation rushing on my sight?\nStill, wond'rous youth! each noble path pursue,\nOn deathless glories fix thine ardent view:\nStill may the painter's and the poet's fire\nTo aid thy pencil, and thy verse conspire!\nAnd may the charms of each seraphic theme\nConduct thy footsteps to immortal fame!\nHigh to the blissful wonders of the skies\nElate thy soul, and raise thy wishful eyes.\nThrice happy, when exalted to survey\nThat splendid city, crown'd with endless day,\nWhose twice six gates on radiant hinges ring:\nCelestial Salem blooms in endless spring.\n\nCalm and serene thy moments glide along,\nAnd may the muse inspire each future song!\nStill, with the sweets of contemplation bless'd,\nMay peace with balmy wings your soul invest!\n\n\"On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield\" \nThis work brought about Wheatley's initial fame. Published in Boston, Philadelphia and New Haven, it is an elegiac poem written in heroic couplets, in honor of Reverend Whitefield, an influential preacher in New England and the founder of Methodism.\nHail, happy saint, on thine immortal throne,\nPossest of glory, life, and bliss unknown;\nWe hear no more the music of thy tongue,\nThy wonted auditories cease to throng.\nThy sermons in unequall'd accents flow'd,\nAnd ev'ry bosom with devotion glow'd;\nThou didst in strains of eloquence refin'd\nInflame the heart, and captivate the mind.\nUnhappy we the setting sun deplore,\nSo glorious once, but ah! it shines no more.\n\nBehold the prophet in his tow'ring flight!\nHe leaves the earth for heav'n's unmeasur'd height,\nAnd worlds unknown receive him from our sight.\nThere Whitefield wings with rapid course his way,\nAnd sails to Zion through vast seas of day.\nThy pray'rs, great saint, and thine incessant cries\nHave pierc'd the bosom of thy native skies.\nThou moon hast seen, and all the stars of light,\nHow he has wrestled with his God by night.\nHe pray'd that grace in ev'ry heart might dwell,\nHe long'd to see America excell;\nHe charg'd its youth that ev'ry grace divine\nShould with full lustre in their conduct shine;\nThat Saviour, which his soul did first receive,\nThe greatest gift that ev'n a God can give,\nHe freely offer'd to the num'rous throng,\nThat on his lips with list'ning pleasure hung.\n\n\"Take him, ye wretched, for your only good,\n\"Take him ye starving sinners, for your food;\n\"Ye thirsty, come to this life-giving stream,\n\"Ye preachers, take him for your joyful theme;\n\"Take him my dear Americans, he said,\n\"Be your complaints on his kind bosom laid:\n\"Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you,\n\"Impartial Saviour is his title due:\n\"Wash'd in the fountain of redeeming blood,\n\"You shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God.\"\n\nGreat Countess, we Americans revere\nThy name, and mingle in thy grief sincere;\nNew England deeply feels, the Orphans mourn,\nTheir more than father will no more return.\n\nBut, though arrested by the hand of death,\nWhitefield no more exerts his lab'ring breath,\nYet let us view him in th' eternal skies,\nLet ev'ry heart to this bright vision rise;\nWhile the tomb safe retains its sacred trust,\nTill life divine re-animates his dust.\n\n\"On Virtue\" \n\nFollowing the style of Alexander Pope, Wheatley invokes Virtue to aid her on her journey through life, and her strife for a higher appellation.\nO Thou bright jewel in my aim I strive\nTo comprehend thee. Thine own words declare\nWisdom is higher than a fool can reach.\nI cease to wonder, and no more attempt\nThine height t' explore, or fathom thy profound.\nBut, O my soul, sink not into despair,\nVirtue is near thee, and with gentle hand\nWould now embrace thee, hovers o'er thine head.\nFain would the heav'n-born soul with her converse,\nThen seek, then court her for her promis'd bliss.\n\nAuspicious queen, thine heav'nly pinions spread,\nAnd lead celestial Chastity along;\nLo! now her sacred retinue descends,\nArray'd in glory from the orbs above.\nAttend me, Virtue, thro' my youthful years!\nO leave me not to the false joys of time!\nBut guide my steps to endless life and bliss.\nGreatness, or Goodness, say what I shall call thee,\nTo give me an higher appellation still,\nTeach me a better strain, a nobler lay,\nO thou, enthron'd with Cherubs in the realms of day.\n\n\"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty\" \n\nWritten in honor of King George III, this was a poem of praise for a notable person of the day, as were the subjects of many of Wheatley's poems. Here she praises him on behalf of the American colonies for his repeal of the Stamp Act.\nYOUR subjects hope, dread Sire –\nThe crown upon your brows may flourish long,\nAnd that your arm may in your God be strong!\nO may your sceptre num'rous nations sway,\nAnd all with love and readiness obey!\n\nBut how shall we the British king reward!\nRule thou in peace, our father, and our lord!\nMidst the remembrance of thy favours past,\nThe meanest peasants most admire the last *\nMay George, beloved by all the nations round,\nLive with heav'ns choicest constant blessings crown'd!\nGreat God, direct, and guard him from on high,\nAnd from his head let ev'ry evil fly!\nAnd may each clime with equal gladness see\nA monarch's smile can set his subjects free!\n\nReception \nWheatley was the first African-American to publish a book, man or woman, and the first to achieve an international reputation when she travelled to London to publish Poems on Various Subjects in 1773. She was noticed by Benjamin Franklin, Brook Watson the Lord Mayor of London, who gave her a copy of Paradise Lost by John Milton, and she was also scheduled to recite a poem for King George III, but Wheatley was unable to attend as she was forced return to Boston a month before Poems on Various Subjects was to be published, due to a fatal illness of her mistress, Susana Wheatley.\n\nWheatley was unable to publish any additional poetry. Between 30 October and 18 December 1779, she ran six advertisements soliciting subscribers for \"300 pages in Octavo\", a volume \"Dedicated to the Right Hon. Benjamin Franklin, Esq.: One of the Ambassadors of the United States at the Court of France\". As with Poems on Various Subjects, however, the American populace would not support one of its most noted poets. An estimated total of 145 of Wheatley's poems have been lost.\n\nCriticism\n\nContemporary criticism \nThomas Jefferson panned Wheatley's ability in his Notes on the State of Virginia, writing that \"[r]eligion, indeed, has produced a Phillis Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.\" However, Wheatley received praise from such notables as Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire, who wrote that Wheatley produced \"de très-bons vers anglais\" (very good English verse). George Washington responded to a poem Wheatley had composed for him, writing that \"however undeserving I may be of such encomium and panegyrick, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents.\"\n\nModern-day criticism \n20th-century poetry critic James Johnson notes that, while Wheatley was not a \"great\" American poet, she was no doubt an \"important one\". In addition, Johnson notes that her poetry was simply the poetry of the time, that is, the 18th century, and that she was very much influenced by Alexander Pope. Johnson concludes by stating that \"her work must not be judged by the work and standards of a later day, but by the work and standards of her own day and her own contemporaries. By this method of criticism she stands out as one of the important characters in the making of American literature, without any allowances for her sex or her antecedents\".\n\nIt is also argued that Wheatley's position as a slave did not afford her the freedom to truly speak her mind in her poetry. Scholars have recently uncovered poems, letters and facts about Wheatley and her association with 18th-century black abolitionists, and \"charted her notable use of classicism and have explicated the sociological intent of her biblical allusions. All this research and interpretation has proven Wheatley's disdain for the institution of slavery and her use of art to undermine its practice\".\n\n\"On Being Brought from Africa to America\" \n\nIn addition to Wheatley's poem \"To His Excellency General Washington\", \"On Being Brought from Africa to America\" is among her most often anthologized works. This poem can be said to be among the most controversial poems in African-American literature, as it overlooks the brutality of the slave trade, the horrors of the middle passage and the oppressive life of slavery. But it was written when Wheatley was but 16 years old, and it cannot be assumed that she was free to express her ideas and feelings given her situation and status as a slave.\n\n'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land\nTaught my benighted soul to understand\nThat there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:\nOnce I redemption neither sought nor knew.\nSome view our sable race with scornful eye;\n\"Their colour is a diabolic die.\"\nRemember, Christians, Negros black as Cain,\nMay be refin'd, and join th'angelic train.\n\nPublished editions \n\n Available online from Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg. Audio recording read by Elizabeth Klett available from LibriVox.\n \n \n \n \n \n https://archive.org/details/poems00whea\n\nSee also \n Slave narrative\n African-American literature\n Jupiter Hammon\n Portrait of Phillis Wheatley\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \"Phillis Wheatley\" at Poets.org\n\n1773 books\nPhillis Wheatley",
"Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (born 1967) is an American poet and novelist, and a professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. She has published five collections of poetry and a novel. Her 2020 collection The Age of Phillis reexamines the life of American poet Phillis Wheatley, based on years of archival research; it was long-listed for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry, and she was the recipient in 2021 of a United States Artists fellowship. She published her debut novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, in 2021.\n\nBiography\nJeffers was born in Kokomo, Indiana, and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother's family is from Eatonton, Georgia; her father's family, she recounted, was \"black bourgeois and fair skinned\" (her father, Lance Jeffers, was also a poet), and they were not happy when he married a working-class, darker-skinned woman. Jeffers wrote about her family background in Red Clay Suite (2007), and said in an interview: \"The only families I have known are my mother's folk, and my mother's parents were sharecroppers. So I write about her family's land and what this land means to me\".\n\nShe graduated from Talladega College in 1996, and then got an MFA from the University of Alabama. In a 2004 interview with Callaloo journal, she recalled being the only Black poet in her creative writing program, and both standing on the shoulders of the Black Arts Movement (BAM) and moving away from it, for instance in the BAM's lack of acceptance of homosexuality. Comparing the more radical poetry she wrote while at Alabama with her later work, she said that she had \"discovered a need to represent subtlety and emotional interrogation\". She is a full professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches creative writing.\n\nShe has published in literary journals including Ploughshares, Georgetown Review, Callaloo, Iowa Review, Oxford American, Prairie Schooner, and Poetry, and her work has been anthologized by poet/editors such as Cornelius Eady, Toi Derricotte, and Jesmyn Ward.\n\nThe Age of Phillis\n\nBackground\nThe life of Phillis Wheatley, the 18th-century American poet, is known mostly through the biographical sketch written by Margaretta Matilda Odell, a white woman, some fifty years after Wheatley's death in 1784. Odell claimed to have been related to the Wheatley family that had enslaved Phillis Wheatley (who soon after manumission and marriage to a John Peters changed her name to Phillis Peters). Scholars have noted how Odell's account \"reads like a sentimental novel\", erases the trauma of kidnapping and the Middle Passage, and all but wipes away the fact that the Wheatley family enslaved Phillis and others. Instead, it portrays Susanna Wheatley as a benevolent Christian who saves Phillis, and John Peters as a sexually threatening Black man who seduces Phillis and then leaves her financially ruined.\n\nJeffers was granted the 2009 Robert and Charlotte Baron Fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society to support the research and writing of The Age of Phillis, which was published by Wesleyan University Press in 2020. Jeffers spent 15 years working on the book, and said: \"I feel like Ms. Phillis chose me.\"\n\n\"Critical fabulation\"\nOdell's is the accepted narrative that Jeffers corrects in her book; she \"fills in the gaps\". For instance, Jeffers discovered that Peters may not have abandoned his wife, and that the relationship may have been misrepresented by Odell, and that there is no evidence that Odell was actually related to the Wheatley family. The main text of Jeffers' book is a collection of poetry that rereads and rewrites Wheatley's life, combining creative fiction with historical research (or \"critical fabulation\", in the words of Saidiya Hartman). For instance, Wheatley was known to have written a second volume of poems, which was never published; Jeffers came across a letter that showed that Peters tried to get that volume printed, indicating that rather than seduction and abandonment, Wheatley and Peters may have simply been in love: \"I think it's logical to assume that many, many black folks fell in love with many, many other black folks....This assumption is a rational consequence of acknowledging our black humanity.\"\n\nJeffers' poems fill in the gaps left by Odell's biography; she includes love letters between Phillis and Peters, reimagines her life before she was kidnapped and enslaved, offers a more complex picture of her relationship with the Wheatleys, and provides commentary on other issues. For instance, Jeffers offers a first draft of a letter accompanying Wheatley's famous \"To His Excellency, George Washington\", which \"gives vent to her exasperation with flattering white egos\" but then strikes through some phrases:\n\nHonors\nThe Age of Phillis was long-listed for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry. The book was also nominated for the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry, and won.\n\nThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois\n\nJeffers' first novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, was published to critical acclaim in August 2021. Oprah Winfrey announced on CBS This Morning that it was her new selection for Oprah's Book Club. It was a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Prize in fiction.\n\nBibliography\n\nPoetry\nThe Gospel of Barbecue (Kent State University Press, 2000)\nOutlandish Blues (Wesleyan University Press, 2003)\nRed Clay Suite (Southern Illinois University Press, 2007)\nThe Glory Gets (Wesleyan University Press, 2015)\nThe Age of Phillis (Wesleyan University Press, 2020)\n\nNovels\nThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois (Harper, 2021)\n\nHonors\nJeffers received the Harper Lee Award for Literary Distinction in 2018, and was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame in 2020. Her work on Phillis Wheatley was recognized by the American Antiquarian Society, which inducted her into their organization. Jeffers became a United States Artists fellow, with a $50,000 stipend.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Kokomo, Indiana\nAcademics from Indiana\nTalladega College alumni\nUniversity of Oklahoma faculty\n21st-century American poets\n21st-century American biographers\nAmerican women academics\n21st-century American women writers\nAmerican women poets\nAmerican women novelists\nAfrican-American women writers\nAfrican-American poets\nAfrican-American novelists\n21st-century African-American women\n21st-century African-American writers\n20th-century African-American people\n20th-century African-American women"
]
|
[
"Phillis Wheatley",
"Style, structure, and influences on poetry",
"What influence did Wheatley have on poetry?",
"Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment."
]
| C_0f20336bb8b74b4c9fc81bf48d2e34e7_0 | Did she win any awards for her work? | 2 | Did Phillis Wheatley win any awards for her work on poetry? | Phillis Wheatley | Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable. John C. Shields notes that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature that she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields writes, "Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her." This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc. She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity. Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of her contemporaries. He writes, "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Shields sums up Wheatley's writing by characterizing it as "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering." CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was an American author who was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.
On a 1773 trip to London with her master's son, seeking publication of her work, Wheatley met prominent people who became patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.
Wheatley was emancipated by her masters shortly after the publication of her book. They soon died, and she married poor grocer John Peters, lost three children, and died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31.
Early life
Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. She was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the British Colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. It was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.
On arrival in Boston, she was bought by the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named her Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.
The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, was Phillis's first tutor in reading and writing. Their son, Nathaniel, also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family afforded Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and one unusual for a woman of any race. By the age of 12, she was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge [Harvard], in New England". Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left household labor to their other domestic enslaved workers. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her readings of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace, and Virgil, Phillis began to write poetry.
Later life
In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health (she suffered from chronic asthma), but largely because Susanna believed Phillis would have a better chance of publishing her book of poems there. She had an audience with Frederick Bull, who was the Lord Mayor of London, and other significant members of British society. (An audience with King George III was arranged, but Phillis returned to Boston before it could take place.) Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, became interested in the talented young African woman and subsidized the publication of Wheatley's volume of poems, which appeared in London in the summer of 1773. As Hastings was ill, she and Phillis never met.
After her book was published, by November 1773, the Wheatleys emancipated Phillis. Her former enslaver Susanna died in the spring of 1774, and John in 1778. Shortly after, Wheatley met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They lived in poor conditions and two of their babies died.
John was improvident and was imprisoned for debt in 1784. With a sickly infant son to provide for, Phillis became a scullery maid at a boarding house, work she had not done before. She died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31. Her infant son died soon after.
Other writings
Phillis Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs stating that enslaved people should be given their natural-born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who discussed Wheatley and her poetry in correspondence with John Newton. Along with her poetry, she was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.
In 1775, she sent a copy of a poem entitled "To His Excellency, George Washington" to the then-military general. The following year, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776. Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.
In 1779 Wheatley issued a proposal for a second volume of poems but was unable to publish it because she had lost her patrons after her emancipation; publication of books was often based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was also a factor. However, some of her poems that were to be included in the second volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.
Poetry
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty", in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act. As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.
In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes. She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":
Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest to influential people in London.
There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine in 1773, which published as a "specimen" of her work her poem 'Hymn to the Morning', and said: "these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in 11 editions until 1816.
In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). His master Lloyd had temporarily moved with his slaves to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon thought that Wheatley had succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so his "Address" consisted of 21 rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.
In 1838 Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave. Wheatley's memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light but did not include poems by Horton.
Thomas Jefferson, in his book Notes on the State of Virginia, was unwilling to acknowledge the value of her work or the work of any black poet. He wrote:Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
Style, structure, and influences on poetry
Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable. John C. Shields, noting that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs, writes:
"Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her."This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter, followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Shields sums up her writing as being "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."
She repeated three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship was part of what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture, which may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.
Classical allusions are prominent in Wheatley's poetry, which Shields argues set her work apart from that of her contemporaries: "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Particularly extended engagement with the Classics can be found in the poem "To Maecenas", where Wheatley uses references to Maecenas to depict the relationship between her and her own patrons, as well as making reference to Achilles and Patroclus, Homer and Virgil. At the same time, Wheatley indicates to the complexity of her relationship with Classical texts by pointing to the sole example of Terence as an ancestor for her works:
The happier Terence all the choir inspir'd,
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race;
While some scholars have argued that Wheatley's allusions to classical material are based on the reading of other neoclassical poetry (such as the works of Alexander Pope), Emily Greenwood has demonstrated that Wheatley's work demonstrates persistent linguistic engagement with Latin texts, suggesting good familiarity with the ancient works themselves. Both Shields and Greenwood have argued that Wheatley's use of classical imagery and ideas was designed to deliver "subversive" messages to her educated, majority white audience, and argue for the freedom of Wheatley herself and other enslaved people.
Scholarly critique
Black literary scholars from the 1960s to the present in critiquing Wheatley's writing have noted the absence in it of her sense of identity as a black enslaved person. A number of black literary scholars have viewed her work—and its widespread admiration—as a barrier to the development of black people during her time and as a prime example of Uncle Tom syndrome, believing that Wheatley's lack of awareness of her condition of enslavement furthers this syndrome among descendants of Africans in the Americas.
Some scholars thought Wheatley's perspective came from her upbringing. The Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature. Using this to their advantage, the Wheatley family was able to mold and shape her into a person of their liking. The family separated her from other slaves in the home and she was prevented from doing anything other than very light housework. This shaping prevented Phillis from ever becoming a threat to the Wheatley family or other people from the white community. As a result, Phillis was allowed to attend white social events and this created a misconception of the relationship between black and white people for her.
The matter of Wheatley's biography, "a white woman's memoir", has been a subject of investigation. In 2020, American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a sentimental novel; the poems by Jeffers attempt to fill in the gaps and recreate a more realistic portrait of Wheatley.
Legacy and honors
With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo." She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who wrote to her (after she wrote a poem in his honor) that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."
Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.
In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.
Wheatley is featured, along with Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone, in the Boston Women's Memorial, a 2003 sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2012, Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley.
Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for Phillis Wheatley.
In 1892 a Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi. and in 1896 the Phyllis Wheatley Circle.
She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C. and the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, are named for her, as was the historic Phillis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126 (Jensen Beach, Florida). A branch of the Richland County Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which offered the first library services to black citizens, is named for her. Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans, opened in 1954 in, Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US. The Phillis Wheatley Community Center opened in 1920 in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On July 16, 2019, at the London site where A. Bell Booksellers published Wheatley's first book in September 1773 (8 Aldgate, now the location of the Dorsett City Hotel), the unveiling took place of a commemorative blue plaque honoring her, organized by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Black History Walks.
Wheatley is the subject of a project and play by British-Nigerian writer Ade Solanke entitled Phillis in London, which was showcased at the Greenwich Book Festival in June 2018.
See also
African-American literature
AALBC.com
Elijah McCoy
Phillis Wheatley Club
Slave narrative
References
Further reading
Primary materials
Wheatley, Phillis (1988). John C. Shields, ed. The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wheatley, Phillis (2001). Vincent Carretta, ed. Complete Writings. New York: Penguin Books.
Biographies
Borland, (1968). Phillis Wheatley: Young Colonial Poet. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Carretta, Vincent (2011). Phillis Wheatley: Biography of A Genius in Bondage Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2003). The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers, New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Richmond, M. A. (1988). Phillis Wheatley. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
Secondary materials
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phillis Wheatley," In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: p. 1606.
Barker-Benfield, Graham J. Phillis Wheatley Chooses Freedom: History, Poetry, and the Ideals of the American Revolution (NYU Press, 2018).
Bassard, Katherine Clay (1999). Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women's Writing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chowdhury, Rowshan Jahan. "Restriction, Resistance, and Humility: A Feminist Approach to Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley’s Literary Works." Crossings 10 (2019) 47–56 online
Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 2009.
Langley, April C. E. (2008). The Black Aesthetic Unbound: Theorizing the Dilemma of Eighteenth-century African American Literature. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Ogude, S. E. (1983). Genius in Bondage: A Study of the Origins of African Literature in English. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press.
Reising, Russel J. (1996). Loose Ends: Closure and Crisis in the American Social Text. Durham: Duke University Press.
Robinson, William Henry (1981). Phillis Wheatley: A Bio-bibliography. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1982). Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1984). Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. New York: Garland.
Shockley, Ann Allen (1988). Afro-American Women Writers, 1746–1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide. Boston: GK Hall.
Waldstreicher, David. "The Wheatleyan Moment." Early American Studies (2011): 522–551. online
Waldstreicher, David. "Ancients, Moderns, and Africans: Phillis Wheatley and the Politics of Empire and Slavery in the American Revolution." Journal of the Early Republic 37.4 (2017): 701–733. online
Zuck, Rochelle Raineri. "Poetic Economics: Phillis Wheatley and the Production of the Black Artist in the Early Atlantic World." Ethnic Studies Review 33.2 (2010): 143–168 online.
Poetry (inspired by Wheatley)
Clarke, Alison (2020). Phillis. University of Calgary Press.
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne (2020). The Age of Phillis. Wesleyan University Press.
External links
"Phillis Wheatley" National Women's History Museum
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Phillis Wheatley collection, 1757–1773
1753 births
1784 deaths
Deaths in childbirth
American women poets
American people of Senegalese descent
American people of Gambian descent
American Congregationalists
Cultural history of Boston
Writers from Boston
People of colonial Massachusetts
People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
African-American women writers
African-American poets
Colonial American poets
18th-century American poets
People from colonial Boston
African-American Christians
18th-century American women writers
Free Negroes
Black Patriots
18th-century African-American women
Literate American slaves
Colonial American expatriates in Great Britain | false | [
"Sheena Napier is a British costume designer who was nominated at the 65th Academy Awards for her work on the film Enchanted April, for which she was nominated for Best Costumes.\n\nIn addition she did win at the BAFTA Television Awards for the TV film Parade's End, which she was also nominated for an Emmy for.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBritish costume designers\nLiving people\nBAFTA winners (people)\nWomen costume designers\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"American actress Meryl Streep has been recognized with multiple awards and nominations for her work on screen and stage, including being one of few individuals to be nominated for both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. She holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations of any actor, having been nominated twenty-one times—seventeen for Best Actress, and four for Best Supporting Actress—since the first nomination in 1978 for her performance in The Deer Hunter. She has won three times for her work in Kramer vs. Kramer (1980), Sophie's Choice (1983), and The Iron Lady (2012), making her the fifth actor to win three competitive acting Academy Awards. In 2009, Streep became the most-nominated performer in the Golden Globe Awards history when her Best Actress nominations for Doubt and Mamma Mia! gave her twenty-three in total, surpassing Jack Lemmon’s previous record of 22. Three years later, she garnered her eighth win for The Iron Lady, more than any actors. At the 74th Golden Globe Awards, she was nominated for the record-breaking thirtieth time for her performance in Florence Foster Jenkins, and received the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award.\n\nWith her fifteenth nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins in 2017, Streep ties with Judi Dench for the most-nominated actor at the British Academy Film Awards. She has won the award for Best Actress twice for her performances in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1982) and The Iron Lady (2012). For her work in The Hours, Streep received a Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival, who later recognized her with an Honorary Golden Bear at their 62nd ceremony. In Italy, she consecutively won the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress in 1984 and 1985 for Falling in Love and Out of Africa. At the 1986 Valladolid International Film Festival, she received the award for Best Actress for her role in Heartburn. Her portrayal as Lindy Chamberlain in Evil Angels earned her a Cannes Film Festival Award and AACTA Award for Best Actress, both in 1989.\n\nIn 1976, Streep won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance for her stage debut in Trelawny of the \"Wells\" and Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. The latter work also earned her nominations for Best Actress at the Drama Desk and Tony Award. The following year, she was a double nominee at the Drama Desk Award for the featured role in The Cherry Orchard and starred in the musical Happy End. Streep won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie for her roles in the miniseries Holocaust (1978) and Angels in America at the 2004 Ceremony. She also won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for her work on documentary Five Came Back at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2017.\n\nIn 1983, Yale University, from which Streep graduated in 1975, awarded her an Honorary Degree, a Doctorate of Fine Arts. The first university to award her an Honorary Degree was Dartmouth College, where she spent time as a transfer student in 1970, in 1981. In 1998, Women in Film awarded Streep with the Crystal Award, an honor for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. The same year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1999, she was awarded a George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film. In 2003, Streep was awarded an Honorary César by the French Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. In 2004, at the Moscow International Film Festival, she was honored with the Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school. Also in 2004, she received the AFI Life Achievement Award. In 2008, Streep was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by Princeton University. In 2010, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts, elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Harvard University. On December 4, 2011, Streep, along with Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins, and Barbara Cook, received the 2011 Kennedy Center Honor. On February 14, 2012, she received the Honorary Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.\n\nMajor awards\n\nAcademy Awards\n\nBritish Academy Film Awards\n\nCésar Awards\n\nGolden Globe Awards\n\nGrammy Awards\n\nPrimetime Emmy Awards\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards\n\nTony Awards\n\nMiscellaneous awards\n\nState and academic honours\n\nSee also\n Meryl Streep on screen and stage\n List of Academy Award records\n List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories\n List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories\n List of actors with Academy Award nominations\n List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame\n List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars\n List of Yale University people\n Triple Crown of Acting\n List of EGOT winners\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nAwards and nominations\nLists of awards received by actor"
]
|
[
"Phillis Wheatley",
"Style, structure, and influences on poetry",
"What influence did Wheatley have on poetry?",
"Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment.",
"Did she win any awards for her work?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_0f20336bb8b74b4c9fc81bf48d2e34e7_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Besides Wheatley's use of classicism, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Phillis Wheatley | Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable. John C. Shields notes that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature that she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields writes, "Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her." This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc. She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity. Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of her contemporaries. He writes, "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Shields sums up Wheatley's writing by characterizing it as "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering." CANNOTANSWER | used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. | Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was an American author who was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.
On a 1773 trip to London with her master's son, seeking publication of her work, Wheatley met prominent people who became patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.
Wheatley was emancipated by her masters shortly after the publication of her book. They soon died, and she married poor grocer John Peters, lost three children, and died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31.
Early life
Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. She was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the British Colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. It was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.
On arrival in Boston, she was bought by the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named her Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.
The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, was Phillis's first tutor in reading and writing. Their son, Nathaniel, also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family afforded Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and one unusual for a woman of any race. By the age of 12, she was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge [Harvard], in New England". Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left household labor to their other domestic enslaved workers. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her readings of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace, and Virgil, Phillis began to write poetry.
Later life
In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health (she suffered from chronic asthma), but largely because Susanna believed Phillis would have a better chance of publishing her book of poems there. She had an audience with Frederick Bull, who was the Lord Mayor of London, and other significant members of British society. (An audience with King George III was arranged, but Phillis returned to Boston before it could take place.) Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, became interested in the talented young African woman and subsidized the publication of Wheatley's volume of poems, which appeared in London in the summer of 1773. As Hastings was ill, she and Phillis never met.
After her book was published, by November 1773, the Wheatleys emancipated Phillis. Her former enslaver Susanna died in the spring of 1774, and John in 1778. Shortly after, Wheatley met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They lived in poor conditions and two of their babies died.
John was improvident and was imprisoned for debt in 1784. With a sickly infant son to provide for, Phillis became a scullery maid at a boarding house, work she had not done before. She died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31. Her infant son died soon after.
Other writings
Phillis Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs stating that enslaved people should be given their natural-born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who discussed Wheatley and her poetry in correspondence with John Newton. Along with her poetry, she was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.
In 1775, she sent a copy of a poem entitled "To His Excellency, George Washington" to the then-military general. The following year, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776. Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.
In 1779 Wheatley issued a proposal for a second volume of poems but was unable to publish it because she had lost her patrons after her emancipation; publication of books was often based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was also a factor. However, some of her poems that were to be included in the second volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.
Poetry
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty", in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act. As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.
In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes. She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":
Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest to influential people in London.
There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine in 1773, which published as a "specimen" of her work her poem 'Hymn to the Morning', and said: "these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in 11 editions until 1816.
In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). His master Lloyd had temporarily moved with his slaves to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon thought that Wheatley had succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so his "Address" consisted of 21 rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.
In 1838 Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave. Wheatley's memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light but did not include poems by Horton.
Thomas Jefferson, in his book Notes on the State of Virginia, was unwilling to acknowledge the value of her work or the work of any black poet. He wrote:Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
Style, structure, and influences on poetry
Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable. John C. Shields, noting that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs, writes:
"Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her."This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter, followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Shields sums up her writing as being "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."
She repeated three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship was part of what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture, which may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.
Classical allusions are prominent in Wheatley's poetry, which Shields argues set her work apart from that of her contemporaries: "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Particularly extended engagement with the Classics can be found in the poem "To Maecenas", where Wheatley uses references to Maecenas to depict the relationship between her and her own patrons, as well as making reference to Achilles and Patroclus, Homer and Virgil. At the same time, Wheatley indicates to the complexity of her relationship with Classical texts by pointing to the sole example of Terence as an ancestor for her works:
The happier Terence all the choir inspir'd,
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race;
While some scholars have argued that Wheatley's allusions to classical material are based on the reading of other neoclassical poetry (such as the works of Alexander Pope), Emily Greenwood has demonstrated that Wheatley's work demonstrates persistent linguistic engagement with Latin texts, suggesting good familiarity with the ancient works themselves. Both Shields and Greenwood have argued that Wheatley's use of classical imagery and ideas was designed to deliver "subversive" messages to her educated, majority white audience, and argue for the freedom of Wheatley herself and other enslaved people.
Scholarly critique
Black literary scholars from the 1960s to the present in critiquing Wheatley's writing have noted the absence in it of her sense of identity as a black enslaved person. A number of black literary scholars have viewed her work—and its widespread admiration—as a barrier to the development of black people during her time and as a prime example of Uncle Tom syndrome, believing that Wheatley's lack of awareness of her condition of enslavement furthers this syndrome among descendants of Africans in the Americas.
Some scholars thought Wheatley's perspective came from her upbringing. The Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature. Using this to their advantage, the Wheatley family was able to mold and shape her into a person of their liking. The family separated her from other slaves in the home and she was prevented from doing anything other than very light housework. This shaping prevented Phillis from ever becoming a threat to the Wheatley family or other people from the white community. As a result, Phillis was allowed to attend white social events and this created a misconception of the relationship between black and white people for her.
The matter of Wheatley's biography, "a white woman's memoir", has been a subject of investigation. In 2020, American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a sentimental novel; the poems by Jeffers attempt to fill in the gaps and recreate a more realistic portrait of Wheatley.
Legacy and honors
With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo." She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who wrote to her (after she wrote a poem in his honor) that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."
Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.
In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.
Wheatley is featured, along with Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone, in the Boston Women's Memorial, a 2003 sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2012, Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley.
Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for Phillis Wheatley.
In 1892 a Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi. and in 1896 the Phyllis Wheatley Circle.
She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C. and the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, are named for her, as was the historic Phillis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126 (Jensen Beach, Florida). A branch of the Richland County Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which offered the first library services to black citizens, is named for her. Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans, opened in 1954 in, Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US. The Phillis Wheatley Community Center opened in 1920 in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On July 16, 2019, at the London site where A. Bell Booksellers published Wheatley's first book in September 1773 (8 Aldgate, now the location of the Dorsett City Hotel), the unveiling took place of a commemorative blue plaque honoring her, organized by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Black History Walks.
Wheatley is the subject of a project and play by British-Nigerian writer Ade Solanke entitled Phillis in London, which was showcased at the Greenwich Book Festival in June 2018.
See also
African-American literature
AALBC.com
Elijah McCoy
Phillis Wheatley Club
Slave narrative
References
Further reading
Primary materials
Wheatley, Phillis (1988). John C. Shields, ed. The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wheatley, Phillis (2001). Vincent Carretta, ed. Complete Writings. New York: Penguin Books.
Biographies
Borland, (1968). Phillis Wheatley: Young Colonial Poet. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Carretta, Vincent (2011). Phillis Wheatley: Biography of A Genius in Bondage Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2003). The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers, New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Richmond, M. A. (1988). Phillis Wheatley. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
Secondary materials
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phillis Wheatley," In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: p. 1606.
Barker-Benfield, Graham J. Phillis Wheatley Chooses Freedom: History, Poetry, and the Ideals of the American Revolution (NYU Press, 2018).
Bassard, Katherine Clay (1999). Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women's Writing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chowdhury, Rowshan Jahan. "Restriction, Resistance, and Humility: A Feminist Approach to Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley’s Literary Works." Crossings 10 (2019) 47–56 online
Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 2009.
Langley, April C. E. (2008). The Black Aesthetic Unbound: Theorizing the Dilemma of Eighteenth-century African American Literature. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Ogude, S. E. (1983). Genius in Bondage: A Study of the Origins of African Literature in English. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press.
Reising, Russel J. (1996). Loose Ends: Closure and Crisis in the American Social Text. Durham: Duke University Press.
Robinson, William Henry (1981). Phillis Wheatley: A Bio-bibliography. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1982). Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1984). Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. New York: Garland.
Shockley, Ann Allen (1988). Afro-American Women Writers, 1746–1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide. Boston: GK Hall.
Waldstreicher, David. "The Wheatleyan Moment." Early American Studies (2011): 522–551. online
Waldstreicher, David. "Ancients, Moderns, and Africans: Phillis Wheatley and the Politics of Empire and Slavery in the American Revolution." Journal of the Early Republic 37.4 (2017): 701–733. online
Zuck, Rochelle Raineri. "Poetic Economics: Phillis Wheatley and the Production of the Black Artist in the Early Atlantic World." Ethnic Studies Review 33.2 (2010): 143–168 online.
Poetry (inspired by Wheatley)
Clarke, Alison (2020). Phillis. University of Calgary Press.
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne (2020). The Age of Phillis. Wesleyan University Press.
External links
"Phillis Wheatley" National Women's History Museum
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Phillis Wheatley collection, 1757–1773
1753 births
1784 deaths
Deaths in childbirth
American women poets
American people of Senegalese descent
American people of Gambian descent
American Congregationalists
Cultural history of Boston
Writers from Boston
People of colonial Massachusetts
People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
African-American women writers
African-American poets
Colonial American poets
18th-century American poets
People from colonial Boston
African-American Christians
18th-century American women writers
Free Negroes
Black Patriots
18th-century African-American women
Literate American slaves
Colonial American expatriates in Great Britain | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Phillis Wheatley",
"Style, structure, and influences on poetry",
"What influence did Wheatley have on poetry?",
"Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment.",
"Did she win any awards for her work?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship."
]
| C_0f20336bb8b74b4c9fc81bf48d2e34e7_0 | Did she have works published? | 4 | Did Phillis Wheatley have works published? | Phillis Wheatley | Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable. John C. Shields notes that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature that she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields writes, "Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her." This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc. She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity. Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of her contemporaries. He writes, "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Shields sums up Wheatley's writing by characterizing it as "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering." CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was an American author who was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.
On a 1773 trip to London with her master's son, seeking publication of her work, Wheatley met prominent people who became patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.
Wheatley was emancipated by her masters shortly after the publication of her book. They soon died, and she married poor grocer John Peters, lost three children, and died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31.
Early life
Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. She was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the British Colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. It was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.
On arrival in Boston, she was bought by the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named her Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.
The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, was Phillis's first tutor in reading and writing. Their son, Nathaniel, also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family afforded Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and one unusual for a woman of any race. By the age of 12, she was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge [Harvard], in New England". Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left household labor to their other domestic enslaved workers. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her readings of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace, and Virgil, Phillis began to write poetry.
Later life
In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health (she suffered from chronic asthma), but largely because Susanna believed Phillis would have a better chance of publishing her book of poems there. She had an audience with Frederick Bull, who was the Lord Mayor of London, and other significant members of British society. (An audience with King George III was arranged, but Phillis returned to Boston before it could take place.) Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, became interested in the talented young African woman and subsidized the publication of Wheatley's volume of poems, which appeared in London in the summer of 1773. As Hastings was ill, she and Phillis never met.
After her book was published, by November 1773, the Wheatleys emancipated Phillis. Her former enslaver Susanna died in the spring of 1774, and John in 1778. Shortly after, Wheatley met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They lived in poor conditions and two of their babies died.
John was improvident and was imprisoned for debt in 1784. With a sickly infant son to provide for, Phillis became a scullery maid at a boarding house, work she had not done before. She died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31. Her infant son died soon after.
Other writings
Phillis Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs stating that enslaved people should be given their natural-born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who discussed Wheatley and her poetry in correspondence with John Newton. Along with her poetry, she was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.
In 1775, she sent a copy of a poem entitled "To His Excellency, George Washington" to the then-military general. The following year, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776. Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.
In 1779 Wheatley issued a proposal for a second volume of poems but was unable to publish it because she had lost her patrons after her emancipation; publication of books was often based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was also a factor. However, some of her poems that were to be included in the second volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.
Poetry
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty", in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act. As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.
In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes. She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":
Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest to influential people in London.
There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine in 1773, which published as a "specimen" of her work her poem 'Hymn to the Morning', and said: "these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in 11 editions until 1816.
In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). His master Lloyd had temporarily moved with his slaves to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon thought that Wheatley had succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so his "Address" consisted of 21 rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.
In 1838 Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave. Wheatley's memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light but did not include poems by Horton.
Thomas Jefferson, in his book Notes on the State of Virginia, was unwilling to acknowledge the value of her work or the work of any black poet. He wrote:Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
Style, structure, and influences on poetry
Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable. John C. Shields, noting that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs, writes:
"Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her."This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter, followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Shields sums up her writing as being "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."
She repeated three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship was part of what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture, which may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.
Classical allusions are prominent in Wheatley's poetry, which Shields argues set her work apart from that of her contemporaries: "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Particularly extended engagement with the Classics can be found in the poem "To Maecenas", where Wheatley uses references to Maecenas to depict the relationship between her and her own patrons, as well as making reference to Achilles and Patroclus, Homer and Virgil. At the same time, Wheatley indicates to the complexity of her relationship with Classical texts by pointing to the sole example of Terence as an ancestor for her works:
The happier Terence all the choir inspir'd,
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race;
While some scholars have argued that Wheatley's allusions to classical material are based on the reading of other neoclassical poetry (such as the works of Alexander Pope), Emily Greenwood has demonstrated that Wheatley's work demonstrates persistent linguistic engagement with Latin texts, suggesting good familiarity with the ancient works themselves. Both Shields and Greenwood have argued that Wheatley's use of classical imagery and ideas was designed to deliver "subversive" messages to her educated, majority white audience, and argue for the freedom of Wheatley herself and other enslaved people.
Scholarly critique
Black literary scholars from the 1960s to the present in critiquing Wheatley's writing have noted the absence in it of her sense of identity as a black enslaved person. A number of black literary scholars have viewed her work—and its widespread admiration—as a barrier to the development of black people during her time and as a prime example of Uncle Tom syndrome, believing that Wheatley's lack of awareness of her condition of enslavement furthers this syndrome among descendants of Africans in the Americas.
Some scholars thought Wheatley's perspective came from her upbringing. The Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature. Using this to their advantage, the Wheatley family was able to mold and shape her into a person of their liking. The family separated her from other slaves in the home and she was prevented from doing anything other than very light housework. This shaping prevented Phillis from ever becoming a threat to the Wheatley family or other people from the white community. As a result, Phillis was allowed to attend white social events and this created a misconception of the relationship between black and white people for her.
The matter of Wheatley's biography, "a white woman's memoir", has been a subject of investigation. In 2020, American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a sentimental novel; the poems by Jeffers attempt to fill in the gaps and recreate a more realistic portrait of Wheatley.
Legacy and honors
With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo." She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who wrote to her (after she wrote a poem in his honor) that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."
Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.
In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.
Wheatley is featured, along with Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone, in the Boston Women's Memorial, a 2003 sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2012, Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley.
Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for Phillis Wheatley.
In 1892 a Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi. and in 1896 the Phyllis Wheatley Circle.
She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C. and the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, are named for her, as was the historic Phillis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126 (Jensen Beach, Florida). A branch of the Richland County Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which offered the first library services to black citizens, is named for her. Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans, opened in 1954 in, Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US. The Phillis Wheatley Community Center opened in 1920 in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On July 16, 2019, at the London site where A. Bell Booksellers published Wheatley's first book in September 1773 (8 Aldgate, now the location of the Dorsett City Hotel), the unveiling took place of a commemorative blue plaque honoring her, organized by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Black History Walks.
Wheatley is the subject of a project and play by British-Nigerian writer Ade Solanke entitled Phillis in London, which was showcased at the Greenwich Book Festival in June 2018.
See also
African-American literature
AALBC.com
Elijah McCoy
Phillis Wheatley Club
Slave narrative
References
Further reading
Primary materials
Wheatley, Phillis (1988). John C. Shields, ed. The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wheatley, Phillis (2001). Vincent Carretta, ed. Complete Writings. New York: Penguin Books.
Biographies
Borland, (1968). Phillis Wheatley: Young Colonial Poet. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Carretta, Vincent (2011). Phillis Wheatley: Biography of A Genius in Bondage Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2003). The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers, New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Richmond, M. A. (1988). Phillis Wheatley. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
Secondary materials
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phillis Wheatley," In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: p. 1606.
Barker-Benfield, Graham J. Phillis Wheatley Chooses Freedom: History, Poetry, and the Ideals of the American Revolution (NYU Press, 2018).
Bassard, Katherine Clay (1999). Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women's Writing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chowdhury, Rowshan Jahan. "Restriction, Resistance, and Humility: A Feminist Approach to Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley’s Literary Works." Crossings 10 (2019) 47–56 online
Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 2009.
Langley, April C. E. (2008). The Black Aesthetic Unbound: Theorizing the Dilemma of Eighteenth-century African American Literature. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Ogude, S. E. (1983). Genius in Bondage: A Study of the Origins of African Literature in English. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press.
Reising, Russel J. (1996). Loose Ends: Closure and Crisis in the American Social Text. Durham: Duke University Press.
Robinson, William Henry (1981). Phillis Wheatley: A Bio-bibliography. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1982). Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. Boston: GK Hall.
Robinson, William Henry (1984). Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. New York: Garland.
Shockley, Ann Allen (1988). Afro-American Women Writers, 1746–1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide. Boston: GK Hall.
Waldstreicher, David. "The Wheatleyan Moment." Early American Studies (2011): 522–551. online
Waldstreicher, David. "Ancients, Moderns, and Africans: Phillis Wheatley and the Politics of Empire and Slavery in the American Revolution." Journal of the Early Republic 37.4 (2017): 701–733. online
Zuck, Rochelle Raineri. "Poetic Economics: Phillis Wheatley and the Production of the Black Artist in the Early Atlantic World." Ethnic Studies Review 33.2 (2010): 143–168 online.
Poetry (inspired by Wheatley)
Clarke, Alison (2020). Phillis. University of Calgary Press.
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne (2020). The Age of Phillis. Wesleyan University Press.
External links
"Phillis Wheatley" National Women's History Museum
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Phillis Wheatley collection, 1757–1773
1753 births
1784 deaths
Deaths in childbirth
American women poets
American people of Senegalese descent
American people of Gambian descent
American Congregationalists
Cultural history of Boston
Writers from Boston
People of colonial Massachusetts
People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
African-American women writers
African-American poets
Colonial American poets
18th-century American poets
People from colonial Boston
African-American Christians
18th-century American women writers
Free Negroes
Black Patriots
18th-century African-American women
Literate American slaves
Colonial American expatriates in Great Britain | false | [
"María Teresa Sesé (born 4 October 1917) is a Spanish writer. Often regarded as one of the most prolific and popular writers in Spain, she is known for over 500 romance novels which were published between 1940 and 1975. She wrote most of her books in Spanish, but after studying Basque for two years, she wrote books in that language. Her works have been translated and republished in several languages.\n\nLife\nMaría Teresa Sesé Lazcano was born on 4 October 1917 in San Sebastián, Spain, to an Aragonese father and a Biscayan mother. From her 20s, she began writing in Spanish and French. In 1940, her first novel Un padrino despreocupado (A carefree godfather) was published by Pueyo publishers. Her subsequent works were published by Editorial Bruguera. Between 1940 and 1975, she published over 500 romance novels, often completing one novel every week. Owing to the large number of books she wrote and published in the 35 years, she is often regarded as \"the other Corín Tellado\".\n\nSesé became one of the most prolific and most popular romance fiction writers in Spain. Her works have been published over 1000 times and translated into several languages. She did not regard her own work as valuable except that it allowed her to earn a living. Most of her works are set in her hometown San Sebastián. Although she published books in Spanish, she later turned her attention to Basque. After studying Basque for two years, she wrote some short story collections in that language. She signed her later novels as Maite Lazcano, and wrote a few stories in Basque under the pen name Maite Lazkano. \n\nSesé turned 100 in October 2017.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMaría Teresa Sesé at BiblioRomance with list of works\nMaite Lazcano at BiblioRomance with list of works\nSese's works in the catalogue of the Biblioteca Nacional de España\n\n1917 births\nLiving people\nPeople from San Sebastián\nSpanish novelists\nSpanish women novelists\nSpanish romantic fiction writers\nWomen romantic fiction writers\n20th-century Spanish novelists\n20th-century women writers\n21st-century Spanish novelists\n21st-century women writers\n20th-century Spanish women\nSpanish centenarians\nWomen centenarians",
"Cris Peter (June 15, 1983) is a Brazilian colorist. She works mainly in the American comics market for publishers like DC Comics and Marvel Comics. She was nominated for the Eisner Award for her colors in comic series Casanova. She also did the colors of important Brazilian comics, as Astronauta – Magnetar (with Danilo Beyruth, published by Panini Comics) and Petals (with Gustavo Borges, published by Marsupial Editora). In 2013, she published the theoretical book O Uso das Cores (The Use of Colors), by Marsupial Editora. She won the Troféu HQ Mix in 2016 and 2017, in the category \"Best Colorist\".\n\nReferences \n\nBrazilian female comics artists\n1983 births\nLiving people\nComics colorists\nPrêmio Angelo Agostini winners"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion"
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ? | 1 | What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Therela Grama Niladhari Division is a Grama Niladhari Division of the Madulla Divisional Secretariat of Moneragala District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. It has Grama Niladhari Division Code 113D.\n\nTherela is a surrounded by the Dambagalla, Ellekona, Obbegoda, Iluklanda, Pagura and Galbokka Grama Niladhari Divisions.\n\nDemographics\n\nEthnicity \n\nThe Therela Grama Niladhari Division has a Sinhalese majority (99.4%). In comparison, the Madulla Divisional Secretariat (which contains the Therela Grama Niladhari Division) has a Sinhalese majority (99.9%)\n\nReligion \n\nThe Therela Grama Niladhari Division has a Buddhist majority (99.5%). In comparison, the Madulla Divisional Secretariat (which contains the Therela Grama Niladhari Division) has a Buddhist majority (99.4%)\n\nGrama Niladhari Divisions of Madulla Divisional Secretariat\n\nReferences",
"Palagama Grama Niladhari Division is a Grama Niladhari Division of the Homagama Divisional Secretariat of Colombo District of Western Province, Sri Lanka . It has Grama Niladhari Division Code 599.\n\nPalagama is a surrounded by the Welmilla, Kidelpitiya West, Ambalangoda, Heraliyawala and weniwelkola Grama Niladhari Divisions.\n\nDemographics\n\nEthnicity \n\nThe Palagama Grama Niladhari Division has a Sinhalese majority (98.9%) . In comparison, the Homagama Divisional Secretariat (which contains the Palagama Grama Niladhari Division) has a Sinhalese majority (98.1%)\n\nReligion \n\nThe Palagama Grama Niladhari Division has a Buddhist majority (97.6%) . In comparison, the Homagama Divisional Secretariat (which contains the Palagama Grama Niladhari Division) has a Buddhist majority (96.2%)\n\nGrama Niladhari Divisions of Homagama Divisional Secretariat\n\nReferences"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada"
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | How many of them are Buddhists ? | 2 | How many of the Sinhalese are Buddhists ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | false | [
"Marathi Buddhists () are Buddhists of Marathi ethnic and linguistic identity. The religious community resides in the Indian state of Maharashtra. They speak Marathi as their mother-tongue (first language). The Marathi Buddhist community is the largest Buddhist community in India. According to the 2011 Indian census, Marathi Buddhists constitute 5.81% of the population in Maharashtra, which is 77% of the total Buddhist population in India.\n\nHistory\n\nAlmost all Marathi Buddhists belong to the Navayana tradition, a 20th-century Buddhist revival movement in India that received its most substantial impetus from B. R. Ambedkar who called for the conversion to Buddhism by rejecting the caste-based society of Hinduism, that considered them to be the lowest in the hierarchy.\n\nB. R. Ambedkar publicly converted on 14 October 1956, at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, over 20 years after he declared his intent to convert. He converted approximately 600,000 people to Buddhism. The conversion ceremony was attended by Medharathi, his main disciple Bhoj Dev Mudit, and Mahastvir Bodhanand's Sri Lankan successor, Bhante Pragyanand. Ambedkar asked Dalits not to get entangled in the existing branches of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana), and called his version Navayana or 'Neo-Buddhism'. Ambedkar would die less than two months later, just after finishing his definitive work on Buddhism. Many Buddhists employ the term \"Ambedkarite Buddhism\" to designate the Buddhist movement, which started with Ambedkar's conversion. Converted people call themselves \"-Bauddha\" i.e. Buddhists.\n\nPopulation\n\nAlmost all Marathi Buddhists are converts from Hinduism. Most Buddhist Marathi people belong to the former Mahar community who adopted Buddhism with Ambedkar in 1956.\n\nIn the 1951 census of India, In Maharashtra, 2,487 (0.01%) respondents said they were Buddhist. The 1961 census, taken after B. R. Ambedkar adopted Navayana Buddhism with his millions of followers in 1956, showed an increased to 2,789,501 (7.05%).\n\nMarathi Buddhists account for 77.36% of all Buddhists in India. According to the 2011 Census of India there are 6.5 million Buddhists in Maharashtra but Buddhist leaders claim there are about 10 to 12 million Buddhists in Maharashtra. Among cities Mumbai has largest Buddhist population accounting for 4.85% of total Mumbai population. Almost 90 per cent of Navayana Buddhists live in the state. 5,204,284 (79.68%) Marathi Buddhists belong to the Scheduled Caste category.\n\nNotable Marathi Buddhists\n\nCulture\n\nFestivals\n Buddha Purnima, public holiday in Maharashtra\n Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, public holiday in Maharashtra\n Dhammachakra Pravartan Day, public holiday in Maharashtra\n Vesak, public holiday in Maharashtra\n\nSee also\n Dalit Buddhist movement\n Marathi people\n Religion in Maharashtra\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Indian Buddhist Data from the 1951 census to the 2011 census\n\nAmbedkarites\nBuddhism in Maharashtra\nBuddhist communities of India\nDemographics of India\nNavayana Buddhists\nSocial groups of Maharashtra",
"Buddhism in Finland represents a very small percentage of that nation's religious practices. In 2015 there were estimated less than 10 000 followers of Buddhism in Finland. It's, however, hard to evaluate the exact amount of the Buddhists as many donations officially belong to a religious congregation and some of them are registered as associations rather than congregations. Furthermore, it's hard to say how many people are born into the religion and how many converts there are. \n\nThe world's northernmost stupa, and the only one in Finland, is located in Siikainen.\n\nThere are Buddhist centers and temples throughout the country. In total there are around 40 different organisations. For example Diamond Way Buddhism Finland has four centers in Helsinki, Lahti, Tampere and Turku. The very first Buddhist monastery, Liên Tâm Monastery, in Finland was inaugurated in Moisio in 2015. Another monastery was founded in Kuopio in 2019.\n\nFinnish Buddhist Union is loosely organized umbrella organisation of different Buddhist associations and congregations in Finland.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Buddhism and Nordland\n The Early History of Buddhism in Finland Parts I & II by Alpo Ratia\nBuddhalaisuus.fi\n\nFin \nBud\n\nBuddhism in Finland"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist."
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ? | 3 | For the remaining non-Buddhist 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | Hindus | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Kinnaraya or Kinnarayo also Kinnara are a social group or caste amongst the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. Like the Burakumin of Japan and Paraiyar of the Tamil Nadu state in South India, they were segregated from the mainstream society yet played a vital role as mat weavers for the mainstream community.\n\nOrigins\nAs the mainstream Sinhalese speakers claim North Indian ethnic origins the presence of many South Indian type functional Jatis like the Kinnaraya indicate a complex migration history from India to Sri Lanka. But Kinnarayas do indicate vestiges of tribal origins like the other formerly untouchable caste of Rodiyas. Although they have become part and parcel of the caste structure albeit with a primary function associated with mat weaving. They are also used as agricultural workers, weavers and domestic help throughout the country.\n\nRoots\nSome anthropologists believe that the early society of Sri Lanka looked to neighboring South India for manpower to fulfill functional needs as land was cleared and many new villages found. Also the indigenous people of Sri Lanka known in the legends as Yakkas and Nagas also fused with the caste structure usually at the bottom as marginal people providing needed support services for survival as their habitats were cleared or simply taken over. Unlike other functional Sinhalese castes in Sri Lanka there is anecdotal evidence that along with Rodiyas, that Kinnaras were an indigenous tribal group that eventually became a Dalit-like caste.\n\nEtymology of Kinnaraya\nThe etymology of the word Kinnara is complex and number of theories abound. But it is not clear how this early Vedic word or word similar to it came to describe this insignificant community. Most Hindu and Buddhist literature around the world have differing meaning for this word.\n\nSub divisions\nThere used to be many totemic or clan likes subdivisions within the caste that are not attested in known literature.\n\nRole in folk religion\nAlthough great many Sinhalese purport to profess the conservative Theravada Buddhism there is a thriving belief in Demons, Spirits, Hindu Gods and connected rituals such as spirit possession, cursing ceremonies throughout the country also referred as the Spirit Religion or Folk Tradition. As a marginal people, the role played by Kinnaraya in this folk tradition is not well documented. The community is noted for its performances of Sokari, the comic opera performed on the kamatha threshing floor in honor of goddess Pattini and god Kataragama. Despite harsh economic conditions, the Kinnarayas still preserve a sizable share of the island's indigenous heritage.\n\nCurrent status\nAs a numerically small and culturally insignificant community they have not been able to upgrade their social position in the society. Many still languish at the bottom as agricultural workers, army recruits to the front line in the civil war since the Black July pogroms, domestic workers and as overseas maids in the Middle East whose hard earned foreign exchange is vital for the economic wellbeing of the country.\n\nExternal links\n Indigenous Lanka: Consensus for Survival\n Introduction, Craft History, Developments Since Independence\nSinghalesische Kasten German article\nCaste amongst the Sinhalese\n\nDalit communities\nSinhalese castes",
"Eclectic Paganism, also occasionally termed Universalist or Non-denominational Paganism, is a form of modern Paganism where practitioners blend paganism with aspects of other religions or philosophies. In the book Handbook of New Age, Melissa Harrington states that \"Eclectic Pagans do not follow any particular Paganism, but follow a Pagan religious path, that includes the overall Pagan ethos of reverence for the ancient Gods, participation in a magical world view, stewardship and caring for the Earth, and 'nature religion.'\" The practice of Eclectic Paganism is particularly popular with Pagans in North America and the British Isles.\n\nEclectic Paganism contrasts with Reconstructionist Paganism: whereas reconstructionists strive for authenticity to historical religious traditions of specific groups or time periods, the eclectic approach borrows from several different cultures, philosophies, and time periods.\n\nSome see benefits and drawbacks to the eclectic pagan label. It is broad and allows for various practices and beliefs and without concrete rules, practitioners can explore various religions, philosophies, practices, and cultures while remaining within the bounds of the label. Some also create their own beliefs, philosophies, and rules. This label may also be confusing, and some do not approve of blurring the lines between cultures, leading to accusations of cultural misappropriation.\n\nUse of Social Media \n\nThe use of social media within eclectic paganism is very common. Within cultures where pagan or occult beliefs and practices are a minority, social media can provide a safe haven for learning and discussion; and social media allows for the creation of pagan communities. With the advent of social media, information can be reached by anyone, rather than being passed down through oral traditions and within families or covens, as was traditionally common. These communities are vast and can incorporate multiple religions, traditions, and cultures; though some have been accused of misappropriating other cultures. \n\nWithin this community, \"witchy aesthetic\" has been portrayed by some as the norm, or even as correct. Some criticize this as undermining the beliefs of individuals and believe that it shows an inaccurate description of the concept to outside people.\n\nSee also\n Neopaganism in the United Kingdom\n Neopaganism in the United States\n Cultural appropriation\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nEclectic Pagans\nEclectic Traditions \n\nModern Pagan traditions"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist.",
"For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ?",
"Hindus"
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | Any other religions they believe in ? | 4 | Any other religions other than Buddhism and Hinduism the Sinhalese believe in ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Aside from a mutual belief in the Old Testament, Judaism and Rastafari closely align in essence, tradition, and heritage, as both are Abrahamic religions. However, the philosophy behind many customs is what truly differentiates the two religions. There are stark differences in some core beliefs in regards to the messianic prophecies, apprehensions behind traditions, and even dietary restrictions. However, they are more similar rather than different on a vast spectrum of ideas, values and ethics.\n\nMessianic prophecies \nA primary comparison to make between Rastafari and Judaism is that both religions believe that there will be a coming of the Messiah, although they don't agree on who that Messiah is or will be. In the Jewish religion \"The Messiah will indeed be a king from the house of David who will gather the scattered of Israel together, but the order of the world will not be radically changed by his coming.\"\n\nThis is in contrast to Nyabinghi and Bobo Ashanti belief, in which they believe Jesus, in the form of Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930-1974, is their Messiah; and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who believe that Selassie was simply a divinely-appointed monarch and Jesus Himself is the Messiah (or Messiyah). Many Rastafari believe Haile Selassie's lineage can be traced back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and is thusly known as the Solomonic dynasty. The perspective on the coming of the Messiah in Judaism are akin to that of Rastafari in that, \"The Messiah will indeed be a king from the house of David who will gather the scattered of Israel together, but the order of the world will not be radically changed by his coming.\" In addition to the belief that all Jewish people across the globe will become docile to the teachings of the Torah, is the prophecy of world peace and order.\n\nThe root of the Rastafari Messianic belief came from Marcus Garvey's prophecy in which he states \"Look to Africa where a black king shall be crowned, he shall be the Redeemer.\" The rise of Halie Selassie's reign came promptly after Marcus Garvey's remarks, validating his prophecy and granting Selassie with the divine title of \"God of the Black race\" among some Rastafari.\n\nJewish vs. Rastafari laws \nSince both Rastafari and Jews use the Old Testament as their holy scripture, they both follow more or less the same principles, ideals, values and ethics as one another. However, Rastafari don't practice all the laws in the Old Testament, but rather pick and choose which laws to obey. An example of a law both Rastafari and Jews follow would be the restriction of any alterations to the hair. It is said in Leviticus 19:27, \"Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.\" In Leviticus 21:5,\"They shall not make any baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh.\" And finally Numbers 6:5, \"All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he spareth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.\" This explains the long sideburns and beards of religious Jews as well as the dreadlocks associated with observant Rastafari.\n\nReferences\n\nJudaism and other religions\nRastafari",
"Godianism (also called Chiism) is a neo-Traditional new religious movement which was established in 1948 or 1949 in Nigeria and originally known as the National Church. It propagates an intellectual awakening of the African people and traditional African religions, aspecially Igbo faiths, as a world religion. The Organization of Traditional Religions of Africa (OTRA) is pan-African association which affiliated with the movement. \"It is known for its promotion of world peace.\"\n\nHistory\nThe founder and Supreme Spiritual Teacher (Chief) of Godianism was Ahanyi, Kalu Onu Kama Onyioha. His stated intention was to correct the notion that traditional African religions are \"pagan\".\n\nThe religion has since spread to other parts of West Africa, particularly Ghana. Vincent Kwabena Damuah, a former Catholic priest, and former member of the Provisional National Defence Council of Ghana after the coup by Jerry Rawlings in 1982, wrote a booklet entitled Miracle at the shrine: Religious and Revolutionary miracle in Ghana, under the name Osofo Okomfo Damuah, to help spread the new faith in Ghana.\n\nSince its inception in Nigeria during the fight for independence from Great Britain, Godianism has changed from a movement founded with pronounced political motives to a movement with strong cultural and philosophical aspects.\n\nPrinciples\n\nThe religion holds that Chineke is the creator of the universe. Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria believe the Igbo language as being one of the languages used by Chineke with which to communicate with mortals, including in the faith's book, called the Nkomii. The major Abrahamic faiths, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are all said to be derived from the original teachings contained in this book.\n\nThe purpose of Godianism is to rejuvenate the person spiritually to enable them to exist in harmony with the rest of humanity. Adherents of Godianism believe that the movement will help African people to rejuvenate themselves in unity and solidarity. It preaches a message of universal unity and its philosophy is \"biri ka'm biri\" ([live and let live]). Godianism intends to bring this necessary harmony first to the people of Africa and subsequently to the world.\n\nBeliefs on appearance \nThe physical bearing of a person is not only the prima facie evidence of the complexion of that person's heart, but also offers them the first attraction for acceptance into a harmonious relationship with others in society. It is a cardinal point in the aesthetics of Godianism that all Godians must at all times turn out neat. Clothings are to be well washed and clean, the hair on the head should be well-cut, and the beard should be clean-shaven. The Godian must observe proper hygiene and impeccable sanitation for his surroundings. The Godian woman must have her hair neatly plaited or set. It is believed that it would be undermining the objective of Godianism to promote harmonious relationships among men if Godians had a dirty appearance.\n\nIn efforts of Godianism to promote harmony among humanity every Chiist (Godian) encourages their neighbour to embrace personal cleanliness, and to refrain from habits such as smoking and excessive drinking of intoxicants.\n\nThe Chiist (Godian) creed \n\nThe entire spirit, philosophy and purpose of Godianism are compressed into the following creed of the Godian Religion:\n I believe in the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and Earth, as my source of inspiration, strength and as my protector.\n I believe in the universal brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of one God; love your neighbor as you love yourself; do unto others as you would want others to do unto you; thou shall not kill; thou shall not steal; thou shall not commit adultery; thou shall not lie; and in respect and obedience to elders, just laws, and in retributive justice.\n I believe that every human being, consciously or unconsciously, looks up to something above him as his source of inspiration, and that \"something\" is the Almighty God.\n I believe that the Almighty God made the world a paradise of happiness for humanity but that man has made the world a hell for himself by too much quarrels with his fellow man over methods of God-worship.\n I believe that the Kingdom of Heaven on earth shall come when man learns to quarrel no more with his fellow man on the excuse of difference in methods of God-worship.\n I believe that religious concepts are inspired by man's desire to offer thanks to God for His goodness to humanity.\n I believe that every human being has his own way, organized or unorganized, systematized or unsystematized, of expressing the necessary gratitude to God, and that in this fact every human being satisfies the purpose of religion or God-worship.\n I believe that there is no sense in quarreling with my fellow man over his religious doctrine, belief or methods of God-worship that differ from my own manner of satisfying the common purpose of thanksgiving to the Almighty.\n I believe that to base association of man with man, nation with nation, on the ground of common religion and faith, is sheer folly.\n I believe that every man should have the right to worship God in the way he understands best, without bitterness.\n I believe that any attempt to force man directly or indirectly to accept any particular faith, religious doctrine or method of God-worship rumples social harmony.\n I believe that organized religious bodies as they are known in the world today, though the fundamental principles underlying their purposes are good, have, by each in its way canvassing to have all men embrace its doctrines, aroused unhealthy competition and mutual jealousy among themselves and blown the world into tumultuous asylum of warring religious factions.\n I believe that if the universal brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God shall be a reality, if the Kingdom of God shall come, the traditional African attitude of live and let live in all matters of religion is the indispensable catalyst.\n I believe that deification of man has given source to the formation of the many religious organizations now competing and quarreling with one another, each in frantic attempts to get everybody to accept and hallow the man it has deified as the only son, holy prophet, and only medium through whom God's mercy and blessings should be invoked.\n I believe that the practice of deification of man shall continue to be the source of disharmony in matters of God-worship unless it is stopped.\n I believe that to deify any person born of woman or to accept and hallow anyone so deified is conspiracy against social harmony and sinful contempt for the very sanctity of God.\n I believe that to end deification of man and hang religion directly on God is to end proliferation of religions and religious quarrels and in return peace among men.\n I believe that the Creed of Godian Religion represents a new religious civilization which needs to be propagated to save human society from total destruction.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \n Gerrie ter Haar (2000). World Religions and Community Religions: Where does Africa fit in?, Center for Afrikastudier, Københavns Universitet]\n\nExternal links \n \nGeneral information on Chiism from Godianism.org\n\nTraditional African religions\nMonotheistic religions\nNew religious movements\nReligious organizations based in Nigeria\nReligious organizations established in 1948\n1948 establishments in Nigeria"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist.",
"For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ?",
"Hindus",
"Any other religions they believe in ?",
"Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices."
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Are there any other interesting aspects about the article aside from the religious details? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist.",
"For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ?",
"Hindus",
"Any other religions they believe in ?",
"Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices."
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | Which traditions did Buddhists adapt from Hindus ? | 6 | Which traditions did Buddhists adapt from Hindus ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | false | [
"Malaun () is a pejorative term for Bengali Hindus, most commonly used in Bangladesh. The word is derived from the Arabic \"ملعون\", meaning \"accursed\" or \"deprived of God's Mercy\", and in modern times, it is used as an ethnic slur by the Muslims in Bengal region for Hindus.\n\nEtymology \n\nThe Arabic word \"ملعون\" (mal'un), literally meaning 'cursed' is derived from the root \"لعنة\" (la'nat) meaning \"curse\". In Islamic parlance, it means 'deprived of Allah's mercy'. The word has been loaned into languages of non-Arabic Islamic countries like Malay and Indonesian. The dictionary published by the Bangla Academy gives the meaning of the Bengali word \"মালাউন\" as someone cursed or deprived of Allah's mercy or forcefully evicted or a Kafir. It mentions that the word is used as a slur by the Muslims against the non-Muslims. In Bangladesh, the word is more specifically used to refer to the Hindu religious minority. In colloquial usage, the word is sometimes shortened to Malu.\n\nUsage \nNirmal Kumar Bose noted the usage of the term as early as 1946 in Noakhali. During the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide, the Pakistani officers addressed Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev as malaun before executing him. According to eyewitness, AKM Yusuf had addressed a gathering of Peace Committee at Rampal in Khulna district on 19 April. At the gathering he addressed the Hindus as malauns and the Hindu women as spoils of war and exhorted the audience to kill them and loot their women. Hussain Muhammad Ershad, while serving as the President, had referred to the Hindus as malaun at a rally in Chhatak. He apologized for his remark after protests from the Hindus.\n\nIn December 2013, Ganajagaran Mancha presented a deputation to the Home Ministry complaining about police torture. The deputation alleged that on 19 December 2013 the police abused a Hindu woman activist as malaun because she had put sindur. In December 2014, Nasiruddin Pintu, a convicted BNP politician, abused a Bengali Hindu police officer by calling him a malaun when he attempted to stop his lawyers and supporters from meeting Pintu illegally. Pintu threatened the officer with loss of job and called him son of a pig. In January 2015, Awami League workers Shahnawaz abused fellow Awami League worker Sushanta Dasgupta at a party function in London.\n\nIn the Internet, a Jamaat-e-Islami run handle named Basher Kella has given the call for killing all the malauns and turning Bangladesh into a country where only the Muslims will live.\n\nSee also \n Other pejorative terms for Hindus\n Kafir\n Keling\n\n Persecution of Hindus and Buddhists in Bangladesh\n 1962 Rajshahi massacres\n 1964 East-Pakistan riots\n 1971 Bangladesh genocide\n Operation Searchlight\n Chuknagar massacre\n Jathibhanga massacre\n Shankharipara massacre\n Razakar \n 1989 Bangladesh pogroms\n 1990 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence\n 1992 Bangladesh violence\n 2012 Chirirbandar violence\n 2012 Fatehpur violence\n 2012 Hathazari violence\n 2012 Ramu violence\n 2013 Bangladesh Anti-Hindu violence\n 2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence\n 2016 Nasirnagar Violence\n Noakhali riots \n Persecution of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh\n Persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh\n Persecution of Buddhists in Bangladesh\n Persecution of Chakma buddhists\n\n Persecution of other non-Muslims in Bangladesh\n Persecution of Ahmadis in Bangladesh\n Persecution of Christians in Bangladesh\n Persecution of atheists and secularists in Bangladesh\n Freedom of religion in Bangladesh\n\nReferences \n\nEthnic and religious slurs\nAnti–South Asian slurs\nAnti-Hindu sentiment\nPersecution of Bengali Hindus\nHate speech\nCurses\nIslamism in Bangladesh\nRacism in Bangladesh",
"In 1991, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh. They recorded data from all of the districts and upazilas and main cities in Bangladesh including statistical data on population size, households, sex and age distribution, marital status, economically active population, literacy and educational attainment, religion, number of children etc. According to the census, Hindus were 10.5 per cent of the population, down from 12.1 per cent as of 1981.\n\nBangladesh have a population of 106,314,992 as per 1991 census report. Majority of 93,886,769 reported that they were Muslims, 11,184,337 reported as Hindus, 616,626 as Buddhists, 350,839 as Christians and 276,418 as others.\n\nSee also \n Demographics of Bangladesh\n 2001 Bangladesh census\n 2011 Bangladesh census\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, \"Census Reports: Population Census-2001\", 2001. The 1991 census figures can be seen compared to the 2001 census.\n\nCensuses in Bangladesh\nBangladesh\nCensus"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist.",
"For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ?",
"Hindus",
"Any other religions they believe in ?",
"Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices.",
"Which traditions did Buddhists adapt from Hindus ?",
"traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings"
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | Did they adopt anything from Christianity? | 7 | Did Sinhalese Buddhists adopt anything from Christianity? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Protestantism is a small minority faith in overwhelmingly Muslim Saudi Arabia. \nThe number of adherents of Protestantism is estimated at above 100,000, even though many of them are unaffiliated. \nPublic practice of Christian religion is prohibited. However, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt the Protestant Christian faith, secretly declaring his/her faith. In effect, they are practising Protestants, but legally Muslims. A 2015 study estimates some 60,000 believers in Christ from a Muslim background. Most of these subscribe to some form of evangelical or charismatic Christianity.\n\nSee also \nChristianity in Saudi Arabia\nRoman Catholicism in Saudi Arabia\n\nReferences \n\n \nChristianity in Saudi Arabia",
"George Frederick Pentecost (1842–1920) was a prominent American evangelist and co-worker with Revivalist D.L. Moody.\n\nBiography \nHe was born September 23, 1842 in Albion, Illinois to Hugh Lockett and Emma Flower Pentecost, who was the daughter of Albion's founder George Flower (1788–1862). George's brother, Hugh O. Pentecost, was also a minister and activist.\n\nPentecost responded to Hindu criticism of slums, saying \"Some of the brahmans of India have dared to make an attack upon Christianity. They take the slums of New York and Chicago and ask us why we do not cure ourselves. They take what is outside the pale of Christianity and judge Christianity by it.\"\n\nPentecost spoke against the behavior of westerners in Asian countries.\n\nPentecost spoke out against western imperialism in Asian countries and asserted that the actions of western nations did not come from Christianity.\n\nHe died August 7, 1920, in New York while travelling to preach. He had pastored Congregational, Baptist and Presbyterian Churches, latterly Bethany Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.\n\nSee also \n Religious views on smoking § Christianity\n\nReferences \n\n George F Pentecost DD: A Biographical Sketch with Bible Readings and Experiences with Inquirers. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1882.\n\nAmerican evangelists\n1920 deaths\n1842 births\nPeople from Albion, Illinois"
]
|
[
"Sinhalese people",
"Religion",
"What is the religion of the Sinhalese people ?",
"The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada",
"How many of them are Buddhists ?",
"almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist.",
"For the remaining 7%, What religions do Sinhalese people also believe in ?",
"Hindus",
"Any other religions they believe in ?",
"Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices.",
"Which traditions did Buddhists adapt from Hindus ?",
"traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings",
"Did they adopt anything from Christianity?",
"Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups"
]
| C_6531bbbb4dba4483bed9d12220555c4f_0 | Did some Sinhalese people convert to Christianity ? | 8 | Did some Sinhalese people convert to Christianity ? | Sinhalese people | The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhalese speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that Sinhalese as a religious community have complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. This can lead to the opinion that Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits, worship of deities and godlings and some figures appear to demons. Some of these demonic figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism. There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhala Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo. Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives. CANNOTANSWER | Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. | Sinhalese people () are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people (). They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and
other religions. Since 1815, they were broadly divided into two respective groups: The 'Up-country Sinhalese' in the central mountainous regions, and the 'Low-country Sinhalese' in the coastal regions; although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs.
According to the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura led by Prince Vijaya who mixed with the indigenous Yakka and later settlers from the Pandya kingdom.
Etymology
From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning literally "of lions".
The Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king who mentioned in the documentary history of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning 'Sinha' (lion) + 'bahu' (hands, feet), the ruler of Sinhapura. Some versions suggest Vijaya is the grandson of Sinhabahu. According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of Vanga, who copulated with a lion and gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, Sinhabahu, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, the lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese.
The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. According to Arisen Ahubudu, there were four major clans of "hela" in ancient Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, and that Sri Lanka was called as "Siv hela" (siv=four in the Sinhala language) and later it was changed into "Sinhala".
History
The early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the later Culavamsa (the first segment probably penned in the 13th century CE by the Buddhist monk Dhammakitti). These are ancient sources that cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.
Pre Anuradhapura period
According to Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Puttalam, south of modern-day Mannar and founded the Kingdom of Thambapanni. It is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent.
At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara.
Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the prime minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni.
Anuradhapura period
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura (Anurapura) was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there. The name was also derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs who ruled from the dynasty.
Rulers such as Dutthagamani, Valagamba, and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, and Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince.
Polonnaruwa period
During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under king Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east.
Transitional period
Later in the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into independent kingdoms and chieftaincies: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte, Jaffna Kingdom and the Kandyan kingdom. The invasion by the Hindu king Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Buddhists (mostly Sinhalese) to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI, a Sinhalese king invaded the Jaffna Kingdom and conquered it, bringing the entire country back under the Sinhalese kingdom. Trade also increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island.
In the 15th century a Kandyan Kingdom formed which divided the Sinhalese politically into low-country and up-country. In this period, the Sinhalese caste structure absorbed recent Dravidian Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups - the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.
Modern history
The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a slow pace relative to India and other Asian countries.
Society
Demographics
Sri Lanka
Within Sri Lanka the majority of the Sinhalese reside in the South, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western parts of the country. This coincides with the largest Sinhalese populations areas in Sri Lanka. Cities with more than 90% Sinhalese population include Hambantota, Galle, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
Diaspora
Sinhalese people have emigrated out to many countries for a variety of reasons. The larger diaspora communities are situated in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada among others. In addition to this there are many Sinhalese, who reside in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe, temporarily in connection with employment and/or education. They are often employed as guest workers in the Middle East and professionals in the other regions.
The largest population centres of the Sinhalese diaspora are mainly situated in Europe, North America and Australia. The city of Melbourne contains just under half of the Sri Lankan Australians. The 2011 census recorded 86,412 Sri Lanka born in Australia. There are 73,849 Australians (0.4 of the population) who reported having Sinhalese ancestry in 2006. Sinhala was also reported to be the 29th-fastest-growing language in Australia (ranking above Somali but behind Hindi and Belarusian). Sinhalese Australians have an exceptionally low rate of return migration to Sri Lanka. In the 2011 Canadian Census, 7,220 people identified themselves as of Sinhalese ancestry, out of 139,415 Sri Lankans. There are a small number of Sinhalese people in India, scattered around the country, but mainly living in and around the northern and southern regions. Sri Lankan New Zealanders comprised 3% of the Asian population of New Zealand in 2001. The numbers arriving continued to increase, and at the 2018 census there were over 16,000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand among those 9,171 were Sinhalese.
In the U.S, the Sinhalese number about 12,000 people. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, receiving the highest legal permanent resident Sri Lankan immigrant population, followed by Central New Jersey and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many Sinhalese have migrated to Italy since the 1970s. Italy was attractive to the Sinhalese due to perceived easier employment opportunities and entry, compared to other European countries. It is estimated that there are 30,000-33,000 Sinhalese in Italy. The major Sinhalese communities in Italy are located in Lombardia (In the districts Loreto and Lazzaretto), Milan, Lazio, Rome, Naples, and Southern Italy (Particularly Palermo, Messina and Catania). It should be noted however that many countries census list Sri Lankan which also includes Sri Lankan Tamils so the numbers of just Sinhalese are not as accurate when the census states Sri Lankan and not Sinhalese. Though Sinhalese people in particular and Sri Lankans in general have migrated to the UK over the centuries beginning from the colonial times, the number of Sinhalese people in the UK cannot be estimated accurately due to inadequacies of census in the UK. The UK government does not record statistics on the basis of language or ethnicity and all Sri Lankans are classified into one group as Asian British or Asian Other.
Language and literature
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa"; this language has two varieties, spoken and written. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language within the broader group of Indo-European languages. The early form of the language was brought to Sri Lanka by the ancestors of the Sinhalese people from northern India who settled on the island in the 6th century BCE. Sinhala developed in a way different from the other Indo-Aryan languages because of the geographic separation from its Indo-Aryan sister languages. It was influenced by many languages, prominently Pali, the sacred language of Southern Buddhism, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many early texts in the language such as the Hela Atuwa were lost after their translation into Pali. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amāvatura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeniya. Sinhala has also adopted many loanwords of foreign origin, including from many Indian such as Tamil and European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
Sandesha Kavyas written by Buddhist priests of Sri Lanka are regarded as some of the most sophisticated and versatile works of literature in the world. The Sinhala language was mainly inspired by Sanskrit and Pali, and many words of the Sinhala language derive from these languages. Today some English words too have come in as a result of the British occupation during colonial times, and the exposure to foreign cultures through television and foreign films. Additionally many Dutch and Portuguese words can be seen in the coastal areas. Sinhalese people, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak English and or Tamil. According to the 2012 Census 23.8% or 3,033,659 Sinhalese people also spoke English and 6.4% or 812,738 Sinhalese people also spoke Tamil. In the Negombo area bilingual fishermen who generally identify themselves as Sinhalese also speak the Negombo Tamil dialect. This dialect has undergone considerable convergence with spoken Sinhala.
Folk tales like Mahadana Muttha saha Golayo and Kawate Andare continue to entertain children today. Mahadana Muttha tells the tale of a fool cum Pundit who travels around the country with his followers (Golayo) creating mischief through his ignorance. Kawate Andare tells the tale of a witty court jester and his interactions with the royal court and his son.
In the modern period, Sinhala writers such as Martin Wickremasinghe and G. B. Senanayake have drawn widespread acclaim. Other writers of repute include Mahagama Sekera and Madewela S. Ratnayake. Martin Wickramasinghe wrote the immensely popular children's novel Madol Duwa. Munadasa Cumaratunga's Hath Pana is also widely known.
Religion
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. Observations of current religious beliefs and practices demonstrate that the Sinhalese, as a religious community, have a complex worldview as Buddhists. Due to the proximity and on some occasions similarity of certain doctrines, there are many areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious views and practices. Sinhalese Buddhists have adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions in their religious practices. Some of these practices may relate to ancient indigenous beliefs and traditions on spirits (folk religion), and the worship of Hindu deities. Some of these figures are used in healing rituals and may be native to the island. Gods and goddess derived from Hindu deities are worshiped by Sinhalese. Kataragama Deviyo from Kartikeya, Upulvan from Vishnu and Ayyanayake from Aiyanar can be named as examples. Though these gods take the same place as their Hindu counterparts in mythology, some of their aspects are different compared to the original gods.
Prominent Sri Lankan anthropologists Gananath Obeyesekere and Kitsiri Malalgoda used the term "Protestant Buddhism" to describe a type of Buddhism that appeared among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka as a response to Protestant Christian missionaries and their evangelical activities during the British colonial period. This kind of Buddhism involved emulating the Protestant strategies of organising religious practices. They saw the need to establish Buddhist schools for educating Buddhist youth and organising Buddhists with new organisations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association, as well as printing pamphlets to encourage people to participate in debates and religious controversies to defend Buddhism.
Christianity
There is a significant Sinhalese Christian community, in the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. Christianity was brought to the Sinhalese by Portuguese, Dutch, and British missionary groups during their respective periods of rule. Most Sinhalese Christians are Roman Catholic; a minority are Protestant. Their cultural centre is Negombo.
Religion is considered very important among the Sinhalese. According to a 2008 Gallup poll, 99% of Sri Lankans considered religion an important aspect of their daily lives.
Genetics
Modern studies point towards a predominantly Bengali contribution and a minor Tamil influence. Gujarati and Punjabi lineages are also visible. In relation to the former, other studies also show the Sinhalese possess some genetic admixture from Southeast Asian populations, especially from Austroasiatic groups. Certain Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups and genetic markers of immunoglobulin among the Sinhalese, for example, show Southeast Asian genetic influences many of which are also found among certain Northeast Indian populations to whom the Sinhalese are genetically related.
Culture
Sinhalese culture is a unique one dating as far back as 2600 years and has been nourished by Theravada Buddhism. Its main domains are sculpture, fine arts, literature, dancing, poetry and a wide variety of folk beliefs and rituals traditionally. Ancient Sinhala stone sculpture and inscriptions are known worldwide and is a main foreign attraction in modern tourism. Sigirirya is famous for its frescoes. Folk poems were sung by workers to accompany their work and narrate the story of their lives. Ideally these poems consisted of four lines and, in the composition of these poems, special attention had been paid to the rhyming patterns. Buddhist festivals are dotted by unique music using traditionally Sinhalese instruments. More ancient rituals like (devil exorcism) continue to enthrall audiences today and often praised and invoked the good powers of the Buddha and the gods in order to exorcise the demons.
Folklore and national mythology
According to the Mahavamsa, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of seven hundred followers who arrived on the island in 543 BCE. Vijaya and his followers were said to have arrived in Sri Lanka after being exiled from the city of Sinhapura in Bengal. The modern Sinhalese people were found genetically to be most closely related to the people of North-East India (Bengal). It is thought throughout Sri Lanka's history, since the founding of the Sinhalese in the 5th century BC that an influx of Indians from North India came to the island. This is further supported from Sinhala being part of the Indo-Aryan language group.
Traditionally during recreation the Sinhalese wear a sarong (sarama in Sinhala). Men may wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sarong. Clothing varies by region for women. Low country Sinhalese women wear a white Long sleeved jacket, and a tight wrap around skirt, which usually is embedded with a floral or pattern design. As for the up country Sinhalese, women wear a similar outfit, but with a puffed up shoulder jacket, and a tucked in frill that lines the top of the skirt (Reda and Hatte in Sinhala). Traditionally, high caste Kandyan women wear a Kandyan style sari, which is similar to the Maharashtrian sari, with the drape but with a frill lining the bottom half and sometimes puffed up sleeves. It’s also called an Osariya. The low country high caste women wear a South Indian style saree. Within the more populated areas, Sinhalese men also wear Western-style clothing — wearing suits while the women wear skirts and blouses. For formal and ceremonial occasions women wear the traditional Kandyan (Osariya) style, which consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. In many occasions and functions, even the saree plays an important role in women's clothing and has become the de facto clothing for female office workers especially in government sector. An example of its use is the uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.
Cuisine
Sinhalese cuisine is one of the most complex cuisines of South Asia. As a major trade hub, it draws influence from colonial powers that were involved in Sri Lanka and by foreign traders. Rice, which is consumed daily, can be found at any occasion, while spicy curries are favourite dishes for lunch and dinner. Some of the Sri Lankan dishes have striking resemblance to Kerala cuisine, which could be due to the similar geographic and agricultural features with Kerala. A well-known rice dish with Sinhalese is Kiribath, meaning ‘milk rice’. In addition to , Sinhalese eat , chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut and red onions. Coconut milk is found in most Sri Lankan dishes to give the cuisine its unique flavour.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka. In the 15th and 16th centuries, spice and ivory traders from all over the world who came to Sri Lanka brought their native cuisines to the island, resulting in a rich diversity of cooking styles and techniques. Lamprais, rice boiled in stock with a special curry, accompanied by frikkadels (meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked as a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish. Dutch and Portuguese sweets also continue to be popular. British influences include roast beef and roast chicken. Also, the influence of the Indian cooking methods and food have played a major role in what Sri Lankans eat.
The island nation's cuisine mainly consists of boiled or steamed rice served with curry. This usually consists of a main curry of fish or chicken, as well as several other curries made with vegetables, lentils and even fruit curries. Side-dishes include pickles, chutneys and . The most famous of these is the coconut sambol, made of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice. This is ground to a paste and eaten with rice, as it gives zest to the meal and is believed to increase appetite.
Art and architecture
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs, and is represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan art are caves and temple paintings, such as the frescoes found at Sigiriya, and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian-inspired Batik have become notable. It has many different and beautiful drawings.
Developed upon Indo-Aryan architectural skills in the late 6th century BCE Sinhalese people who lived upon greater kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have built so many architectural examples such as Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya - second tallest brick building in the ancient world after Great Pyramid of Giza, and Abayagiriya - third tallest brick building in the ancient world. And also with the ancient hydraulic technology which is also unique to Sinhalese people to build ancient tanks, systematic ponds with fountains moats and Irrigational reservoirs such as Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kandalama. Sigiriya which is considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world, it is a combination of natural and man made fortress, which consists so many architectural aspects.
Music
There are extensive folk poems relating to specific jobs of the ancient society. These poems were communal songs which had a rhythm that were sung when performing day-to-day tasks like harvesting and sowing.
Concerning popular music, Ananda Samarakoon developed the reflective and poignant Sarala gee style with his work in the late 1930s/early 1940s. He has been followed by artists of repute such as Sunil Shantha, W. D. Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Nanda Malini, Victor Ratnayake, Austin Munasinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Sanath Nandasiri, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickremasinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, Malini Bulathsinghala and Edward Jayakody.
Film and theatre
Dramatist Ediriweera Sarachchandra revitalised the drama form with Maname in 1956. The same year, film director Lester James Peries created the artistic masterwork Rekava which sought to create a uniquely Sinhalese cinema with artistic integrity. Since then, Peries and other directors like Vasantha Obeysekera, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Mahagama Sekera, W. A. B. de Silva, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Sunil Ariyaratne, Siri Gunasinghe, G. D. L. Perera, Piyasiri Gunaratne, Titus Thotawatte, D. B. Nihalsinghe, Ranjith Lal, Dayananda Gunawardena, Mudalinayake Somaratne, Asoka Handagama, and Prasanna Vithanage have developed an artistic Sinhalese cinema. Sinhala cinema is often made colourful with the incorporation of songs and dance adding more uniqueness to the industry.
In the recent years high budget films like Aloko Udapadi, Aba (film) and Maharaja Gemunu based on Sinhalese epic historical stories gain huge success.
Performing arts
Performing arts of the Sinhalese people can be categorised into few groups:
Kandyan dance consist of 18 Wannam (dance routines) featuring behaviours of various animals such as elephant, eagle, cobra, monkey, peacock and rabbit, mainly performing in the annual Perahara pageant in Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy.
Pahatharata dance have a significant dancing style which is used to cure illnesses and spiritual clarification. The main feature of these dances is dancers wear masks representing various gods and demons, and use elements such as fire and water to bless people.
Sabaragamuwa dances have also a significant dancing style, mainly to entertain people.
Folk music and dances differ according to the casts of Sinhalese people and also some times regionally—mainly popular among small children, especially girls. These arts are widely performed during the Sinhalese New Year period.
Martial arts
Angampora is the traditional martial art of the Sinhalese people. It combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise and meditation. Key techniques observed in Angampora are: Angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and Illangam, which uses indigenous weapons such as Velayudaya, staves, knives and swords. Its most distinct feature is the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyse the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit. Angampora became nearly extinct after the country came under British rule in 1815, but survived in a few families until the country regained independence.
Science and education
The Sinhalese have a long history of literacy and formal learning. Instruction in basic fields like writing and reading by Buddhist Monks pre-date the birth of Christ. This traditional system followed religious rule and was meant to foster Buddhist understanding. Training of officials in such skills as keeping track of revenue and other records for administrative purposes occurred under this institution.
Technical education such as the building of reservoirs and canals was passed down from generation to generation through home training and outside craft apprenticeships.
The arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch and the subsequent colonisation maintained religion as the centre of education though in certain communities under Catholic and Presbyterian hierarchy. The British in the 1800s initially followed the same course. Following 1870 however they began a campaign for better education facilities in the region. Christian missionary groups were at the forefront of this development contributing to a high literacy among Christians.
By 1901 schools in the South and the North were well tended. The inner regions lagged behind however. Also, English education facilities presented hurdles for the general populace through fees and lack of access.
Medicine
Traditional Sinhalese villages in early days had at least one chief Medical personnel called Weda Mahaththaya (Doctor). These people practice their clinical activities by inheritance. Sinhalese Medicine resembles some of Ayurvedic practices in contrast for some treatments they use Buddhist Chantings (Pirith) in order to strengthen the effectiveness.
According to the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicle, Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (437 BC – 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and Ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifically dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. Mihintale Hospital is the oldest in the world.
See also
List of Sinhalese people
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
References
Citations
Sources
De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
External links
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Who are the Sinhalese
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in Sri Lanka
Ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean
Indo-Aryan peoples
Sinhalese diaspora
Sinhalese culture | true | [
"Bertulf may refer to:\nBertulf (archbishop of Trier) (died 883) \nSaint Bertulf of Bobbio, (died 640), German convert to Christianity\nSaint Bertulf of Renty, (died 705), German convert to Christianity",
"Martyr Evilasius (died 311) was a pagan priest who tortured a 13-year-old girl who later became Saint Fausta. Realizing her courage, he himself converted to Christianity, an act punishable by death since the people of Cyzicus did not want even one of their people to convert to any religion other than their own.\n\nReferences\n\n311 deaths\n4th-century Romans\n4th-century Christian martyrs\nConverts to Christianity from pagan religions\nAncient Roman executioners\nSaints from Roman Anatolia\nYear of birth unknown"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics"
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico? | 1 | How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Columbian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South Americans of European ancestry and those of African descent.\n\nIn Spanish, Indigenous people are often referred to as indígenas or pueblos indígenas (lit. Indigenous peoples). They may also be called pueblos nativos or nativos (lit. Native peoples). The term aborigen (lit. aborigine) is used in Argentina and pueblos aborígenes (lit. aboriginal peoples) is commonly used in Colombia. The English term \"Amerindian\" (short for \"Indians of the Americas\") is often used in the Guianas. Latin Americans of mixed European and Indigenous descent are usually referred to as mestizos (Spanish) and mestiços (Portuguese). While those of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry are referred to as zambos.\n\nIt is believed that the first human populations of South America either arrived from Asia into North America via the Bering Land Bridge and migrated southwards or alternatively from Polynesia across the Pacific. The earliest generally accepted archaeological evidence for human habitation in South America dates to 14,000 years ago, the Monte Verde site in Southern Chile. The descendants of these first inhabitants would become the indigenous populations of South America.\n\nBefore the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many of the indigenous peoples of South America were hunter-gatherers and indeed many still are, especially in the Amazonian area. Others, especially the Andean cultures, practised sophisticated agriculture, utilized advanced irrigation and kept domesticated livestock, such as llamas and alpacas.\n\nIn the present day, there are two South American countries where indigenous peoples constitute the largest ethnic group. These are Peru, where 45% are indigenous and Bolivia, where 62% of people identify as feeling a part of some indigenous group. \n\nSouth American indigenous peoples include:\n\nIndigenous peoples in Argentina\nIndigenous peoples in Bolivia\nIndigenous peoples in Brazil\nIndigenous peoples in Chile\nIndigenous peoples in Colombia\nIndigenous peoples in Ecuador\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in Guyana\nIndigenous peoples in Paraguay\nIndigenous peoples in Peru\nIndigenous peoples in Suriname\nIndigenous peoples in Uruguay\nIndigenous peoples in Venezuela\n\nSee also\n Indigenous peoples of the Americas\n Wars involving indigenous peoples of South America\n List of indigenous peoples\n Ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n ATLILLA – Association for Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America\n\n \n \n-\nEthnic groups in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana",
"Native Americans or Native American may refer to:\n\nEthnic groups\n Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North and South America and their descendants\n Native Americans in the United States\n Indigenous peoples in Canada \n First Nations in Canada, indigenous Canadians who are neither Inuit or Métis\n Inuit, indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic region\n Métis in Canada, people who trace their descent to indigenous First Nations peoples and European settlers\n Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica\n Indigenous peoples of Mexico\n Indigenous peoples of South America\n Indigenous peoples in Argentina\n Indigenous peoples in Bolivia\n Indigenous peoples in Brazil\n Indigenous peoples in Chile\n Indigenous peoples in Colombia\n Indigenous peoples in Ecuador\n Indigenous peoples in Peru\n Indigenous peoples in Suriname\n Indigenous peoples in Venezuela\n\nArts and culture\n Native American (album), a 1992 album by Tony Rice\n The Native Americans, a 1994 American documentary series\n \"Native Americans\", a 1972 composition by Ornette Coleman from Skies of America\n \"Native American\", a 1987 song by Little Steven from Freedom – No Compromise\n Native American, or Sons of Beaches, a 1995 album by The Bellamy Brothers\n\nPolitics\n The \"Native American\" movement, a term for nativism in the United States\n Native American Party, or Know Nothing, an American nativist political party of the 1850s\n\nReligions\n Native American religions\n\nSee also\n Native American name controversy\n Native American languages, languages spoken by indigenous peoples of the Americas\nAmerican Indians (disambiguation)\nFirst Nations (disambiguation)\n Indian (disambiguation)\n\nIndigenous peoples of the Americas"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico."
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics? | 2 | How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in the 2015 Mexico census? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Columbian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South Americans of European ancestry and those of African descent.\n\nIn Spanish, Indigenous people are often referred to as indígenas or pueblos indígenas (lit. Indigenous peoples). They may also be called pueblos nativos or nativos (lit. Native peoples). The term aborigen (lit. aborigine) is used in Argentina and pueblos aborígenes (lit. aboriginal peoples) is commonly used in Colombia. The English term \"Amerindian\" (short for \"Indians of the Americas\") is often used in the Guianas. Latin Americans of mixed European and Indigenous descent are usually referred to as mestizos (Spanish) and mestiços (Portuguese). While those of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry are referred to as zambos.\n\nIt is believed that the first human populations of South America either arrived from Asia into North America via the Bering Land Bridge and migrated southwards or alternatively from Polynesia across the Pacific. The earliest generally accepted archaeological evidence for human habitation in South America dates to 14,000 years ago, the Monte Verde site in Southern Chile. The descendants of these first inhabitants would become the indigenous populations of South America.\n\nBefore the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many of the indigenous peoples of South America were hunter-gatherers and indeed many still are, especially in the Amazonian area. Others, especially the Andean cultures, practised sophisticated agriculture, utilized advanced irrigation and kept domesticated livestock, such as llamas and alpacas.\n\nIn the present day, there are two South American countries where indigenous peoples constitute the largest ethnic group. These are Peru, where 45% are indigenous and Bolivia, where 62% of people identify as feeling a part of some indigenous group. \n\nSouth American indigenous peoples include:\n\nIndigenous peoples in Argentina\nIndigenous peoples in Bolivia\nIndigenous peoples in Brazil\nIndigenous peoples in Chile\nIndigenous peoples in Colombia\nIndigenous peoples in Ecuador\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in Guyana\nIndigenous peoples in Paraguay\nIndigenous peoples in Peru\nIndigenous peoples in Suriname\nIndigenous peoples in Uruguay\nIndigenous peoples in Venezuela\n\nSee also\n Indigenous peoples of the Americas\n Wars involving indigenous peoples of South America\n List of indigenous peoples\n Ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n ATLILLA – Association for Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America\n\n \n \n-\nEthnic groups in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana",
"Traditionally, the Taiwanese indigenous peoples are usually classified into two groups by their places of residence. Languages and cultures of aboriginal tribes were recorded by the government of Dutch Formosa, Spanish Formosa and the Qing Empire.\n\nResearches on ethnic groups of Taiwanese indigenous peoples started in late 19th century, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. The conducted large amount of researches and further distinguished the ethnic groups of Taiwanese indigenous peoples by linguistics (see Formosan languages). After the research, the household registration records remarks of \"mountains/plains indigenous peoples\". The governmental statistics also listed 9 recognized subgroups under mountains indigenous peoples. However, after World War II, the government refused to recognize the plains indigenous peoples.\n\nThe following is a list of classifications through Japanese and post World War II. Note that the Japanese names in parentheses does not exist in pre-World War II Japanese demographic researches.\n\nMountains indigenous peoples \nThe Taiwanese government officially recognises 16 ethnic groups of mountains indigenous peoples.\n\nKavalan and Thao are disputed to be part of mountains or plains indigenous peoples.\n\nPlains indigenous peoples \nCultures of the plains indigenous peoples have undergone heavy Sinicization. This increases the difficulty in identifying ethnic groups.\n\nReferences \n 臺灣原住民高山族群百年分類史系列地圖\n 臺灣原住民平埔族群百年分類史系列地圖\n\nSee also \n Taiwanese people\n Taiwanese indigenous peoples\n Demographics of Taiwan\n Culture of Taiwan\n Languages of Taiwan\n Formosan languages\n\nEthnic groups\nTaiwan"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups."
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live? | 3 | In what part of Mexico do most of the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Haustec) groups live? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | false | [
"The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (Russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) is a Russian census classification of indigenous peoples, assigned to groups with fewer than 50,000 members, living in the Russian Far North, Siberia or Russian Far East. They are frequently referred as indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North or indigenous peoples of the North.\n\nDefinition\nToday, 40 indigenous peoples are officially recognised by Russia as indigenous small-numbered peoples and are listed in the unified register of indigenous small-numbered peoples (единый перечень коренных, малочисленных народов Российской Федерации). This register includes 46 indigenous peoples. Six of these peoples do not live in either the Extreme North or territories equated to it, so that the total number of recognised indigenous peoples of the North is 40. The Komi-Izhemtsy or Izvatas, a subgroup of the Komi peoples, are seeking recognition from the Russian government as a distinct indigenous people of the North.\n\nThe Far North is the part of Russia which lies mainly beyond the Arctic Circle. However, this is the smaller part of the total territories inhabited by indigenous peoples. These territories extend southward as far as to Vladivostok.\n\nList of indigenous peoples of the North\nThe Unified register lists the following peoples:\n\nSee also\nDemographics of Siberia\nIndigenous peoples of Siberia\nList of minor indigenous peoples of Russia\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Web.archive.org: archived Raipon.org website\n\n \n\nIndigenous peoples in the Arctic\nIndigenous peoples of Europe\n\nPeople from Karelia\nPeople from the Russian Far East\n.\nIndigenous\nLists of indigenous peoples of Russia",
"The Tacuate are an indigenous people of Mexico who live in the state of Oaxaca. The Tacuate language is one of the Mixtec languages; in 2010, there were 1,500 speakers.\n\nMost of the people are engaged in subsistence agriculture, with some keeping cattle and goats, and with women producing textile crafts for a source of cash. \nLand tenure is usually communal.\nThe Tacuate live in two municipalities in the Mixteca de la Costa area: Santa María Zacatepec in the Putla district and Santiago Ixtayutla in the Jamiltepec district.\n\nSee also\nIndigenous people of Oaxaca\n\nReferences\n\nIndigenous peoples in Mexico\nOaxaca"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,"
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples? | 4 | What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples in Mexico? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | false | [
"The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (Russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) is a Russian census classification of indigenous peoples, assigned to groups with fewer than 50,000 members, living in the Russian Far North, Siberia or Russian Far East. They are frequently referred as indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North or indigenous peoples of the North.\n\nDefinition\nToday, 40 indigenous peoples are officially recognised by Russia as indigenous small-numbered peoples and are listed in the unified register of indigenous small-numbered peoples (единый перечень коренных, малочисленных народов Российской Федерации). This register includes 46 indigenous peoples. Six of these peoples do not live in either the Extreme North or territories equated to it, so that the total number of recognised indigenous peoples of the North is 40. The Komi-Izhemtsy or Izvatas, a subgroup of the Komi peoples, are seeking recognition from the Russian government as a distinct indigenous people of the North.\n\nThe Far North is the part of Russia which lies mainly beyond the Arctic Circle. However, this is the smaller part of the total territories inhabited by indigenous peoples. These territories extend southward as far as to Vladivostok.\n\nList of indigenous peoples of the North\nThe Unified register lists the following peoples:\n\nSee also\nDemographics of Siberia\nIndigenous peoples of Siberia\nList of minor indigenous peoples of Russia\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Web.archive.org: archived Raipon.org website\n\n \n\nIndigenous peoples in the Arctic\nIndigenous peoples of Europe\n\nPeople from Karelia\nPeople from the Russian Far East\n.\nIndigenous\nLists of indigenous peoples of Russia",
"The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Columbian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South Americans of European ancestry and those of African descent.\n\nIn Spanish, Indigenous people are often referred to as indígenas or pueblos indígenas (lit. Indigenous peoples). They may also be called pueblos nativos or nativos (lit. Native peoples). The term aborigen (lit. aborigine) is used in Argentina and pueblos aborígenes (lit. aboriginal peoples) is commonly used in Colombia. The English term \"Amerindian\" (short for \"Indians of the Americas\") is often used in the Guianas. Latin Americans of mixed European and Indigenous descent are usually referred to as mestizos (Spanish) and mestiços (Portuguese). While those of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry are referred to as zambos.\n\nIt is believed that the first human populations of South America either arrived from Asia into North America via the Bering Land Bridge and migrated southwards or alternatively from Polynesia across the Pacific. The earliest generally accepted archaeological evidence for human habitation in South America dates to 14,000 years ago, the Monte Verde site in Southern Chile. The descendants of these first inhabitants would become the indigenous populations of South America.\n\nBefore the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many of the indigenous peoples of South America were hunter-gatherers and indeed many still are, especially in the Amazonian area. Others, especially the Andean cultures, practised sophisticated agriculture, utilized advanced irrigation and kept domesticated livestock, such as llamas and alpacas.\n\nIn the present day, there are two South American countries where indigenous peoples constitute the largest ethnic group. These are Peru, where 45% are indigenous and Bolivia, where 62% of people identify as feeling a part of some indigenous group. \n\nSouth American indigenous peoples include:\n\nIndigenous peoples in Argentina\nIndigenous peoples in Bolivia\nIndigenous peoples in Brazil\nIndigenous peoples in Chile\nIndigenous peoples in Colombia\nIndigenous peoples in Ecuador\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in Guyana\nIndigenous peoples in Paraguay\nIndigenous peoples in Peru\nIndigenous peoples in Suriname\nIndigenous peoples in Uruguay\nIndigenous peoples in Venezuela\n\nSee also\n Indigenous peoples of the Americas\n Wars involving indigenous peoples of South America\n List of indigenous peoples\n Ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n ATLILLA – Association for Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America\n\n \n \n-\nEthnic groups in French Guiana\nIndigenous peoples in French Guiana"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,",
"What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population? | 5 | Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"Mexicans () are the citizens of Mexico.\n\nThe most spoken language by Mexicans is Mexican Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Indigenous linguistic groups and other languages brought to Mexico by recent immigration or learned by Mexican immigrants residing in other nations. In 2015, 21.5% of Mexico's population self-identified as being Indigenous. There are about 12 million Mexican nationals residing outside Mexico, with about 11.7 million living in the United States. The larger Mexican diaspora can also include individuals that trace ancestry to Mexico and self-identify as Mexican yet are not necessarily Mexican by citizenship, culture or language. The United States has the largest Mexican population after Mexico in the world at 37,186,361 (2019).\n\nThe modern nation of Mexico achieved independence from the Spanish Empire in 1810; this began the process of forging a national identity that fused the cultural traits of Indigenous pre-Columbian origin with those of Spanish ancestry. This led to what has been termed \"a peculiar form of multi-ethnic nationalism\".\n\nHistory\n\nThe Mexican people have varied origins and an identity that has evolved with the succession of conquests among Amerindian groups and later by Europeans. The area that is now modern-day Mexico has cradled many predecessor civilizations, going back as far as the Olmec which influenced the latter civilizations of Teotihuacan (200 BC to 700 AD) and the much debated Toltec people who flourished around the 10th and 12th centuries AD, and ending with the last great indigenous civilization before the Spanish Conquest, the Aztecs (13 March 1325 to 13 August 1521). The Nahuatl language was a common tongue in the region of modern Central Mexico during the Aztec Empire, but after the arrival of Europeans the common language of the region became Spanish.\n\nAfter the conquest of the Aztec empire, the Spanish re-administered the land and expanded their own empire beyond the former boundaries of the Aztec, adding more territory to the Mexican sphere of influence which remained under the Spanish Crown for 300 years. Cultural diffusion and intermixing among the Amerindian populations with the European created the modern Mexican identity which is a mixture of regional indigenous and European cultures that evolved into a national culture during the Spanish period. This new identity was defined as \"Mexican\" shortly after the Mexican War of Independence and was more invigorated and developed after the Mexican Revolution when the Constitution of 1917 officially established Mexico as an indivisible pluricultural nation founded on its indigenous roots.\n\nDefinitions\n\nMexicano (Mexican) is derived from the word Mexico itself. In the principal model to create demonyms in Spanish, the suffix -ano is added to the name of the place of origin. However, in Nahuatl language, the original demonym becomes Mexica.\n\nIt has been suggested that the name of the country is derived from Mextli or Mēxihtli, a secret name for the god of war and patron of the Mexicas, Huitzilopochtli, in which case Mēxihco means \"Place where Huitzilopochtli lives\". Another hypothesis suggests that Mēxihco derives from the Nahuatl words for \"Moon\" (Mētztli) and navel (xīctli). This meaning (\"Place at the Center of the Moon\") might then refer to Tenochtitlan's position in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The system of interconnected lakes, of which Texcoco formed the center, had the form of a rabbit, which the Mesoamericans pareidolically associated with the Moon. Still another hypothesis suggests that it is derived from Mēctli, the goddess of maguey.\n\nThe term Mexicano as a word to describe the different peoples of the region of Mexico as a single group emerged in the 16th century. At that time, the term did not apply to a nationality nor to the geographical limits of the modern Mexican Republic. However, the term was used for the first time in the first document printed in Barcelona in 1566 which documented the expedition launched from the port in Acapulco to find the best route that would favor a return journey from the Spanish East Indies to New Spain. The document stated: \"el venturoso descubrimiento que los Mexicanos han hecho\" (the venturous discovery that the Mexicans have made). That discovery led to the Manila galleon trade route and those \"Mexicans\" referred to Criollos, Mestizos, and Amerindians alluding to a plurality of persons who participated for a common end: the conquest of the Philippines in 1565. (Gómez M., et al. 56)\n\nEthnic groups\n\nMestizo Mexicans\n\nA large majority of Mexicans have varying degrees of Spanish and Native Meso-American ancestry and have been classified as \"Mestizos\". In the modern meaning of the term this means that they identify fully neither with any indigenous culture nor with a Spanish cultural heritage, but rather identify with the uniquely Mexican identity which incorporates elements from both Spanish and indigenous traditions. By the deliberate efforts of post-revolutionary governments the \"Mestizo identity\" was constructed as the base of the modern Mexican national identity, through a process of cultural synthesis referred to as mestizaje . Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity on the concept of mestizaje.\n\nDNA studies on Mexican Mestizos show a significant genetic variation depending on the region analyzed, with southern Mexico having prevalent indigenous Meso-American and small but higher than average African genetic contributions, the central region of Mexico showing a balance between indigenous and European components, and the latter gradually increasing as one travels northwards and westwards, where European ancestry becomes the majority of the genetic contribution up until cities located at the Mexico–United States border, where studies suggest there is a significant resurgence of indigenous and African admixture.\n\nSince the Mestizo identity promoted by the government is more of a cultural identity than a biological one it has achieved a strong influence in the country, with a good number of biologically white people identifying with it, leading to being considered Mestizos in Mexico's demographic investigations and censuses due to the ethnic criterion having its base on cultural traits rather than biological ones. \n\nA similar situation occurs regarding the distinctions between Indigenous peoples and Mestizos: while the term Mestizo is sometimes used in English with the meaning of a person with mixed indigenous and European blood, this usage does not conform to the Mexican social reality where a person of pure Indigenous genetic heritage would be considered Mestizo either by rejecting his indigenous culture or by not speaking an indigenous language, and a person with none or a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage.\n\nIn the Yucatán peninsula the word Mestizo has a different meaning, with it being to refer to the Maya-speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the caste war of the late 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as Mestizos. In Chiapas the word \"Ladino\" is used instead of mestizo.\n\nCultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the indigenous people, with efforts designed to \"help\" indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the rest of society, eventually assimilating indigenous peoples completely to Mestizo Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the \"Amerindian problem\" by transforming indigenous communities into Mestizo communities.\n\nGiven that the word Mestizo has different meanings in Mexico, estimates of the Mexican Mestizo population vary widely. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, which uses a biology-based approach, between one half and two thirds of the Mexican population is Mestizo. A culture-based estimate gives the percentage of Mestizos as high as 90%. Paradoxically, the word Mestizo has long been dropped from popular Mexican vocabulary, with the word even having pejorative connotations further complicating attempts to quantify Mestizos via self-identification. Recent research based on self-identification indeed, observing that many Mexicans do not actually identify as mestizos and would not agree to be labeled as such,\nwith \"static\" racial labels such as White, Indian, Black etc. being more commonly used.\n\nWhile for most of its history the concept of Mestizo and Mestizaje has been lauded by Mexico's intellectual circles, in recent times the concept has been target of criticism, with its detractors claiming that it delegitimizes the importance of race in Mexico under the idea of \"(racism) not existing here (in Mexico), as everybody is Mestizo.\" In general, the authors conclude that Mexico introducing a real racial classification and accepting itself as a multicultural country opposed to a monolithic Mestizo country would bring benefits to the Mexican society as a whole.\n\nWhite Mexicans\n\nWhite Mexicans are Mexican citizens who trace all or most of their ancestry to Europe. Europeans began arriving in Mexico during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire; and while during the colonial period most European immigration was Spanish, in the 19th and 20th centuries European and European-derived populations from North and South America did immigrate to the country. According to 20th- and 21st-century academics, large scale intermixing between the European immigrants and the native indigenous peoples would produce a Mestizo group which would become the overwhelming majority of Mexico's population by the time of Independence. However, according to church registers from the colonial times, the majority of Spanish men married with Spanish women. Said registers also put in question other narratives held by contemporary academics, such as European immigrants who arrived to Mexico being almost exclusively men or that \"pure Spanish\" people were all part of a small powerful elite, as Spaniards were often the most numerous ethnic group in the colonial cities and there were menial workers and people in poverty who were of complete Spanish origin.\n\nEstimates of Mexico's white population differ greatly in both, methodology and percentages given, extra-official sources such as the World Factbook and Encyclopædia Britannica, which use the 1921 census results as the base of their estimations calculate Mexico's white population as only 9% or between one tenth to one fifth (the results of the 1921 census, however, have been contested by various historians and deemed inaccurate). Surveys that account for phenotypical traits and have performed actual field research suggest rather higher percentages: using the presence of blond hair as reference to classify a Mexican as white, the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico calculated the percentage of said ethnic group at 23%. With a similar methodology, the American Sociological Association obtained a percentage of 18.8% having its higher frequency on the North region (22.3%–23.9%) followed by the Center region (18.4%–21.3%) and the South region (11.9%). Another study made by the University College London in collaboration with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History found that the frequencies of blond hair and light eyes in Mexicans are of 18% and 28% respectively, surveys that use as reference skin color such as those made by Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination and Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography reported a percentages of 47% in 2010 and 49% in 2017 respectively. Another survey published in 2018 reported a percentage significativelly lower at 29%, this time however, the surveying of Mexicans from \"vulnerable groups\" was prioritized, which among other measures meant that states known to have high numbers of people from said groups surveyed more people.\n\nMexico's northern and western regions have the highest percentages of European population, with the majority of the people not having native admixture or being of predominantly European ancestry, resembling in aspect that of northern Spaniards. In the north and west of Mexico, the indigenous tribes were substantially smaller than those found in central and southern Mexico, and also much less organized, thus they remained isolated from the rest of the population or even in some cases were hostile towards Mexican colonists. The northeast region, in which the indigenous population was eliminated by early European settlers, became the region with the highest proportion of whites during the Spanish colonial period. However, recent immigrants from southern Mexico have been changing, to some degree, its demographic trends.\n\nThe white population of central Mexico, despite not being as numerous as in the north due to higher mixing, is ethnically more diverse, as there are large numbers of other European and Middle Eastern ethnic groups, aside from Spaniards. This also results in non-Iberian surnames (mostly French, German, Italian, and Arab) being more common in central Mexico, especially in the country's capital and in the state of Jalisco.\n\nGypsies from Spain came to Mexico during colonial times.\n\nIndigenous Mexicans\n\nThe 2003 General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples recognizes 62 indigenous languages as \"national languages\" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories in which they are spoken. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the 19th century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.\n\nThe category of \"indigena\" (indigenous) in Mexico has been defined based on different criteria through history, this means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as \"indigenous\" varies according to the definition applied. It can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak an indigenous language, based on this criterion approximately 5.4% of the population is Indigenous. Nonetheless, activists for the rights of indigenous peoples have referred to the usage of this criterion for census purposes as \"statistical genocide\".\n\nOther surveys made by the Mexican government do count as Indigenous all persons who speak an indigenous language and people who do not speak indigenous languages nor live in indigenous communities but self-identifies as Indigenous. According to this criterion, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, or CDI in Spanish) and the INEGI (Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography), state that there are 15.7 million indigenous people in Mexico of many different ethnic groups, which constitute 14.9% of the population in the country.\n\nAccording to the latest intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government in 2015, Indigenous people make up 21.5% of Mexico's population. In this occasion, people who self-identified as \"Indigenous\" and people who self-identified as \"partially Indigenous\" were classified in the \"Indigenous\" category altogether.\n\nThe absolute indigenous population is growing, but at a slower rate than the rest of the population so that the percentage of indigenous peoples is nonetheless falling. The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central-southern and south-eastern states, with the majority of the indigenous population living in rural areas. Some indigenous communities have a degree of autonomy under the legislation of \"usos y costumbres\", which allows them to regulate some internal issues under customary law.\n\nAccording to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are Yucatán, with 62.7%, Quintana Roo with 33.8% and Campeche with 32% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 58% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 32.7%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 30.1%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 25.2%, and Guerrero with 22.6%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.\n\nOther Ethno-Cultural communities\n\nArab Mexicans\n\nAn Arab Mexican is a Mexican citizen of Arabic-speaking origin who can be of various ancestral origins. The vast majority of 450,000 Mexicans who have at least partial Arab descent trace their ancestry to what is now Lebanon and Syria.\n\nThe interethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity. As a result of this, the Arab community in Mexico shows marked language shift away from Arabic. Only a few speak any Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language. Today, the most common Arabic surnames in Mexico include Nader, Hayek, Ali, Haddad, Nasser, Malik, Abed, Mansoor, Harb and Elias.\n\nArab immigration to Mexico started in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Roughly 100,000 Arabic-speakers settled in Mexico during this time period. They came mostly from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iraq and settled in significant numbers in Nayarit, Puebla, Mexico City and the Northern part of the country, mainly in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango, as well as the city of Tampico and Guadalajara. The term \"Arab Mexican\" may include ethnic groups that do not in fact identify as Arab.\n\nDuring the Israel-Lebanon war in 1948 and during the Six-Day War, thousands of Lebanese left Lebanon and went to Mexico. They first arrived in Veracruz. Although Arabs made up less than 5% of the total immigrant population in Mexico during the 1930s, they constituted half of the immigrant economic activity.\n\nImmigration of Arabs in Mexico has influenced Mexican culture, in particular food, where they have introduced Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and even created recipes such as Tacos Árabes. By 1765, Dates, which originated from the Middle East, were introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards. The fusion between Arab and Mexican food has highly influenced the Yucatecan cuisine.\n\nAnother concentration of Arab-Mexicans is in Baja California facing the U.S.-Mexican border, esp. in cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico, and Tijuana across from San Diego with a large Arab American community (about 280,000), some of whose families have relatives in Mexico. 45% of Arab Mexicans are of Lebanese descent.\n\nThe majority of Arab-Mexicans are Christians who belong to the Maronite Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. A scant number are Muslims as well as indigenous muslims which are most common in southern states like Chiapas or Oaxaca. And Jews of Middle Eastern origins.\n\nJewish Mexicans\n\nThe current Jewish population in Mexico mostly consists of those who have descended from immigrants from the 19th and early 20th centuries with nationwide totals estimated between 80,000 and 90,000, about 75% of whom are in Mexico City. The exact numbers are not known. One main source for figures is the Comité Central Israelita in Mexico City but its contact is limited to Orthodox and Conservative congregations with no contact with Jews that may be affiliated with the Reform movement or those who consider themselves secular. The Mexican government census lists religion but its categories are confusing, confusing those of some Protestant sects which practice Judaic rituals with Jewish groups. There is also controversy as to whether to count those Crypto-Jews who have converted (back) to Judaism. Sixty two percent of the population over fifteen is married, three percent divorced and four percent widowed. However, younger Jewish women are more likely to be employed outside the home (only 18% of women are housewives) and fertility rates are dropping from 3.5 children of women over 65 to 2.7 for the overall population now. There is a low level of intermarriage with the general Mexican population, with only 3.1% of marriages being mixed. Although the Jewish community is less than one percent of Mexico's total population, Mexico is one of the few countries whose Jewish population is expected to grow.\n\nAfro-Mexicans\n\nAfro-Mexicans are an ethnic group that predominate in certain areas of Mexico. Such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and the Costa Chica of Guerrero, Veracruz (e.g. Yanga) and in some towns in northern Mexico. The existence of blacks in Mexico is very common in southern Mexico but for anywhere else it is difficult to assess for a number of reasons: their small numbers, heavy intermarriage with other ethnic groups and Mexico's tradition of defining itself as a \"mestizaje\" or mixing of European and indigenous. Mexico did have an active slave trade since the early Spanish period but from the beginning, intermarriage and mixed race offspring created an elaborate caste system. This system broke down in the very late Spanish period and after Independence the legal notion of race was eliminated. The creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico's indigenous and European past actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.\n\nThe majority of Mexico's Afro-descendants are Afromestizos, i.e. \"mixed-race\". Individuals with significantly high amounts of African ancestry make up a very low percentage of the total Mexican population, the majority being recent black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas. According to the Intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government, Afro-Mexicans make up 1.2% of Mexico's population, the Afro-Mexican category in the Intercensal survey includes people who self-identified solely as African and people who self-identified as partially African. The survey also states that 64.9% (896,829) of Afro-Mexicans also identified as indigenous, with 9.3% being speakers of indigenous languages.\n\nAsian Mexicans\n\nAsian Mexicans make up less than 1% of the total population of modern Mexico, nonetheless they are a notable minority. Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexican society of what constitutes Asian culture (associated with the Far East rather than the Near East), Asian Mexicans are of East, Southeast, South, Central Asian, and Romani descent. Mexicans of West Asian descent are sometimes not considered to be part of the group.\n\nAsian immigration began with the arrival of Filipinos to Mexico during the Spanish period. For two and a half centuries, between 1565 and 1815, many Filipinos and Mexicans sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines as sailors, crews, slaves, prisoners, adventurers and soldiers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Asia and the Americas. Also on these voyages, thousands of Asian individuals (mostly males) were brought to Mexico as slaves and were called \"Chino\", which meant Chinese. Although in reality they were of diverse origins, including Japanese, Koreans, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Cambodians, Timorese, and people from Bengal, India, Ceylon, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China. A notable example is the story of Catarina de San Juan (Mirra), an Amerindian girl captured by the Portuguese and sold into slavery in Manila. She arrived in New Spain and eventually she gave rise to the \"China Poblana\".\n\nThese early individuals are not very apparent in modern Mexico for two main reasons: the widespread mestizaje of Mexico during the Spanish period and the common practice of Chino slaves to \"pass\" as Indios (the indigenous people of Mexico) in order to attain freedom. As had occurred with a large portion of Mexico's black population, over generations the Asian populace was absorbed into the general Mestizo population. Facilitating this miscegenation was the assimilation of Asians into the indigenous population. The indigenous people were legally protected from chattel slavery, and by being recognized as part of this group, Asian slaves could claim they were wrongly enslaved.\n\nAsians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico's fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910.\n\nGerman Mexicans\nGerman Mexicans (German: Deutschmexikaner or Deutsch-Mexikanisch, Spanish: germano-mexicano or alemán-mexicano) are Mexicans of German descent or origin.\n\nMost ethnic Germans arrived in Mexico during the mid-to-late 19th century, spurred by government policies of Porfirio Díaz. Although a good number of them took advantage of the liberal policies then valid in Mexico and went into merchant, industrial and educational ventures, others arrived with no or limited capital, as employees or farmers. Most settled in Mexico City, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Puebla. Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after the First and Second World Wars. The Plautdietsch language is also spoken by the Mexican Mennonites, descendants of German and Dutch immigrants in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes. Other German towns lie in the states of Nuevo León, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Yucatán, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and other parts of Puebla, where the German culture and language have been preserved to different extents.\n\nThe German Mexican community has largely integrated into Mexican society as a whole whilst retaining some cultural traits and in turn exerted cultural and industrial influences on Mexican society. Especially after the First World War intense processes of transculturation can be observed, particularly in Mexico City, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla and, notably, with the Maya in Chiapas. These include social, cultural and identity aspects.\n\nToday\n\nEthnic relations in modern Mexico have grown out of the historical context of the arrival of Europeans, the subsequent Spanish period of cultural and genetic miscegenation within the frame work of the castas system, the revolutionary periods focus on incorporating all ethnic and racial group into a common Mexican national identity and the indigenous revival of the late 20th century. The resulting picture has been called \"a peculiar form of multi-ethnic nationalism\".\n\nVery generally speaking ethnic relations can be arranged on an axis between the two extremes of European and Amerindian cultural heritage, this is a remnant of the Spanish caste system which categorized individuals according to their perceived level of biological mixture between the two groups. Additionally the presence of considerable portions of the population with partly African and Asian heritage further complicates the situation. Even though it still arranges persons along the line between indigenous and European, in practice the classificatory system is no longer biologically based, but rather mixes socio-cultural traits with phenotypical traits, and classification is largely fluid, allowing individuals to move between categories and define their ethnic and racial identities situationally.\n\nOfficial censuses\nHistorically, population studies and censuses have never been up to the standards that a population as diverse and numerous such as Mexico's require. The first racial census was made in 1793, being also Mexico's (then known as New Spain) first ever nationwide population census. Of it, only part of the original datasets survive. Thus most of what is known of it comes from essays made by researchers who used the census' findings as reference for their own works. More than a century would pass until the Mexican government conducted a new racial census in 1921 (some sources assert that the census of 1895 included a comprehensive racial classification, however according to the historic archives of Mexico's National Institute of Statistics that was not the case). While the 1921 census was the last time the Mexican government conducted a census that included a comprehensive racial classification, in recent time it has conducted nationwide surveys to quantify most of the ethnic groups who inhabit the country as well as the social dynamics and inequalities between them.\n\n1793 census\n\nAlso known as the \"Revillagigedo census\" due to its creation being ordered by the Count of the same name, this census was Mexico's (then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain) first ever nationwide population census. Most of its original datasets have reportedly been lost, thus most of what is now known about it comes from essays and field investigations made by academics who had access to the census data and used it as reference for their works such as Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt. Each author gives different estimations for each racial group in the country although they don't vary much, with Europeans ranging from 18% to 22% of New Spain's population, Mestizos ranging from 21% to 25%, Amerindians ranging from 51% to 61% and Africans being between 6,000 and 10,000, The estimations given for the total population range from 3,799,561 to 6,122,354. It is concluded then, that across nearly three centuries of colonization, the population growth trends of whites and mestizos were even, while the total percentage of the indigenous population decreased at a rate of 13%-17% per century. The authors assert that rather than whites and mestizos having higher birthrates, the reason for the indigenous population's numbers decreasing lies on them suffering of higher mortality rates, due living in remote locations rather than on cities and towns founded by the Spanish colonists or being at war with them. It is also for these reasons that the number of Indigenous Mexicans presents the greater variation range between publications, as in cases their numbers in a given location were estimated rather than counted, leading to possible overestimations in some provinces and possible underestimations in others.\n\n~Europeans are included within the Mestizo category.\n\nRegardless of the possible imprecisions related to the counting of Indigenous peoples living outside the colonized areas, the effort that New Spain's authorities put on considering them as subjects is worth mentioning, as censuses made by other colonial or post-colonial countries did not consider Amerindians to be citizens/subjects, as example the censuses made by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata would only count the inhabitants of the colonized settlements. Other example would be the censuses made by the United States, that did not include Indigenous peoples living among the general population until 1860, and indigenous peoples as a whole until 1900.\n\n1921 census\n\nMade right after the consummation of the Mexican revolution, the social context on which this census was made makes it particularly unique, as the government of the time was in the process of rebuilding the country and was looking forward to unite all Mexicans under a single national identity. The 1921 census' final results in regards to race, which assert that 59.3% of the Mexican population self-identified as Mestizo, 29.1% as Indigenous and only 9.8% as White were then essential to cement the \"mestizaje\" ideology (that asserts that the Mexican population as a whole is product of the admixture of all races) which shaped Mexican identity and culture through the 20th century and remain prominent nowadays, with extraofficial international publications such as The World Factbook and Encyclopædia Britannica using them as a reference to estimate Mexico's racial composition up to this day.\n\nNonetheless in recent times the census' results have been subjected to scrutiny by historians, academics and social activists alike, who assert that such drastic alterations on demographic trends with respect to the 1793 census are not possible and cite, among other statistics, the relatively low frequency of marriages between people of different continental ancestries in colonial and early independent Mexico. It is claimed that the \"mestizaje\" process sponsored by the state was more \"cultural than biological\" which resulted on the numbers of the Mestizo Mexican group being inflated at the expense of the identity of other races. Controversies aside, this census constituted the last time the Mexican Government conducted a comprehensive racial census with the breakdown by states being the following (foreigners and people who answered \"other\" not included):\n\nWhen the 1921 census' results are compared with the results of Mexico's recent censuses as well as with modern genetic research, high consistence is found in regards to the distribution of Indigenous Mexicans across the country, with states located in south and south-eastern Mexico having both, the highest percentages of population that self-identifies as Indigenous and the highest percentages of Amerindian genetic ancestry. However this is not the case when it comes to European Mexicans, as there are instances on which states that have been shown to have a considerably high European ancestry per scientific research are reported to have very small white populations in the 1921 census, with the most extreme case being that of the state of Durango, where the aforementioned census asserts that only 0.01% of the state's population (33 persons) self-identified as \"white\" while modern scientific research shows that the population of Durango has similar genetic frequences to those found on European peoples (with the state's Indigenous population showing almost no foreign admixture either). Various authors theorize that the reason for these inconsistencies may lie in the Mestizo identity promoted by the Mexican government, which reportedly led to people who are not biologically Mestizos to identify as such.\n\nPresent day\n\nThe following table is a compilation of (when possible) official nationwide surveys conducted by the Mexican government who have attempted to quantify different Mexican ethnic groups. Given that for the most part each ethnic group was estimated by different surveys, with different methodologies and years apart rather than on a single comprehensive racial census, some groups could overlap with others and be overestimated or underestimated.\n\nOf all the ethnic groups that have been surveyed Mestizos are notably absent, which is likely due to the label's fluid and subjective definition, which complicates its precise quantification. However, it can be safely assumed that Mestizos make up at least the remaining 30% unassessed percentage of Mexico's population with possibilities of increasing if the methodologies of the extant surveys are considered. As example the 2015 intercensal survey considered as Indigenous Mexicans and Afro-Mexicans altogether individuals who self-identified as \"part Indigenous\" or \"part African\" thus, said people technically would be Mestizos. Similarly, White Mexicans were quantified based on physical traits/appearance, thus technically a Mestizo with a percentage of Indigenous ancestry that was low enough to not affect his/her primarily European phenotype was considered to be white. Finally, the remaining ethnicities, for being of a rather low number or being faiths have more permissive classification criteria, therefore a Mestizo could claim to belong to one of them by practicing the faith, or by having an ancestor who belonged to said ethnicities.\n\nNonetheless, contemporary sociologists and historians agree that, given that the concept of \"race\" has a psychological foundation rather than a biological one and to society's eyes a Mestizo with a high percentage of European ancestry is considered \"white\" and a Mestizo with a high percentage of Indigenous ancestry is considered \"Amerindian\", a person that identifies with a given ethnic group should be allowed to, even if biologically he doesn't completely belong to that group.\n\nPopulation genetics & phenotype\n\nGenetic studies\n\nGenetic studies in Mexico can be divided on three groups: studies made on self-identified Mestizos, studies made on Indigenous peoples and studies made on the general Mexican population, studies that focus on Mexicans of European descent or Afro-Mexicans have not been made. Mexicans who self-identify as Mestizos are primarily of European and Native American ancestry. The third largest component is African, in coastal areas this is partly a legacy of the slavery in New Spain (which saw the importation of some 100,000 to 200,000 black slaves). However, the authors of this study state that the majority of African ancestry in Mexicans is of North African origin and was brought by the Spaniards themselves as a diluted part of their genetic ancestry.\n\nDepending on the region, some may have small traces of Asian admixture due to the thousands of Filipinos and Chinos (Asian slaves of diverse origin, not just Chinese) that arrived on the Nao de China. More recent Asian immigration (specifically Chinese) may help explain the comparatively high Asian contribution in Northwest Mexico (i.e., Sonora).\n\nAccording to numerous studies, on average, the largest genetic component of Mexicans who self-identify as being Mestizos is indigenous; although the difference in incidence between the indigenous and European composites is relatively small, both representing well over 40% of the genetic composition of mestizos. In studies made on the general Mexican population (this is, studies where there is no other kind of self-identification than that of being \"Mexican\") the European ancestral genetic component tends to overtake the indigenous composite. Said increase is the most pronounced on research done on chromosomal maternal ancestry, as while in studies made on self identified Mestizos the European maternal ancestry is as low as only 5%, on studies done on the general Mexican population the European maternal ancestry increases more than 40 points, with it being 46%, suggesting that nowadays a considerable segment of Mexico's population is left out when a study uses as samples only people who think of themselves as being Mestizos. Genetic studies made on indigenous Mexicans reveal a predominant indigenous ancestry but with higher than expected variations on European and African ancestral components. Extant research suggests that geographic location plays a more significative role on determining the genetic makeup of the average Indigenous person than cultural traits do, an example of this is the indigenous population of Tlapa in the state of Guerrero that despite for the most part speaking Spanish and having the same cultural customs non-indigenous Mexicans have, shows an indigenous ancestry of 95%. In contrast, Nahua-speaking Indigenous peoples from the state of Veracruz have a mean European ancestry of 42% and an African ancestry of 22%.\n\nThe Mestizaje ideology, which has blurred the lines of race at an institutional level has also had a significative influence in genetic studies done in Mexico: As the criterion used in studies to determine if a Mexican is Mestizo or indigenous often lies in cultural traits such as the language spoken instead of racial self-identification or a phenotype-based selection there are studies on which populations who are considered to be Indigenous per virtue of the language spoken show a higher degree of European genetic admixture than the one populations considered to be Mestizo report in other studies. The opposite also happens, as there instances on which populations considered to be Mestizo show genetic frequencies very similar to continental European peoples in the case of Mestizos from the state of Durango or to European derived Americans in the case of Mestizos from the state of Jalisco.\n\nA 2006 study conducted by Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN), which genotyped 104 samples, reported that mestizo Mexicans are 58.96% European, 35.05% \"Asian\" (primarily Amerindian), and 5.03% Other. Of the six states that participated in the Study, the state of Sonora showed the highest European ancestry being approximately 70% while the State of Guerrero presented the lowest European ancestry, at around 50%.\n\nAccording to a 2009 report by the Mexican Genome Project, which sampled 300 Mexicans who self-identified as Mestizos from six Mexican states and one indigenous group, the gene pool of the Mexicans population was calculated to be 55.2% percent indigenous, 41.8% European, 1.0% African, and 1.2% Asian.\n\n70,2%-46,2% Amerindian; 25,4%-48,7% European; 5,2%-2,8% African (Martínez-Cortés et al., 2017).\n\n56,0% Amerindian; 37,0% European; 5,0% African (Ruiz-Linares et al., 2014).\n\nAn autosomal study performed in Mestizos from Mexico's three largest cities reported that Mestizos from Mexico city had an average ancestry of 50% European, 1% African and 49% Amerindian whereas Mestizos from the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara had both a European ancestry of 60% and an indigenous ancestry of 40% in average.\n\nAn autosomal study performed in Mexicans from the states of Nuevo Leon, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí found the average indigenous ancestry to be 22% while 78% of the genetic ancestry was of Spanish/European origin.\n\nAn autosomal study performed in Mexico City reported that Mexican mestizos' mean ancestry was 57% European, 40% Amerindian and 3% African.\n\nAdditional studies suggests a tendency relating a higher European admixture with a higher socioeconomic status and a higher Amerindian ancestry with a lower socioeconomic status: a study made exclusively on low income Mestizos residing in Mexico City found the mean admixture to be 0.590, 0.348, and 0.062 for Amerindian, European and African respectively whereas the European admixture increased to an average of around 70% on mestizos belonging to a higher socioeconomical level.\n\nAn autosomal genetic study which included the states of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Queretaro and Mexico City determined the average ancestry of the central region of Mexico to be 52% European 39% Amerindian, and 9% African.\n\nAn autosomal genetic study performed in the town of Metztitlan in the state of Hidalgo reported that the average genetic ancestry of the town's autochthonous (indigenous) population was 64% Amerindian, 25% European and 11% African.\n\nA 2012 study published by the Journal of Human Genetics Y chromosomes found the deep paternal ancestry of the Mexican mestizo population to be predominately European (64.9%), followed by Amerindian (30.8%) and Asian(1.2%). The European Y chromosome was more prevalent in the north and west (66.7-95%) and Native American ancestry increased in the center and southeast (37-50%), the African ancestry was low and relatively homogeneous (0-8.8%). The states that participated in this study where Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Yucatán. The largest amount of chromosomes found were identified as belonging to the haplogroups from Western Europe, East Europe and Eurasia, Siberia and the Americas and Northern Europe with relatively smaller traces of haplogroups from Central Asia, South-east Asia, South-central Asia, Western Asia, The Caucasus, North Africa, Near East, East Asia, North-east Asia, South-west Asia and the Middle East.\n\nEtiological studies \n\nEtiological studies are genetic studies on which volunteers suffer of a specific health condition/disease, as diseases tend to manifest on higher frequencies on people with a determinated genetic ancestry, the results of said studies are not accurate to represent the genetics of the population said volunteers belong to as a whole\n 56,0% Amerindian; 38% European; 6% African for northeast de México (Martínez-Fierro et al., 2009).\n 61,0% Amerindian; 37,0% European; 2,0% African for Ciudad de México (Kosoy et al., 2009).\n 65,0% Amerindian; 30,0% European; 5,0% African for Ciudad de México.\n\nPhenotypical research\n\t\n\nAlbeit not as numerous or with a history as long as genetic research in the country, studies regarding the presence of different phenotypical traits (hair color, hair shape, eye color etc.) in Mexicans have been made. Those studies have recently gained the attention of Mexico's government which has begun conducting its own nationwide investigations, with the aim of document dynamics and inequalities on interactions between Mexicans of different ethnicities/races as well as to have a more concise idea of the ethnic composition of the country (a field that has been long neglected at an institutional level in Mexico). The results of these studies effectively refute misconceptions regarding Mexico's population, showing that Mexico is an exceptionally diverse country, where any color or type of trait can be found with ease in any region.\n\nSome studies, such as the one published by the American Sociological Association refute misconceptions that are very prevalent even among Mexicans themselves, as it found the differences in the frequencies of phenotypical traits such as blond hair between the population of the Northern regions of Mexico (where this trait has a frequency of 22.3% - 23.9%) and the population of the Central regions of Mexico (with a frequency of 18.9% to 21.3%) are not as pronounced as are commonly thought to be. Per the methodology of the study, the presence of blond hair was required for a Mexican to be classified as white as \"unlike skin color, blond hair does not darken with sun exposure\" With a similar methodology, other study, made by the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico calculated the frequency of blond hair at 23%, Mexicans with red red-hair were classified as \"other\".\n\nA 2014 study made by the University College London analyzed the frequencies of several different phenotypical traits on populations of five different Latin American countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru). In the case of Mexico the National Institute of Anthropology and History collaborated in the investigation with the results being the following:\n\nThe majority of the samples (approx. 90%) hailed from Mexico City and Southern Mexican states, meaning that Northern and Western regions of Mexico were underrepresented as around 45% of Mexico's population lives there.\n\nNationwide surveys sponsored by the Mexican government that quantify the percentage of the different skin tones present on Mexico's population have been made, the first in 2010 by the CONAPRED (Mexico's National Bureau for Prevention of Discrimination) and the second in 2017 by the INEGI (Mexico's National Institute of Statistics) Each study used a different color palette, in the case of CONAPRED's study it was a palette with 9 color choices developed by the institute itself whereas in the case of the INEGI study the palette used was the palette for the PERLA (Latin American Race and Ethnicity Project) with 11 color categories.\n\nAs the progression from the darker tones to the lightest ones is not as uniform in the palette used by the INEGI (some tones are practically the same while there are marked differences between others) as it is in the CONAPRED's palette, two color categories ended up containing nearly 70% of surveyed Mexicans whereas there were color categories that had less than 1% of Mexicans each. Even though Mexico's government has downplayed the racial connotations of said studies by opting for using the term \"light-skinned Mexican\" to refer to the segment of Mexico's population who possess European physical traits/appearance and \"dark-skinned Mexican\" to refer the segment of Mexico's population who does not, the publication of said studies hasn't been free of controversy, specially in the case of the study published in 2017 as besides skin color it also accounted for different socioeconomic factors such as educational achievements and occupational profiles, with media outlets bringing to Mexico's mainstream opinion circles concepts such as systemic racism, white privilege, and colonialism. Nonetheless it is agreed that to acknowledge that Mexico is a diverse country constitutes a steep in the right direction to fight social inequalities.\n\nIn 2018, the new edition of the ENADIS was published, this time being a joint effort by the CONAPRED and the INEGI with collaboration of the UNAM, the CONACyT and the CNDH. Like its 2010 antecesor, it surveyed Mexican citizens about topics related to discrimination and collected data related to phenotype and ethnic self-identification. It concluded that Mexico is still a fairly conservative country regarding minority groups such as religious minorities, ethnic minorities, foreigners, members of the LGBT collective etc. albeit there's pronounced regional differences, with states in the south-center regions of Mexico having in general notoriously higher discrimination rates towards the aforementioned social groups than the ones states in the western-north regions have. For the collecting of data related to skin color the palette used was again the PERLA one. This time 11% of Mexicans were reported to have \"dark skin tones (A-E)\" 59% to have \"medium skin tones (F-G)\" and 29% to have \"light skin tones (H-K)\". The reason for the huge difference regarding the reported percentages of Mexicans with light skin (around 18% lower) and medium skin (around 16% higher) in the relation to previous nationwide surveys lies in the fact that the ENADIS 2017 prioritized the surveying of Mexicans from \"vulnerable groups\" which among other measures meant that states with known high numbers of people from said groups surveyed more people.\n\nThe following tables (the first from a study published in 2002 and the second from a study published in 2018) show the frequencies of different blood types in various Mexican cities and states, as Mexico's Amerindian/Indigenous population exclusively exhibits the \"O\" blood type, the presence of other blood groups can give an approximate idea of the amount of foreign influence there is in each state that has been analyzed. The results of this studies however, shouldn't be taken as exact, literal estimations for the percentages of different ethnic groups that there may be in Mexico (I.E. A+B blood groups = percentage of White Mexicans) for reasons such as the fact that a Mestizo Mexican can have \"A\", \"B\" etc. blood types or the fact that the \"O\" blood type does exist in Europe, with it having a frequency of 44% in Spain for example.\n\nBoth studies find similar trends regarding the distribution of different blood groups, with foreign blood groups being more common in the North and Western regions of Mexico, which is congruent with the findings of genetic studies that have been made in the country through the years. It is also observed that \"A\" and \"B\" blood groups are more common among younger volunteers whereas \"AB\" and \"O\" are more common in older ones. The total number of analyzed samples in the 2018 study was 271,164.\n\nA study performed in hospitals of Mexico City reported that in average 51.8% of Mexican newborns presented the congenital skin birthmark known as the Mongolian spot whilst it was absent in 48.2% of the analyzed babies. The Mongolian spot appears with a very high frequency (85-95%) in Asian, Native American and African children. The skin lesion reportedly almost always appears on South American and Mexican children who are racially Mestizos while having a very low frequency (5-10%) in Caucasian children. According to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) nationwide, around half of Mexican babies have the Mongolian spot.\n\nLanguages\n\nMexicans are linguistically diverse, with many speaking European languages as well as various Indigenous Mexican Languages. Spanish is spoken by approximately 92.17% of Mexicans as their first language making them the largest Spanish speaking group in the world followed by Colombia (45,273,925), Spain (41,063,259) and Argentina (40,134,425). Although the great majority speak Spanish de facto the second most populous language among Mexicans is English due to the regional proximity of the United States which calls for a bilingual relationship in order to conduct business and trade as well as the migration of Mexicans into that country who adopt it as a second language.\n\nMexican Spanish is distinct in dialect, tone and syntax to the Peninsular Spanish spoken in Spain. It contains a large amount of loan words from indigenous languages, mostly from the Nahuatl language such as: \"chocolate\", \"tomate\", \"mezquite\", \"chile\", and \"coyote\".\n\nMexico has no official de jure language, but as of 2003 it recognizes 68 indigenous Amerindian languages as \"national languages\" along with Spanish which are protected under Mexican National law giving indigenous peoples the entitlement to request public services and documents in their native languages. The law also includes other Amerindian languages regardless of origin, that is, it includes the Amerindian languages of other ethnic groups that are non-native to the Mexican national territory. As such, Mexico's National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the language of the Kickapoo who immigrated from the United States, and recognizes the languages of Guatemalan Amerindian refugees. The most numerous indigenous language spoken by Mexicans is Nahuatl which is spoken by 1.7% of the population in Mexico over the age of 5. Approximately 6,044,547 Mexicans (5.4%) speak an indigenous language according to the 2000 Census in Mexico. There are also Mexicans living abroad which speak indigenous languages mostly in the United States but their number is unknown.\n\nCulture\n\nMexican culture reflects the complexity of the country's history through the blending of indigenous cultures and the culture of Spain, imparted during Spain's 300-year colonization of Mexico. Exogenous cultural elements mainly from the United States have been incorporated into Mexican culture.\n\nThe Porfirian era (el Porfiriato), in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, was marked by economic progress and peace. After four decades of civil unrest and war, Mexico saw the development of philosophy and the arts, promoted by President Díaz himself. Since that time, as accentuated during the Mexican Revolution, cultural identity has had its foundation in the mestizaje, of which the indigenous (i.e. Amerindian) element is the core. In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races (thus extending the definition of the mestizo) not only biologically but culturally as well. This exalting of mestizaje was a revolutionary idea that sharply contrasted with the idea of a superior pure race prevalent in Europe at the time.\n\nLiterature\n\nThe literature of Mexico has its antecedents in the literatures of the indigenous settlements of Mesoamerica. The most well known prehispanic poet is Nezahualcoyotl. Modern Mexican literature was influenced by the concepts of the Spanish colonialization of Mesoamerica. Outstanding writers and poets from the Spanish period include Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and Juana Inés de la Cruz.\n\nIn light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races, biologically as well as culturally.\n\nOther writers include Alfonso Reyes, José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz (Nobel Laureate), Renato Leduc, Carlos Monsiváis, Elena Poniatowska, Mariano Azuela (\"Los de abajo\") and Juan Rulfo (\"Pedro Páramo\"). Bruno Traven wrote \"Canasta de cuentos mexicanos\", \"El tesoro de la Sierra Madre.\"\n\nScience\n\nThe National Autonomous University of Mexico was officially established in 1910, and the university become one of the most important institutes of higher learning in Mexico. UNAM provides world class education in science, medicine, and engineering. Many scientific institutes and new institutes of higher learning, such as National Polytechnic Institute (founded in 1936), were established during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the new research institutes were created within UNAM. Twelve institutes were integrated into UNAM from 1929 to 1973. In 1959, the Mexican Academy of Sciences was created to coordinate scientific efforts between academics.\n\nIn 1995 the Mexican chemist Mario J. Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul J. Crutzen and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone. Molina, an alumnus of UNAM, became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science.\n\nIn recent years, the largest scientific project being developed in Mexico was the construction of the Large Millimeter Telescope (Gran Telescopio Milimétrico, GMT), the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency range. It was designed to observe regions of space obscured by stellar dust.\n\nMusic\n\nMexican society enjoys a vast array of music genres, showing the diversity of Mexican culture. Traditional music includes Mariachi, Banda, Norteño, Ranchera and Corridos; on an everyday basis most Mexicans listen to contemporary music such as pop, rock, etc. in both English and Spanish. Mexico has the largest media industry in Hispanic America, producing Mexican artists who are famous in Central and South America and parts of Europe, especially Spain.\n\nSome well-known Mexican singers are Thalía, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Fernández, Julieta Venegas and Paulina Rubio. Mexican singers of traditional music are Lila Downs, Susana Harp, Jaramar, GEO Meneses and Alejandra Robles. Popular groups are Café Tacuba, Molotov and Maná, among others. Since the early years of the 2000s (decade), Mexican rock has seen widespread growth both domestically and internationally.\n\nCinema\n\nMexican films from the Golden Age in the 1940s and 1950s are the greatest examples of Hispanic American cinema, with a huge industry comparable to the Hollywood of those years. Mexican films were exported and exhibited in all of Hispanic America and Europe. María Candelaria (1944) by Emilio Fernández, was one of the first films awarded a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, the first time the event was held after World War II. The famous Spanish-born director Luis Buñuel realized in Mexico, between 1947 and 1965 some of his master pieces like Los Olvidados (1949), Viridiana (1961) and El angel exterminador (1963). Famous actors and actresses from this period include María Félix, Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete and the comedian Cantinflas.\n\nMore recently, films such as Como agua para chocolate (1992), Cronos (1993), Y tu mamá también (2001), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006) have been successful in creating universal stories about contemporary subjects, and were internationally recognised, as in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Mexican directors Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores perros, Babel, Birdman), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity, Roma), Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water), Carlos Carrera (The Crime of Father Amaro), and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga are some of the most known present-day film makers.\n\nVisual arts\n\nPost-revolutionary art in Mexico had its expression in the works of renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Federico Cantú Garza, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Juan O'Gorman. Diego Rivera, the most well-known figure of Mexican muralism, painted the Man at the Crossroads at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, a huge mural that was destroyed the next year because of the inclusion of a portrait of Russian communist leader Lenin. Some of Rivera's murals are displayed at the Mexican National Palace and the Palace of Fine Arts.\n\nArchitecture\n\nFor the artistic relevance of many of Mexico's architectural structures, including entire sections of prehispanic and colonial cities, have been designated World Heritage. The country has the first place in number of sites declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the Americas.\n\nReligion\n\nMexico has no official religion, but most Mexicans declare themselves Roman Catholic. Mexico is often seen as a very observant Catholic society. Most Mexicans tend to have opinions that are more in line with Catholic social teaching. Mexico has been resistant to Protestant incursion partly because Protestantism in Mexico has long been associated with the United States, which leads to the reinforcement of Catholicism as part of the Mexican identity.\n\nThe Constitution of 1917 imposed limitations on the church and sometimes codified state intrusion into church matters. The government does not provide financial contributions to the church, nor does the church participate in public education. However, Christmas is a national holiday and every year during Easter and Christmas all schools in Mexico, public and private, send their students on vacation.\n\nIn 1992, Mexico lifted almost all restrictions on the religions, including granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country. Until recently, priests did not have the right to vote, and even now they cannot be elected to public office.\n\nThe Catholic Church is the dominant religion in Mexico, with about 80% of the population as of 2017. which is the world's second largest number of Catholics, surpassed only by Brazil. Movements of return and revival of the indigenous Mesoamerican religions (Mexicayotl, Toltecayotl) have also appeared in recent decades.\n\nSee also\n\nList of Mexicans\nList of Mexican actors\nList of Mexican Americans\nImmigration to Mexico\nEmigration from Mexico\nChicano\nPocho\nMexican cuisine\nMexican nobility\nMexican Filipinos\nLanguages of Mexico\nNational symbols of Mexico\nMexican culture\nMexican Americans\nMexican immigration to Spain\nCalifornia Mexicans\nTejano Mexicans\n\nReferences\n\nWorks cited\n Friedlander, Judith. 1975. Being Indian in Hueyapan: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico. New York: Saint Martin's Press.\n Gómez M., et al. Historia de México: Texto de Consulta Para Educación Media Superior. Mexico: Limusa, 2006.\n Moot Rodriguez, Modern History of Mexico, Universidad de Chan, Mexico, 2002.\n\nBibliography\n\nFurther reading\n Oster, Patrick, The Mexicans: a personal portrait of a people, New York : HarperCollins, 2002. .\n\nEthnic groups in Mexico\nNorth American people",
"With a population of about 126 million in 2020, Mexico is the 10th most populated country in the world. It is the most populous Spanish-speaking country and the third-most populous in the Americas after the United States and Brazil. Throughout most of the 20th century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth. Although this tendency has been reversed and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress, and Mexico still has a large cohort of youths. The most populous city in the country is the capital, Mexico City, with a population of 8.9 million (2016), and its metropolitan area is also the most populated with 20.1 million (2010). Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country. In total, about 78.84% of the population of the country lives in urban areas, meaning that only 21.16% live in rural areas.\n\nDemographic censuses are performed by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica. The National Population Council (CONAPO) is an institution under the Ministry of Interior in charge of the analysis and research of population dynamics. The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), also undertakes research and analysis of the sociodemographic and linguistic indicators of the indigenous peoples.\n\nDemographic dynamics\n\nIn 1900, the Mexican population was 13.6 million. During the period of economic prosperity that was dubbed by economists as the \"Mexican Miracle\", the government invested in efficient social programs that reduced the infant mortality rate and increased life expectancy. These measures jointly led to an intense demographic increase between 1930 and 1980. The population's annual growth rate has been reduced from a 3.5% peak in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005. While Mexico is now transitioning to the third phase of demographic transition, close to 50% of the population in 2009 was 25 years old or younger. Fertility rates have also decreased from 5.7 children per woman in 1976 to 2.2 in 2006. After decades of the gap narrowing, in 2020 the fertility rate in Mexico fell below the United States for the first time falling 22% in 2020 and a further 10.5% in the first half of 2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.\n\nThe average annual population growth rate of Mexico City was the first in the country at 0.2%. The state with the lowest population growth rate over the same period was Michoacán (-0.1%), whereas the states with the highest population growth rates were Quintana Roo (4.7%) and Baja California Sur (3.4%), both of which are two of the least populous states and the last to be admitted to the Union in the 1970s. The average annual net migration rate of Mexico City over the same period was negative and the lowest of all political divisions of Mexico, whereas the states with the highest net migration rate were Quintana Roo (2.7), Baja California (1.8) and Baja California Sur (1.6). While the national annual growth rate was still positive (1.0%) in the early years of the 2000s, the national net migration rate was negative (-4.75/1000 inhabitants), given the former strong flow of immigrants to the United States; an estimated 5.3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants lived in the United States in 2004 and 18.2 million American citizens in the 2000 Census declared having Mexican ancestry. However, as of recent years in the 2010s, the net migration rate reached 0, given the strong economy of Mexico, changes in US Immigration Policy & Enforcement, US Legislative and CFR-8 decisions, plus the (then) slowly recovering US economy, causing many of its former residents to return. The Mexican government projects that the Mexican population will grow to about 123 million by 2042 and then start declining slowly. Assumptions underlying this projection include fertility stabilizing at 1.85 children per woman and continued high net emigration (slowly decreasing from 583,000 in 2005 to 393,000 in 2050).\n\nThe states and Mexico City that make up the Mexican federation are collectively called \"federal entities\". The five most populous federal entities in 2005 were the State of Mexico (14.4 million), Mexico City (8.7 million), Veracruz (7.1 million), Jalisco (6.7 million) and Puebla (5.4 million), which collectively contain 40.7% of the national population. Mexico City, being coextensive with the Mexico City, is the most populous city in the country, while Greater Mexico City, that includes the adjacent municipalities that comprise a metropolitan area, is estimated to be the second most populous in the world (after Tokyo), according to the UN Urbanization Report.\n\nIntense population growth in the northern states, especially along the US-Mexican border, changed the country's demographic profile in the second half of the 20th century, as the 1967 US-Mexico maquiladora agreement through which all products manufactured in the border cities could be imported duty-free to the US. Since the adoption of NAFTA in 1994, however, which allows all products to be imported duty-free regardless of their place of origin within Mexico, the non-border maquiladora share of exports has increased while that of border cities has decreased,. This has led to decentralization and rapid economic growth in Mexican states (and cities), such as Quintana Roo (Cancun), Baja California Sur (La Paz), Nuevo Leon (Monterrey), Querétaro, and Aguascalientes. The population of each of these five states grew by more than one-third from 2000-2015, while the whole of Mexico grew by 22.6% in this period.\n\nUN estimates\n\nAccording to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects, the total population was 117,886,000 in 2010, compared to only 28,296,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 30%, 64% of the population was between 15 and 65 years of age, and 6% was 65 years or older.\n\nStructure of the population \n\nStructure of the population (2020) (Census):\n\nVital statistics\n\nRegistered births and deaths\nSource: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica (INEGI)\n\nCurrent vital statistics\n\nEstimates\nThe following estimates were prepared by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica:\n\nLife expectancy from 1893 to 1950 \nLife expectancy in Mexico from 1893 to 1950. Source: Our World In Data\n\nUN estimates\nThe Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.\n\nInternational migration\n\nImmigration to Mexico\n\nAside from the original Spanish colonists, many Europeans immigrated to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Non-Spanish immigrant groups included British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch. Large numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants arrived in Mexico during the same period, mostly from Syria and Lebanon. Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese, some via the United States, settled in northern Mexico, whereas Koreans settled in central Mexico.\n\nDuring the 1970s and 1980s Mexico opened its doors to immigrants from Latin America, mainly political refugees from Chile, Cuba, Peru, Colombia and Central America. The PRI governments, in power for most of the 20th century, had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries. A second wave of immigrants has come to Mexico as a result of the economic crises experienced by some countries in the region. The Argentine community is quite significant estimated to be somewhere between 11,000 and 30,000.\n\nDue to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the resulting economic decline and high unemployment in Spain, many Spaniards have been emigrating to Mexico to seek new opportunities. For example, during the last quarter of 2012, a number of 7,630 work permits were granted to Spaniards.\n\nMexico is also the country where the largest number of American citizens live abroad, with Mexico City playing host to the largest number of American citizens abroad in the world. The American Citizens Abroad Association estimated in 1999 that a little more than one million Americans live in Mexico (which represent 1% of the population in Mexico and 25% of all American citizens living abroad). This immigration phenomenon could well be explained by the interaction of both countries under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but also by the fact that Mexico has become a popular destination for retirees, especially the small towns: just in the State of Guanajuato, in San Miguel de Allende and its surroundings, 10,000 Americans have their residence.\n\nDiscrepancies between the figures of official legal aliens and all foreign-born residents is quite large. The official figure for foreign-born residents in Mexico in 2000 was 493,000, with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (except Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The six states with the most immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Mexico City (11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3%).\n\nEmigration from Mexico\n\nThe national net migration rate of Mexico is negative, estimated at -1.8 migrants per 1,000 population .\nThe great majority of Mexican emigrants have moved to the United States of America. This migration phenomenon is not new, but it has been a defining feature in the relationship of both countries for most of the 20th century. During World Wars I and II, the United States government approved the recruitment of Mexican workers in their territory, and tolerated unauthorized migration in order to obtain additional farm- and industrial-workers to fill the necessary spots vacated by the population in war, and to supply the increase in the demand for labor. Nonetheless, the United States unilaterally ended the wartime programs - in part as a result of arguments from labor and from civil-rights groups.\n\nIn spite of that, emigration of Mexicans continued throughout the rest of the 20th century at varying rates. It grew significantly during the 1990s and continued to do so in the first years of the 2000s. In fact, it has been estimated that 37% of all Mexican immigrants to the United States in the 20th century arrived during the 1990s. In 2000 approximately 20 million American residents identified themselves as either Mexican, Mexican-Americans or of Mexican origin, making \"Mexican\" the sixth-most cited ancestry of all US residents.\n\nIn 2000 the INEGI estimated that about eight million Mexican-born people, which then was equivalent to 8.7% of the population of Mexico itself, lived in the United States of America. In that year, the Mexican states sending the greatest numbers of emigrants to the United States were Jalisco (170,793), Michoacán (165,502), and Guanajuato (163,338); the total number of Mexican emigrants to the United States in 2000, both legal and illegal, was estimated at 1,569,157; the great majority of these were men. Approximately 30% of emigrants come from rural communities. In 2000, 260,650 emigrants returned to Mexico. According to the Pew Hispanic Center in 2006, an estimated ten percent of all Mexican citizens lived in the United States. The population of Mexican immigrants residing illegally in the United States fell from around seven million in 2007 to about 6.1 million in 2011. This trajectory has been linked to the economic downturn which started in 2008 and which reduced available jobs, and to the introduction of stricter immigration laws in many States. According to the Pew Hispanic Center the total number of Mexican-born people had stagnated in 2010 and then began to fall.\n\nAfter the Mexican-American community, Mexican Canadians are the second-largest group of emigrant Mexicans, with a population of over 50,000. A significant but unknown number of mestizos of Mexican descent migrated to the Philippines during the era of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, when the Philippines was a territory under the rule of Mexico city. Mexicans live throughout Latin America as well as in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.\n\nCities and metropolitan areas\n\nSettlements, cities and municipalities\n\nIn 2005 Mexico had 187,938 localidades (lit. \"localities\" or \"settlements\"), which are census-designated places, which could be defined as a small town, a large city, or simply as a single unit housing in a rural area whether situated remotely or close to an urban area. A city is defined to be a settlement with more than 2,500 inhabitants. In 2005 there were 2,640 cities with a population between 2,500 and 15,000 inhabitants, 427 with a population between 15,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, 112 with a population between 100,000 and one million, and 11 with a population of more than one million. All cities are considered \"urban areas\" and represent 76.5% of total population. Settlements with less than 2,500 inhabitants are considered \"rural communities\" (in fact, more than 80,000 of those settlements have only one or two housing units). Rural population in Mexico is 22.2% of total population.\n\nMunicipalities (municipios in Spanish) and boroughs (delegaciones in Spanish) are incorporated places in Mexico, that is, second or third-level political divisions with internal autonomy, legally prescribed limits, powers and functions. In terms of second-level political divisions there are 2,438 municipalities and Mexico and 16 semi-autonomous boroughs (all within the Federal District). A municipality can be constituted by one or more cities one of which is the cabecera municipal (municipal seat). Cities are usually contained within the limits of a single municipality, with a few exceptions in which small areas of one city may extend to other adjacent municipalities without incorporating the city which serves as the municipal seat of the adjacent municipality. Some municipalities or cities within municipalities are further divided into delegaciones or boroughs. However, unlike the boroughs of the Federal District, these are third-level administrative divisions; they have very limited autonomy and no elective representatives.\n\nMunicipalities in central Mexico are usually very small in area and thus coextensive with cities (as is the case of Guadalajara, Puebla and León), whereas municipalities in northern and southeastern Mexico are much larger and usually contain more than one city or town that may not necessarily conform a single urban agglomeration (as is the case of Tijuana).\n\nMetropolitan areas\n\nA metropolitan area in Mexico is defined to be the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city. In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO, INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:\n the group of two or more municipalities in which a city with a population of at least 50,000 is located whose urban area extends over the limit of the municipality that originally contained the core city incorporating either physically or under its area of direct influence other adjacent predominantly urban municipalities all of which have a high degree of social and economic integration or are relevant for urban politics and administration; or\n a single municipality in which a city of a population of at least one million is located and fully contained, (that is, it does not transcend the limits of a single municipality); or\n a city with a population of at least 250,000 which forms a conurbation with other cities in the United States of America.\n\nIn 2004 there were 55 metropolitan areas in Mexico, in which close to 53% of the country's population lives. The most populous metropolitan area in Mexico is the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, or Greater Mexico City, which in 2005 had a population of 19.23 million, or 19% of the nation's population. The next four largest metropolitan areas in Mexico are Greater Guadalajara (4.1 million), Greater Monterrey (3.7 million), Greater Puebla (2.1 million) and Greater Toluca (1.6 million), whose added population, along with Greater Mexico City, is equivalent to 30% of the nation's population. Greater Mexico City was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country since the 1930s until the late 1980s. Since then, the country has slowly become economically and demographically less centralized. From 2000 to 2005 the average annual growth rate of Greater Mexico City was the lowest of the five largest metropolitan areas, whereas the fastest growing metropolitan area was Puebla (2.0%) followed by Monterrey (1.9%), Toluca (1.8%) and Guadalajara (1.8%).\n\nOther demographic statistics\n\nDemographic statistics according to the World Population Review.\n\nOne birth every 14 seconds\t\nOne death every 41 seconds\t\nOne net migrant every 9 minutes\t\nNet gain of one person every 23 seconds\n\nDemographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.\n\nPopulation\n125,959,205 (July 2018 est.)\nDemographic statistics according to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics.\n\nEthnic groups\n 21% Indigenous Mexicans (Native American)\n 25% Mestizo (indigenous+European)\n 47% Light skinned-Mexican or white-Mexicans (\"castizo\"mostly european or \"white\"european descendent)\n 1% Asian-mexicans (mostly asian or asian descendent)\n 0.1% Afro-mexicans (mostly black or black descendent)\n 1% Not classified.\n\nHair color\n 18% blond hair\n 2% red hair\n 80% black hair or dark brown\n\nEye color\n 28% light-colored eyes\n 72% dark- or mixed eyes\n\nAge structure\n0-14 years: 26.61% (male 17,143,124 /female 16,378,309)\n15-24 years: 17.35% (male 11,072,817 /female 10,779,029)\n25-54 years: 40.91% (male 24,916,204 /female 26,612,272)\n55-64 years: 7.87% (male 4,538,167 /female 5,375,867)\n65 years and over: 7.26% (male 4,079,513 /female 5,063,903) (2018 est.)\n\nMedian age\ntotal: 28.6 years Country comparison to the world: 135th\nmale: 27.5 years\nfemale: 29.7 years (2018 est.)\n\nBirth rate\n18.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 93rd\n\nDeath rate\n5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 180th\n\nNet migration rate\n-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 158th\n\nTotal fertility rate\n2.22 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 94th\n\nContraceptive prevalence rate\n66.9% (2015)\n\nPopulation growth rate\n1.09% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 101st\n\nMother's mean age at first birth\n21.3 years (2008 est.)\n\nLanguages\nSpanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8% (2005)\nnote: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages\n\nReligions\nRoman Catholic 82.7%, Pentecostal 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 1.4%, other Evangelical Churches 5%, other 1.9%, none 4.7%, unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)\n\nPopulation distribution\nmost of the population is found in the middle of the country between the states of Jalisco and Veracruz; approximately a quarter of the population lives in and around Mexico City\n\nLife expectancy at birth\ntotal population: 76.3 years\nmale: 73.5 years\nfemale: 79.2 years (2018 est.)\n\nDependency ratios\ntotal dependency ratio: 51.4 (2015 est.)\nyouth dependency ratio: 41.6 (2015 est.)\nelderly dependency ratio: 9.8 (2015 est.)\npotential support ratio: 10.2 (2015 est.)\n\nUrbanization\nurban population: 80.2% of total population (2018)\nrate of urbanization: 1.59% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)\n\nObesity - adult prevalence rate\n28.9% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 29th\n\nChildren under the age of 5 years underweight\n4.2% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 87th\n\nEducation expenditures\n5.2% of GDP (2015) Country comparison to the world: 59th\n\nLiteracy\ndefinition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.)\ntotal population: 94.9%\nmale: 95.8%\nfemale: 94% (2016 est.)\n\nSchool life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)\ntotal: 14 years\nmale: 14 years\nfemale: 14 years (2016)\n\nUnemployment, youth ages 15–24\ntotal: 6.9%. Country comparison to the world: 157th\nmale: 6.5%\nfemale: 7.6% (2018 est.)\n\nSex ratio\nat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female\n0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female\n15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female\n25-54 years: 0.94 male(s)/female\n55-64 years: 0.84 male(s)/female\n65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female\ntotal population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2018 est.)\n\nEthnic groups\nMexico is ethnically diverse. The second article of the Mexican Constitution defines the country to be a pluricultural state originally based on its indigenous peoples.\n\nMestizo\n\nA large majority of Mexicans have been classified as \"Mestizos\", meaning in modern Mexican usage that they identify fully neither with any indigenous culture nor with a Spanish cultural heritage, but rather identify as having cultural traits incorporating elements from both indigenous and Spanish traditions. By the deliberate efforts of post-revolutionary governments, the \"Mestizo identity\" was constructed as the base of the modern Mexican national identity, through a process of cultural synthesis referred to as mestizaje . Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity upon this concept.\n\nSince the Mestizo identity promoted by the government is more of a cultural identity than a biological one it has achieved a strong influence in the country, a good number of phenotypically white people identifying with it, leading to being considered Mestizos in Mexico's demographic investigations and censuses due to the ethnic criteria having its base on cultural traits rather than biological ones. A similar situation occurs regarding the distinctions between Indigenous peoples and Mestizos: while the term Mestizo is sometimes used in English with the meaning of a person with mixed indigenous and European blood, In Mexican society an indigenous person can be considered mestizo. and a person with none or a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage. In the Yucatán peninsula the word Mestizo has a different meaning, with it being to refer to the Maya-speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the caste war of the late 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as Mestizos. In Chiapas the word \"Ladino\" is used instead of mestizo.\n\nGiven that the word Mestizo has different meanings in Mexico, estimates of the Mexican Mestizo population vary widely. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, which uses a biology-based approach, between one half and two thirds of the Mexican population is Mestizo whereas a culture-based criteria estimates a percentage as high as 90%. Recent research based on self-identification nonetheless, has observed that many Mexicans do not identify as mestizos and would not agree to be labeled as such,\nwith \"static\" racial labels such as White, Indian, Black etc. being more commonly used.\n\nThe use of variated methods and criteria to quantify the number of Mestizos in Mexico is not new: Since several decades ago, many authors have analyzed colonial censuses data and have made different conjectures respecting the ethnic composition of the population of colonial Mexico/New Spain. There are Historians such as Gonzalo Aguirre-Beltrán who claimed in 1972 that practically the totality of New Spain's population, in reality, were Mestizos, using to back up his claims arguments such as that affairs of Spaniards with non-Europeans due to the alleged absence of female European immigrants were widespread as well as there being a huge desire of Mestizos to \"pass\" as Spaniards, this because Spanishness was seen as a symbol of high status. Other historians however, point that Aguirre-Beltran numbers tend to have inconsistencies and take too much liberties (it is pointed out in the book Ensayos sobre historia de la población. México y el Caribe 2 published in 1998 that on 1646, when according to historic registers the mestizo population was of 1% he estimates it to be 16.6% already, with this being attributed to him interpreting the data in a way convenient for a historic narrative), often omitting data of New Spain's northern and western provinces. His self-made classifications thus, although could be plausible, are not useful for precise statistical analysis. According 21st-century historians, Aguirre Beltran also disregards facts such as the population dynamics of New Spain being different depending on the region at hand (i.e. miscegenation couldn't happen in a significative amount in regions on which the native population was openly hostile until early 20th century, such as most of New Spain's internal provinces, which nowadays are the northern and western regions of Mexico), or that historic accounts made by investigators at the time consistently observed that New Spain's European population was notoriously concerned with preserving their European heritage, with practices such as inviting relatives and friends directly from Spain or favouring Europeans for marriage even if they were from a lower socioeconomic level than them being common. Newer publications that do cite Aguirre-Beltran's work take those factors into consideration, stating that the Spaniard/Euromestizo/Criollo ethnic label was composed on its majority by descendants of Europeans albeit the category may have included people with some non-European ancestry.\n\nIndigenous peoples\n\nPrior to contact with Europeans the indigenous people of Mexico had not had any kind of shared identity. Indigenous identity was constructed by the dominant Euro-Mestizo majority and imposed upon the indigenous people as a negatively defined identity, characterized by the lack of assimilation into modern Mexico. Indigenous identity therefore became socially stigmatizing. Cultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the indigenous people, with efforts designed to help indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the rest of society, eventually assimilating indigenous peoples completely to Mestizo Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the \"Indian problem\" by transforming indigenous communities into mestizo communities.\n\nThe category of \"indígena\" (indigenous) in Mexico has been defined based on different criteria throughout history. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as \"indigenous\" varies according to the definition applied. It can be defined narrowly according to a linguistic criterion, including only persons that speak an Indigenous language. Based on this criterion, approximately 6.1% of the population is Indigenous. Nonetheless, activists for the rights of indigenous peoples have referred to the usage of this criterion for census purposes as \"statistical genocide.\" Other surveys made by the Mexican government do count as Indigenous all persons who speak an indigenous language and people who do not speak indigenous languages nor live in indigenous communities but self-identify as Indigenous.\n\nAccording to these criteria, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, or CDI in Spanish) and the INEGI (Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography), state that there are 15.7 million indigenous people in Mexico of many different ethnic groups, which constitute 14.9% of the population in the country. Finally, according to the latest intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government in 2015, Indigenous people make up 21.5% of Mexico's population. In this occasion, people who self-identified as \"Indigenous\" and people who self-identified as \"partially Indigenous\" were classified in the \"Indigenous\" category altogether.\n\nThe Mexican constitution not only recognizes the 62 indigenous peoples living in Mexican territory but also grants them autonomy and protects their culture and languages. This protection and autonomy is extended to those Amerindian ethnic groups which have migrated from the United States — like the Cherokees and Kickapoos — and Guatemala during the 19th and 20th centuries. Municipalities in which indigenous peoples are located can keep their normative traditional systems in relation to the election of their municipal authorities. This system is known as Usos y Costumbres, roughly translated as \"customs and traditions\".\n\nAccording to official statistics —as reported by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples or CDI— Amerindians make up 10-14% of the country's population, more than half of them (5.4% of total population) speak an indigenous language and a tenth (1.2% of total population) do not speak Spanish. Official statistics of the CDI report that the states with the greatest percentage of people who speak an Amerindian language or identify as Amerindian are Yucatán (59%), Oaxaca (48%), Quintana Roo (39%), Chiapas (28%), Campeche (27%), Hidalgo (24%), Puebla (19%), Guerrero (17%), San Luis Potosí (15%) and Veracruz (15%). Oaxaca is the state with the greatest number of distinct indigenous peoples and languages in the country.\n\nWhite Mexicans\n\nWhite Mexicans are Mexican citizens of full or majority European descent. This ethnic group contrasts with the Afro-Mexican and Indigenous Mexican groups in the fact that phenotype (hair color, skin color etc.) is often used as the main criterion to delineate it. Spaniards and other Europeans began arriving in Mexico during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and continued immigrating to the country during colonial and independent Mexico. According to 20th- and 21st-century academics, large scale intermixing between the European immigrants and the native Indigenous peoples would produce a Mestizo group which would become the overwhelming majority of Mexico's population by the time of the Mexican revolution. However, according to church registers from the colonial times, the majority (73%) of Spanish men married with Spanish women. Said registers also put in question other narratives held by contemporary academics, such as European immigrants who arrived to Mexico being almost exclusively men or that \"pure Spanish\" people were all part of a small powerful elite as Spaniards were often the most numerous ethnic group in the colonial cities as there were menial workers and people in poverty who were of complete Spanish origin.\n\nEstimates of Mexico's white population differ greatly in both, methodology and percentages given, extra-official sources such as The World Factbook and Encyclopedia Britannica, which use the 1921 census results as the base of their estimations, calculate Mexico's White population as only 9% or between one tenth to one fifth (the results of the 1921 census, however, have been contested by various historians and deemed inaccurate). Surveys that account for phenotypical traits and have performed actual field research suggest rather higher percentages: using the presence of blond hair as reference to classify a Mexican as white, the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico calculated the percentage of said ethnic group at 23%. With a similar methodology, the American Sociological Association obtained a percentage of 18.8% having its higher frequency on the North region (22.3%–23.9%) followed by the Center region (18.4%–21.3%) and the South region (11.9%).\n\nAnother study made by the University College London in collaboration with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History found that the frequencies of blond hair and light eyes in Mexicans are of 18% and 28% respectively, surveys that use as reference skin color such as those made by Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination and Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography reported a percentages of 47% in 2010 and 49% in 2017 respectively. A study performed in hospitals of Mexico City reported that an average 51.8% of Mexican newborns presented the congenital skin birthmark known as the Mongolian spot. The Mongolian spot appears with a very high frequency (85-95%) in Asian, Native American, and African children. The skin lesion reportedly almost always appears on South American and Mexican children who are racially Mestizos, while having a very low frequency (5–10%) in Caucasian children. According to the Mexican Social Security Institute (shortened as IMSS) nationwide, around half of Mexican babies have the Mongolian spot.\n\nMexico's northern and western regions have the highest percentages of European population, with the majority of the people not having native admixture or being of predominantly European ancestry, resembling in aspect that of northern Spaniards. In the north and west of Mexico, the indigenous populations were substantially smaller than those found in central and southern Mexico, and also much less organized, thus they remained isolated from the rest of the population or even in some cases were hostile towards Mexican colonists. The northeast region, in which the indigenous population was eliminated by early European settlers, became the region with the highest proportion of whites during the Spanish colonial period. However, recent immigrants from southern Mexico have been changing, to some degree, its demographic trends.\n\nWhile the majority of European immigration to Mexico has been Spanish with the first wave starting with the colonization of America and the last one being a consequence of the Spanish Civil War of 1937, immigrants from other European countries have arrived to Mexico as well: during the Second Mexican Empire the immigration was mostly French, and during the late 19th and early 20th centuries spurred by government policies of Porfirio Díaz, migrants mainly from Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany followed taking advantage of the liberal policies then valid in Mexico and went into merchant, industrial and educational ventures while others arrived with no or limited capital, as employees or farmers. Most settled in Mexico City, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Puebla. Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after the First and Second World Wars. Additionally small numbers of White Americans, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Romanians, Russians and Ashkenazi Jews came. The European Jewish immigrants joined the Sephardic community that lived in Mexico since colonial times, though many lived as Crypto-Jews, mostly in the northern states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Some communities of European immigrants have remained isolated from the rest of the general population since their arrival, among them the German-speaking Mennonites from Russia of Chihuahua and Durango, and the Venetos of Chipilo, Puebla, which have retained their original languages.\n\nHowever, ethnicity in Mexico is not as clear cut as it is in the English speaking world, and \"mestizos\" are somewhat prone to identifying as \"white\" if asked. According to Pewresearch, 60% of Mexicans identify as white when asked about their race.\n\nAfro-Mexicans\n\nAfro-Mexicans are an ethnic group that predominate in certain areas of Mexico, such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and the Costa Chica of Guerrero, Veracruz (e.g. Yanga) and in some towns in northern Mexico. The existence of black people in Mexico is often unknown, denied or diminished both in Mexico and abroad for different reasons: their small numbers, continuous intermarriage and assimilation with non-African populations over various generations, as was often the case in Spanish territories and Mexico's tradition of defining itself as a \"mestizaje\" or mixing of European and indigenous. Mexico did have an active slave trade during the colonial period, but it wasn't as prominent as the one seen elsewhere in the Americas, which led to the number of free black people eventually surpassing that of enslaved ones. The institution was already in decay by the late 1700s and by the 19th century slavery and ethnic categorization at birth (see casta) have been abolished with the Mexican independence. After this the creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico's indigenous and European past, actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.\n\nThe majority of Mexico's native Afro-descendants are Afromestizos. Individuals with significantly high amounts of African ancestry make up a very low percentage of the total Mexican population, the majority being recent black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas. According to the Intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government, Afro-Mexicans make up 2.4% of Mexico's population, the Afro-Mexican category in the Intercensal survey includes people who self-identified solely as African and people who self-identified as partially African. The survey also states that 64.9% (896,829) of Afro-Mexicans also identified as indigenous, with 9.3% being speakers of indigenous languages.\n\nA number of black Mexicans descend from recent immigrants from Haiti, Africa, as well as Garifuna populations from Central America.\n\nArab Mexicans\n\nAn Arab Mexican is a Mexican citizen of Arabic-speaking origin who can be of various ancestral origins. The vast majority of Mexico's 1.1 million Arabs are from either Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, or Palestinian background.\n\nThe interethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity. As a result of this, the Arab community in Mexico shows marked language shift away from Arabic. Only a few speak any Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language. Today, the most common Arabic surnames in Mexico include Nader, Hayek, Ali, Haddad, Nasser, Malik, Abed, Mansoor, Harb and Elias.\n\nArab immigration to Mexico started in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Roughly 100,000 Arabic-speakers settled in Mexico during this time period. They came mostly from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iraq and settled in significant numbers in Nayarit, Puebla, Mexico City and the Northern part of the country (mainly in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango, as well as the city of Tampico and Guadalajara. The term \"Arab Mexican\" may include ethnic groups that do not in fact identify as Arab.\n\nDuring the Israel-Lebanon war in 1948 and during the Six-Day War, thousands of Lebanese left Lebanon and went to Mexico. They first arrived in Veracruz. Although Arabs made up less than 5% of the total immigrant population in Mexico during the 1930s, they constituted half of the immigrant economic activity.\n\nImmigration of Arabs in Mexico has influenced Mexican culture, in particular food, where they have introduced Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and even created recipes such as Tacos Árabes. By 1765, Dates, which originated from the Middle East, were introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards. The fusion between Arab and Mexican food has highly influenced the Yucatecan cuisine.\n\nAnother concentration of Arab-Mexicans is in Baja California facing the U.S.-Mexican border, esp. in cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico, and Tijuana across from San Diego with a large Arab American community (about 280,000), some of whose families have relatives in Mexico. 45% of Arab Mexicans are of Lebanese descent.\n\nThe majority of Arab-Mexicans are Christians who belong to the Maronite Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. A scant number are Muslims.\n\nAsian Mexicans\n\nAlthough Asian Mexicans make up less than 1% of the total population of modern Mexico, they are nonetheless a notable minority. Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexican society of what constitutes Asian culture (associated with the Far East rather than the Near East), Asian Mexicans typically refers to those of East Asian descent, and may also include those of South and Southeast Asian descent. For Mexicans of West Asian descent, see the Middle Eastern Mexicans section.\n\nAsian immigration began with the arrival of Filipinos to Mexico during the Spanish period. For two and a half centuries, between 1565 and 1815, many Filipinos and Mexicans sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines as sailors, crews, slaves, prisoners, adventurers and soldiers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Asia and the Americas. Also on these voyages, thousands of Asian individuals (mostly males) were brought to Mexico as slaves and were called \"Chino\", which means Chinese, although in reality they were of diverse origins, including Koreans, Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Cambodians, Timorese, and people from Bengal, India, Ceylon, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China. A notable example is the story of Catarina de San Juan (Mirra), an Indian girl captured by the Portuguese and sold into slavery in Manila. She arrived in New Spain and eventually she gave rise to the \"China Poblana\".\n\nThese early individuals are not very apparent in modern Mexico for two main reasons: the widespread mestizaje of Mexico during the Spanish period and the common practice of Chino slaves to \"pass\" as Indios (the indigenous people of Mexico) in order to attain freedom. As had occurred with a large portion of Mexico's black population, over generations the Asian populace was absorbed into the general Mestizo population. Facilitating this miscegenation was the assimilation of Asians into the indigenous population. The indigenous people were legally protected from chattel slavery, and by being recognized as part of this group, Asian slaves could claim they were wrongly enslaved.\n\nAsians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico's fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910.\n\nRomani Mexicans\n\nRomani people have settled in Mexico since the colonial era. There are around 50,000 Vlax Romani in Mexico.\n\nOfficial censuses\nHistorically, population studies and censuses have never been up to the standards that a population as diverse and numerous such as Mexico's require: the first racial census was made in 1793, being also Mexico's (then known as New Spain) first ever nationwide population census. Since only part of its original datasets survive, most of what is known of it comes from essays made by researchers who back in the day used the census' findings as reference for their own works. More than a century would pass until the Mexican government conducted a new racial census in 1921 (some sources assert that the census of 1895 included a comprehensive racial classification; however, according to the historic archives of Mexico's National Institute of Statistics, that was not the case). While the 1921 census was the last time the Mexican government conducted a census that included a comprehensive racial classification, in recent years it has conducted nationwide surveys to quantify most of the ethnic groups who inhabit the country as well as the social dynamics and inequalities between them.\n\n1793 census\nAlso known as the \"Revillagigedo census\" from the name of the Count who ordered that it be conducted, this census was the first nationwide population census of Mexico (then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain). Most of its original datasets have reportedly been lost, so most of what is known about it nowadays comes from essays and field investigations made by academics who had access to the census data and used it as reference for their works, such as Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt. Each author gives different estimations for each racial group in the country although they don't vary greatly, with Europeans ranging from 18% to 22% of New Spain's population, Mestizos from 21% to 25%, Indians from 51% to 61%, and Africans from 6,000 and 10,000. The estimations given for the total population range from 3,799,561 to 6,122,354. It is concluded then, that across nearly three centuries of colonization, the population growth trends of whites and mestizos were even, while the total percentage of the indigenous population decreased at a rate of 13%–17% per century. The authors assert that rather than whites and mestizos having higher birthrates, the reason for the indigenous population's numbers decreasing lies in their suffering higher mortality rates due to living in remote locations rather than in cities and towns founded by the Spanish colonists or in being at war with them. For the same reasons, the number of Indigenous Mexicans presents the greatest variation range between publications, as in some cases their numbers in a given location were estimated rather than counted, leading to possible overestimations in some provinces and possible underestimations in others.\n\n~Europeans are included within the Mestizo category.\n\nRegardless of the possible inaccuracies related to the counting of Indigenous peoples living outside of the colonized areas, the effort that New Spain's authorities put into considering them as subjects is worth mentioning, as censuses made by other colonial or post-colonial countries did not consider American Indians to be citizens or subjects; for example, the censuses made by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata would only count the inhabitants of the colonized settlements. Another example is the censuses made by the United States, which did not include Indigenous peoples living among the general population until 1860, and indigenous peoples as a whole until 1900.\n\n1921 census\n\nMade right after the consummation of the Mexican revolution, the social context in which this census was conducted makes it particularly unique, as the government of the time was in the process of rebuilding the country and was looking to unite all Mexicans in a single national identity. The 1921 census' final results in regards to race, which assert that 59.3% of the Mexican population self-identified as Mestizo, 29.1% as Indigenous, and only 9.8% as White, were then essential in cementing the mestizaje ideology (which asserts that the Mexican population as a whole is product of the admixture of all races), which shaped Mexican identity and culture through the 20th century and remains prominent nowadays, with extraofficial international publications such as The World Factbook and Encyclopædia Britannica using the 1921 census as a reference to estimate Mexico's racial composition up to this day.\n\nNonetheless in recent times, the census' results have been subjected to scrutiny by historians, academics and social activists alike, who assert that such drastic alterations on demographic trends with respect to the 1793 census are impossible and cite, among other statistics, the relatively low frequency of marriages between people of different continental ancestries in colonial and early independent Mexico. It is claimed that the mestizaje process sponsored by the state was more \"cultural than biological\", which resulted in the numbers of the Mestizo Mexican group being inflated at the expense of the identity of other races. Controversies aside, this census constituted the last time the Mexican Government conducted a comprehensive racial census with the breakdown by states being the following (foreigners and people who answered \"other\" not included):\n\nWhen the 1921 census' results are compared with the results of Mexico's recent censuses as well as with modern genetic research, there is high consistency with respect to the distribution of Indigenous Mexicans across the country, with states located in south and south-eastern Mexico having both the highest percentages of population who self-identify as Indigenous and the highest percentages of Amerindian genetic ancestry. However, this is not the case when it comes to European Mexicans, as there are instances in which states that have been shown through scientific research to have a considerably high European ancestry are reported to have very small white populations in the 1921 census, with the most extreme case being that of the state of Durango, where the aforementioned census asserts that only 0.01% of the state's population (33 persons) self-identified as \"white\" while modern scientific research shows that the population of Durango has similar genetic frequencies to those found on European peoples (with the state's Indigenous population showing almost no foreign admixture either). Various authors theorize that the reason for these inconsistencies may lie in the Mestizo identity promoted by the Mexican government, which reportedly led to people who are not biologically Mestizos to identify themselves as such.\n\nThe present day\nThe following table is a compilation of, when possible, official nationwide surveys conducted by the Mexican government which have attempted to quantify different Mexican ethnic groups. Given that, for the most part, each ethnic group was estimated by different surveys with different methodologies and years apart rather than on a single comprehensive racial census, some groups could overlap with others and be overestimated or underestimated.\n\nOf all the ethnic groups that have been surveyed, Mestizos are notably absent, which is likely due to the label's fluid and subjective definition, which complicates its precise quantification. However it can be safely assumed that Mestizos make up at least the remaining 30% unassessed percentage of Mexico's population with possibilities of increasing if the methodologies of the extant surveys are considered. For example, the 2015 intercensal survey considered individuals who self-identified as \"part Indigenous\" or \"part African\" as part of a combined group of Indigenous Mexicans and Afro-Mexicans altogether. Such people technically would be Mestizos. Similarly, White Mexicans were quantified based on physical traits and appearance. Thus, technically a Mestizo with a percentage of Indigenous ancestry that was low enough to not affect his or her primarily European phenotype was considered to be white. Finally, the remaining ethnicities, relatively low in number, have more permissive classification criteria. Some of these ethnicities are faiths. Therefore, a Mestizo could claim to belong to one of them by practicing the faith, or by having an ancestor who belonged to at least one of these ethnicities.\nNonetheless, contemporary sociologists and historians agree that, given that the concept of \"race\" has a psychological foundation rather than a biological one, and that to society's eyes, a Mestizo with a high percentage of European ancestry is considered \"white\", and a Mestizo with a high percentage of Indigenous ancestry is considered \"Indian\", a person who identifies with a given ethnic group should be allowed to, even if biologically he or she doesn't completely belong to that group.\n\nLanguages\n\nSpanish is the de facto official language in Mexico being spoken by 98.3% of the population. Mexican Spanish is spoken in a variety of dialects, accents and variations in different regions across the country.\n\nSome indigenous languages are still being spoken by around 5% of Mexicans according to the latest census, in 2003 the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples recognized 68 indigenous languages as \"national languages\", with the \"same validity\" in all territories and contexts where they are spoken. The indigenous language with the greatest number of speakers is Nahuatl (1,586,884 speakers in 2010 or 1.5% of the nation's population), followed by Yucatec Maya (796,405 speakers in 2010 0.8%) spoken Yucatán Peninsula, Mixtecas languages (494,454), Tzeltal (474,298), Zapotecas languages (460,683), Tzotzil (429,168), Otomí (288,052), Totonaca (250,252) Mazateco (230,124), Chol (222,051) and 1,462,857 speakers of other languages. After half a century of rural-to-urban migration, in Mexico City and other major cities large districts and sections use both written and spoken Amerindian languages.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century the government promoted a policy of castellanización, that is, promoting the use of Spanish as a way to integrate indigenous peoples into Mexican society. Later, this policy changed, and since the 1980s the government has sponsored bilingual and intercultural education in all indigenous communities. This policy has mainly been successful in large communities with a significant number of speakers. While some languages, with less than 1,000 speakers, are still facing extinction.\n\nThe second most spoken language in Mexico, however, is English. It is used extensively at border areas, tourist centers and large metropolitan areas, a phenomenon arguably caused by the economic integration of North American under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the immigration phenomenon and the return of workers and their families from the United States. In border cities, American TV and radio waves in English (and Spanish) are received as much Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations from Mexico on the US side of the border, thus a bilingual cross-cultural exchange is at work.\n\nAmong the languages brought to the country by immigrants are the Venetian of Chipilo, and Mennonite Low German spoken in Durango and Chihuahua.\n\nMexican nationality and citizenship\n\nThe Constitution of Mexico grants Mexican nationality based on birth and naturalization. Mexican laws regarding nationality by birth are very open. Mexican nationality by birth is granted to:\n all those individuals born in Mexican territory,\n all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by birth,\n all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by naturalization,\n all those individuals born aboard Mexican aircraft or sea vessels, whether warships or commercial vessels.\n\nMexican nationality by naturalization is granted to:\n foreign citizens granted Mexican nationality by the Secretariat of Government (Ministry of the Interior);\n foreign citizens married to a Mexican national, whether by birth or naturalization.\n\nReligion\n\nThe Mexican population is predominantly Catholic (82.7% of the population aged five and older, according to the 2010 census), although the percentage representing those who attend church on a weekly basis is lower (46%). About 7.6% of the population was classified as Protestant or Evangelical, 2.5% were classified as \"Non-Evangelical Biblical\" (a classification that groups Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses), 0.05% as practicing Jews, and 4.6% without a religion. The largest group of Protestants are Pentecostals and Charismatics (classified as Neo-Pentecostals).\n\nThe states with the highest percentage of professing Catholics are central states, namely Guanajuato (96.4%), Aguascalientes (95.6%) and Jalisco (95.4%), whereas southeastern states have the lowest percentage of Catholics, namely Chiapas (63.8%), Tabasco (70.4%) and Campeche (71.3%). The percentage of professing Catholics has been on the decrease over the last four decades, from over 98% in 1950 to 87.9% in 2000. The average annual growth of Catholic believers from 1990 to 2000 was 1.7% whereas that of non-Catholics was 3.7%. Given that the average annual population increase over the same time period was 1.8%, the percentage of Catholics in relation to the total population continues to be in overall decline.\n\nUnlike some other countries in Latin America or Ibero-America, the 1857 Mexican Constitution drastically separates Church and State. The State does not support or provide any economic resource to the Church (as is the case in Spain and Argentina), and the Church cannot participate in public education (no public school can be operated by a Catholic order, although they can participate in private education). Moreover, the government nationalized all the Church's properties (some of which were given back in the 1990s), and priests lost the right to vote or to be voted for (although in the 1990s they regained the right to vote).\n\nSee also\n List of cities in Mexico\n List of municipalities in Mexico by population\n Metropolitan areas of Mexico\n List of Mexican states by population\n List of Mexican states by fertility rate\n Economy of Mexico\n Poverty in Mexico\n Romani Mexicans\n\nReferences and notes\n\nFurther reading\n Merrill, Tim and Ramón Miró. Mexico: a country study (Library of Congress. Federal Research Division, 1996) US government document; not copyright online free\n\nExternal links\n UN: Fertility in Mexico: Trends and Forecasts\n Mexico population bureau CONAPO\n Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, INEGI\n Map of Fecundity in Mexico"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,",
"What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples?",
"I don't know.",
"Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population?",
"Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population,"
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | Do indigenous peoples tend to live in urban or suburban areas? | 6 | Do indigenous peoples tend to live in urban or suburban areas in Mexico? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"Suburban colonization happens when people move to suburbs, taking their political power with them from the place they leave. Other colonialism is often studied for the effects upon those already inhabiting the colonized area, but students of suburban colonization tend to take greater interest in the effects upon the metropole.\n\nServices and taxes favor suburbs \n\nAs hinterlands acquire more population and more power then, according to the one man one vote principle, they get more votes in representative bodies, notably metropolitan regions or greater urban areas such as the Greater Toronto Area Greater Montreal, Greater Paris or Greater London. Suburban votes then come to outweigh inner city votes, just as, a century earlier, urbanization or urban colonialization diminished the power of rural voters.\n\nDecisions of these bodies accordingly begin to favor people who live in suburbs, providing more car-oriented and commuter services and more favorable property tax rates for single family homes as tenants in downtown apartment buildings pay higher rates. In urban areas that are growing rapidly, services may be developed that favor urban sprawl, such as large trunk sewers, express highways or shopping malls, as other services such as youth recreation disappear from downtown areas. This increases population drain to the suburbs as quality of life drops, but the increased population may then drive more people further out to the hinterlands which increases the political rewards (especially political donations from real estate developers building greenfield developments) for sprawl.\n\nUrban bankruptcy requires outside aid \n\nIn very extreme cases, where cities are unable to recover costs of serving a vast suburban hinterland and are politically controlled by a larger jurisdiction, such as Manhattan within New York State, cities may go bankrupt as New York City in fact did in the 1970s. This had been predicted by urbanists including Jane Jacobs who had fought Robert Moses and his plan for the Cross-Manhattan Expressway system which was eventually defeated. The City only recovered with federal aid and urban autonomy rights including the right to levy its own income tax which it still has.\n\nSuburban flight polarizes communities \n\nCities with impoverished downtown services can suffer riots or major unrest, as Los Angeles and Detroit did in the 1960s to 1980s. Such incidents speed the flight of middle class residents to the suburbs and sometimes to gated community developments where they are insulated from urban problems, and consume a very different range of services than downtown residents, which again are favored strongly by political representatives.\n\nForced mergers further reduce downtown power \n\nIn some cases, notably Toronto and Montreal in the 1990s, a larger political unit will force smaller urban units to merge against the will of residents, and this further increases the hold of the outer suburban regions as they hold a majority of seats in the new aggregated city council. Where a strong mayor system applies, the larger number of suburban residents will likely also control that post, and the need to campaign over a larger urban area will tend to exclude grassroots candidates or anti-poverty activist candidates not funded nor supported by wealthier suburban voters or real estate developers. Those who speak for the city may live on its outer edges. Mayors may be former mayors of former suburban cities such as Mel Lastman, former mayor of North York who became Mayor of Toronto once those cities (and three others) were merged in 1998. \n\nThe political consequences of both mergers were severe. In Quebec, the Parti Québécois government was defeated by Jean Charest who permitted Montreal to hold a referendum in which it was permitted to de-amalgamate politically and regain the separate pre-merger urban identities. In Toronto no such relief occurred but a Province of Toronto movement emerged under Jane Jacobs (who had moved to Toronto in the 1960s and again fought expressways penetrating the downtown there, notably the Spadina Expressway and Front Street Extension), 2000 Lastman opponent Tooker Gomberg and Mayor in 2003 (after Lastman) David Miller.\n\nTheoretical analyses \n\nJoel Garreau in Edge City described the growth of cities on the edge of major urban areas, which became population and power centres in themselves.\n\nDale Johnston in Lost in the Suburbs described a cultural and political gap that occurred in New Jersey and Ontario in the early 1990s when suburban voters began to outnumber urban or rural voters, and began to perceive that they were paying taxes to provide urban areas with services that were not duplicated in their community. Meanwhile, suburban communities would export problems to the cities, typically in the form of drug addicts, homelessness, smog, prostitution and other crimes serving suburban residents, and the need to accommodate a large number of commuters and their sewage and parking requirements. As downtown residents and suburban voters became estranged, each perceived themselves subsidizing the other, and accordingly a common solution, called in both New Jersey and Ontario the Common Sense Revolution, transferred funds from urban needs to suburban sprawl, triggering a decline in urban quality of life in both places, as population further spread out and downtowns became more hostile to suburban visitors.\n\nSee also \n Core-periphery\n Internal colonialism\n Rural flight\n\nFurther reading \n \n \n\nUrban planning\nInternal migration",
"Urban coyotes are coyotes that reside in North American metropolitan areas (major cities and their suburbs). Coyotes thrive in suburban settings and even some urban regions, because of the availability of food and the lack of predators. One report described them as \"thriving\" in U.S. cities, and a 2013 report in The Economist suggested that urban coyotes were increasingly living in cities and suburbs.\n\nAdaptations to urban environments\nWildlife ecologists at Ohio State University studied coyotes living in Chicago over a seven-year period (2000–2007) and found that coyotes have adapted well to living in densely populated urban environments while avoiding contact with humans. They found that urban coyotes tend to live longer than their rural counterparts, kill rodents and small pets, and live anywhere from parks to industrial areas. The researchers estimated that there are up to 2,000 coyotes living in the Chicago metropolitan area and that this circumstance may well apply to many other urban areas in North America. In Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park, coyotes den and raise their young, scavenge roadkill, and hunt rodents. \"I don't see it as a bad thing for a park,\" the assigned National Park Service biologist told a reporter for Smithsonian Magazine. \"I see it as good for keeping animal populations in control, like the squirrels and the mice.\"\n\nUnlike rural coyotes, urban ones have a longer lifespan and tend to live in higher densities but rarely attack humans and can be frightened away by arm waving or loud noises. The animals generally are nocturnal and prey upon rabbits, rats, Canada geese, fruit, insects and family pets, especially small dogs and domestic cats. Coyotes were reportedly living underneath decks in suburban Stamford, Connecticut and in some instances chasing after large dogs. Coyotes in all Canadian provinces can be attracted to food left out for birds, or prey upon stray cats, and tend to live between apartment buildings and in industrial parks throughout major cities from Vancouver through Toronto and all the way to St. John's. Coyotes tend to be opportunistic and clever, according to one view. One study in Tucson, Arizona found that urban coyotes had similar antibodies and pathogens to coyotes in general, and had a survival rate in the city of 72% for any given year, on average. A study in 2007 suggested that coyotes were \"successful in adjusting to an urbanized landscape\" with high survival rates, and are frequently in \"close proximity\" to people. Both studies suggested that a major cause of deaths of urban coyotes was collisions with motorized vehicles. \n\nIn another testament to the coyote's habitat adaptability, a coyote nicknamed \"Hal\" made his way to New York City's Central Park in March 2006, wandering about the park for at least two days before being captured by officials. New York City parks commissioner Adrian Benepe noted this coyote had to be very adventurous and curious to get so far into the city. In 2015, there were reports of coyotes howling at night in Central Park. An incident also occurred in April 2007 in the Chicago Loop district, where a coyote, later nicknamed \"Adrian\", quietly entered a Quizno's restaurant during the lunch hours; it was later captured and released at a wildlife rehabilitation center near Barrington, Illinois. In February 2010, up to three coyotes were spotted on the Columbia University campus in New York City, and another coyote sighting occurred in Central Park. Up to ten coyotes have also been living and breeding in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.\n\nManagement\nA researcher studying the impact of coyotes in the city of Austin, Texas found that urban coyote management techniques, including steps to trap and remove coyotes who were exhibiting bold or aggressive behavior, as well as efforts to educate the public about not feeding the animals, had had a positive effect in lessening possible risk to humans or to pets.\n\nCalifornia and Vermont ban coyote hunting contests.\n\nIn order to ensure that urban coyotes remain afraid of humans, Edmonton, Canada announced that volunteers would \"make a ruckus\" if coyotes do not run away when initially approached.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Urban Coyote Research Project - research and management\n Arizona Game & Fish Department, \"Living with Coyotes\"\n Portland Urban Coyote Project\n\nCoyotes in human culture\ncoyote"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,",
"What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples?",
"I don't know.",
"Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population?",
"Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population,",
"Do indigenous peoples tend to live in urban or suburban areas?",
"Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas,"
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | What percentage live in rural areas? | 7 | What percentage of indigenous peoples live in rural areas in Mexico? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | false | [
"Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as Rural America, consists of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one-in-five residents (19.3% of the total U.S. population), live in Rural America. Definitions vary from different parts of the United States government as to what constitutes these areas. \n\nRural areas tend to be poorer and their populations are older than in other parts of the United States, in part because of rural flight, declining infrastructure and economic prospects. This declining population also results in less access to services, such as high quality medical and education systems.\n\nDefinitions \nThe United States Census Bureau defines these areas in the United States as sparsely populated and far from urban centers, which make up an estimated 3% of the land area of the U.S., but is home to more than 80% of the total population. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines rural areas in the United States by county; some rural areas are classified into metropolitan counties. Others are spread throughout the numerous micropolitan statistical areas.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Agriculture has four different systems for defining rural areas: Frontier and Remote (FAR) area codes, which define rural areas in four levels of increasing remoteness by ZIP code, Rural–Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA), Urban Influence Codes (UICs), and Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC).\n\nThe United States Department of Health and Human Services has two agencies that define rural areas. The Health Resources and Services Administration addresses the shortcomings of the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and RUCA definitions to produce a definition that is balanced between them. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses its own definition for setting Medicare payment rates.\n\nCityLab defines rural areas by congressional district, based on census tracts and a machine-learning algorithm.\n\nHistory\nRural America was the center of the Populist movement of the United States in the 1890s. Since the 1930s, the rural United States has largely been a stronghold for the Republican Party. The notable exception is Vermont, given its numerous Democrats elected to office in the 21st century.\n\nDemographics\n\nMost rural counties are experiencing persistent population decline.\n\nCompared with households in urban areas, rural households had lower median household income ($52,386 compared with $54,296), lower median home values ($151,300 compared with $190,900), and lower monthly housing costs for households paying a mortgage ($1,271 compared with $1,561). A higher percentage owned their housing units “free and clear,” with no mortgage or loan (44.0 percent compared with 32.3 percent).States with the highest median household incomes in rural areas were Connecticut ($93,382) and New Jersey ($92,972) (not statistically different from each other). The state with the lowest rural median household income was Mississippi ($40,200). Among rural areas, poverty rates varied from a low in Connecticut (4.6 percent) to a high in New Mexico (21.9 percent).\n\nAbout 13.4 million children under the age of 18 live in rural areas of the nation.\n\nChildren in rural areas had lower rates of poverty than those in urban areas (18.9 percent compared with 22.3 percent), but more of them were uninsured (7.3 percent compared with 6.3 percent). A higher percentage of \"own children\" in rural areas lived in married-couple households (76.3 percent compared with 67.4 percent). (\"Own children\" includes never-married biological, step and adopted children of the couple).\n\nAs of 2016, about 7 percent of homeless people in the United States live in rural areas, although some believe that this is an underestimate.\n\nHealth\n\nThere are significant health disparities between urban and rural areas of the United States. The per capita rate of primary care physicians is lower in rural areas of the country (65 primary care physicians per 100,000 rural Americans, compared to 105 primary care physicians for urban and suburban Americans). Rural Americans are also more likely than other Americans to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.\n\nA study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in 2015 analyzed data on U.S. youth suicide rates from 1996 to 2010. It found that the rates of suicides for rural Americans aged 10 to 24 was almost double the rate among their urban counterparts. This was attributed to social isolation, greater availability of guns, and difficulty accessing healthcare.\n\nNotwithstanding the economic and health challenges, a 2018 survey of rural adults found a majority felt they were better off financially than their parents at the same age. They thought their children would also experience such improvement. Forty percent said their lives came out better than they expected.\n\nSee also\nAgriculture in the United States\nAmerican frontier\nRural Electrification Act\nRural internet\nRural letter carrier\nList of U.S. states by population density\nMedical Deserts in the United States\n\nNotes\n\nFurther reading\nCynthia M. Duncan, Worlds Apart: Poverty and Politics in Rural America (2d ed.: Yale University Press, 2014).\n\nExternal links\nList of Rural Counties and Designated Eligible Census Tracts in Metropolitan Counties from the Office of Rural Health Policy \n\nPopulated places in the United States\nRural geography",
"Bihar has a total literacy rate of 69.83%. Overall Male and Female literacy rate is 70.32% and 53.57% respectively. Total Rural literacy rate is 43.9%. In rural areas of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 57.1 and 29.6 respectively. Total Urban literacy rate is 71.9. In urban areas of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 79.9 and 62.6 respectively. . Total number of literates in Bihar is 3,16,75,607 which consists 2,09,78,955 Male and 1,06,96,652 Female. Rohtas has highest Literacy Rate of 73.37% followed by Patna (70.68%) and Bhojpur (70.47%). Purnia has lowest Literacy Rate of 51.18% followed by Sitamarhi (51.08%) and Katihar (52.24%). A recent survey by Pratham rated the receptivity of Bihari children to their teaching as being better than those in other states. Bihar is striving to increase female literacy, now at 53.3%. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%.\n\nGrowth in Literacy Rate\n\nAcademic Level\n\nLiteracy in Districts\n\nKey data\nLiteracy\n In Absolute Numbers- 5,96,75,607\nMale - 3,99,78,955\nFemale - 1,97,96,652\n Percentage of Total Population -69%\nMale - 70.32%\nFemale - 53.57%\n Percentage of Urban Population -81.9%\nMale - 89.9%\nFemale - 72.6%\n Percentage of Rural Population -53.9%\nMale - 67.1%\nFemale - 39.6%\nHighest Literacy Rate\nRohtas - 75.59%\nLowest Literacy Rate\nPurnia, 52.49%\n\nSee also\n\n Education in Bihar\n Literacy in India\n Education in India\n Literacy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website of Census of India\nOfficial website of Government of Bihar\n\nEducation in Bihar\nLiteracy in India"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,",
"What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples?",
"I don't know.",
"Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population?",
"Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population,",
"Do indigenous peoples tend to live in urban or suburban areas?",
"Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas,",
"What percentage live in rural areas?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | What are some other statistics that are relevant to the indigenous people of Mexico? | 8 | What are some other statistics that are relevant to the indigenous people of Mexico besides age distribution? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"With a population of about 126 million in 2020, Mexico is the 10th most populated country in the world. It is the most populous Spanish-speaking country and the third-most populous in the Americas after the United States and Brazil. Throughout most of the 20th century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth. Although this tendency has been reversed and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress, and Mexico still has a large cohort of youths. The most populous city in the country is the capital, Mexico City, with a population of 8.9 million (2016), and its metropolitan area is also the most populated with 20.1 million (2010). Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country. In total, about 78.84% of the population of the country lives in urban areas, meaning that only 21.16% live in rural areas.\n\nDemographic censuses are performed by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica. The National Population Council (CONAPO) is an institution under the Ministry of Interior in charge of the analysis and research of population dynamics. The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), also undertakes research and analysis of the sociodemographic and linguistic indicators of the indigenous peoples.\n\nDemographic dynamics\n\nIn 1900, the Mexican population was 13.6 million. During the period of economic prosperity that was dubbed by economists as the \"Mexican Miracle\", the government invested in efficient social programs that reduced the infant mortality rate and increased life expectancy. These measures jointly led to an intense demographic increase between 1930 and 1980. The population's annual growth rate has been reduced from a 3.5% peak in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005. While Mexico is now transitioning to the third phase of demographic transition, close to 50% of the population in 2009 was 25 years old or younger. Fertility rates have also decreased from 5.7 children per woman in 1976 to 2.2 in 2006. After decades of the gap narrowing, in 2020 the fertility rate in Mexico fell below the United States for the first time falling 22% in 2020 and a further 10.5% in the first half of 2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.\n\nThe average annual population growth rate of Mexico City was the first in the country at 0.2%. The state with the lowest population growth rate over the same period was Michoacán (-0.1%), whereas the states with the highest population growth rates were Quintana Roo (4.7%) and Baja California Sur (3.4%), both of which are two of the least populous states and the last to be admitted to the Union in the 1970s. The average annual net migration rate of Mexico City over the same period was negative and the lowest of all political divisions of Mexico, whereas the states with the highest net migration rate were Quintana Roo (2.7), Baja California (1.8) and Baja California Sur (1.6). While the national annual growth rate was still positive (1.0%) in the early years of the 2000s, the national net migration rate was negative (-4.75/1000 inhabitants), given the former strong flow of immigrants to the United States; an estimated 5.3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants lived in the United States in 2004 and 18.2 million American citizens in the 2000 Census declared having Mexican ancestry. However, as of recent years in the 2010s, the net migration rate reached 0, given the strong economy of Mexico, changes in US Immigration Policy & Enforcement, US Legislative and CFR-8 decisions, plus the (then) slowly recovering US economy, causing many of its former residents to return. The Mexican government projects that the Mexican population will grow to about 123 million by 2042 and then start declining slowly. Assumptions underlying this projection include fertility stabilizing at 1.85 children per woman and continued high net emigration (slowly decreasing from 583,000 in 2005 to 393,000 in 2050).\n\nThe states and Mexico City that make up the Mexican federation are collectively called \"federal entities\". The five most populous federal entities in 2005 were the State of Mexico (14.4 million), Mexico City (8.7 million), Veracruz (7.1 million), Jalisco (6.7 million) and Puebla (5.4 million), which collectively contain 40.7% of the national population. Mexico City, being coextensive with the Mexico City, is the most populous city in the country, while Greater Mexico City, that includes the adjacent municipalities that comprise a metropolitan area, is estimated to be the second most populous in the world (after Tokyo), according to the UN Urbanization Report.\n\nIntense population growth in the northern states, especially along the US-Mexican border, changed the country's demographic profile in the second half of the 20th century, as the 1967 US-Mexico maquiladora agreement through which all products manufactured in the border cities could be imported duty-free to the US. Since the adoption of NAFTA in 1994, however, which allows all products to be imported duty-free regardless of their place of origin within Mexico, the non-border maquiladora share of exports has increased while that of border cities has decreased,. This has led to decentralization and rapid economic growth in Mexican states (and cities), such as Quintana Roo (Cancun), Baja California Sur (La Paz), Nuevo Leon (Monterrey), Querétaro, and Aguascalientes. The population of each of these five states grew by more than one-third from 2000-2015, while the whole of Mexico grew by 22.6% in this period.\n\nUN estimates\n\nAccording to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects, the total population was 117,886,000 in 2010, compared to only 28,296,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 30%, 64% of the population was between 15 and 65 years of age, and 6% was 65 years or older.\n\nStructure of the population \n\nStructure of the population (2020) (Census):\n\nVital statistics\n\nRegistered births and deaths\nSource: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica (INEGI)\n\nCurrent vital statistics\n\nEstimates\nThe following estimates were prepared by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica:\n\nLife expectancy from 1893 to 1950 \nLife expectancy in Mexico from 1893 to 1950. Source: Our World In Data\n\nUN estimates\nThe Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.\n\nInternational migration\n\nImmigration to Mexico\n\nAside from the original Spanish colonists, many Europeans immigrated to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Non-Spanish immigrant groups included British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch. Large numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants arrived in Mexico during the same period, mostly from Syria and Lebanon. Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese, some via the United States, settled in northern Mexico, whereas Koreans settled in central Mexico.\n\nDuring the 1970s and 1980s Mexico opened its doors to immigrants from Latin America, mainly political refugees from Chile, Cuba, Peru, Colombia and Central America. The PRI governments, in power for most of the 20th century, had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries. A second wave of immigrants has come to Mexico as a result of the economic crises experienced by some countries in the region. The Argentine community is quite significant estimated to be somewhere between 11,000 and 30,000.\n\nDue to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the resulting economic decline and high unemployment in Spain, many Spaniards have been emigrating to Mexico to seek new opportunities. For example, during the last quarter of 2012, a number of 7,630 work permits were granted to Spaniards.\n\nMexico is also the country where the largest number of American citizens live abroad, with Mexico City playing host to the largest number of American citizens abroad in the world. The American Citizens Abroad Association estimated in 1999 that a little more than one million Americans live in Mexico (which represent 1% of the population in Mexico and 25% of all American citizens living abroad). This immigration phenomenon could well be explained by the interaction of both countries under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but also by the fact that Mexico has become a popular destination for retirees, especially the small towns: just in the State of Guanajuato, in San Miguel de Allende and its surroundings, 10,000 Americans have their residence.\n\nDiscrepancies between the figures of official legal aliens and all foreign-born residents is quite large. The official figure for foreign-born residents in Mexico in 2000 was 493,000, with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (except Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The six states with the most immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Mexico City (11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3%).\n\nEmigration from Mexico\n\nThe national net migration rate of Mexico is negative, estimated at -1.8 migrants per 1,000 population .\nThe great majority of Mexican emigrants have moved to the United States of America. This migration phenomenon is not new, but it has been a defining feature in the relationship of both countries for most of the 20th century. During World Wars I and II, the United States government approved the recruitment of Mexican workers in their territory, and tolerated unauthorized migration in order to obtain additional farm- and industrial-workers to fill the necessary spots vacated by the population in war, and to supply the increase in the demand for labor. Nonetheless, the United States unilaterally ended the wartime programs - in part as a result of arguments from labor and from civil-rights groups.\n\nIn spite of that, emigration of Mexicans continued throughout the rest of the 20th century at varying rates. It grew significantly during the 1990s and continued to do so in the first years of the 2000s. In fact, it has been estimated that 37% of all Mexican immigrants to the United States in the 20th century arrived during the 1990s. In 2000 approximately 20 million American residents identified themselves as either Mexican, Mexican-Americans or of Mexican origin, making \"Mexican\" the sixth-most cited ancestry of all US residents.\n\nIn 2000 the INEGI estimated that about eight million Mexican-born people, which then was equivalent to 8.7% of the population of Mexico itself, lived in the United States of America. In that year, the Mexican states sending the greatest numbers of emigrants to the United States were Jalisco (170,793), Michoacán (165,502), and Guanajuato (163,338); the total number of Mexican emigrants to the United States in 2000, both legal and illegal, was estimated at 1,569,157; the great majority of these were men. Approximately 30% of emigrants come from rural communities. In 2000, 260,650 emigrants returned to Mexico. According to the Pew Hispanic Center in 2006, an estimated ten percent of all Mexican citizens lived in the United States. The population of Mexican immigrants residing illegally in the United States fell from around seven million in 2007 to about 6.1 million in 2011. This trajectory has been linked to the economic downturn which started in 2008 and which reduced available jobs, and to the introduction of stricter immigration laws in many States. According to the Pew Hispanic Center the total number of Mexican-born people had stagnated in 2010 and then began to fall.\n\nAfter the Mexican-American community, Mexican Canadians are the second-largest group of emigrant Mexicans, with a population of over 50,000. A significant but unknown number of mestizos of Mexican descent migrated to the Philippines during the era of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, when the Philippines was a territory under the rule of Mexico city. Mexicans live throughout Latin America as well as in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.\n\nCities and metropolitan areas\n\nSettlements, cities and municipalities\n\nIn 2005 Mexico had 187,938 localidades (lit. \"localities\" or \"settlements\"), which are census-designated places, which could be defined as a small town, a large city, or simply as a single unit housing in a rural area whether situated remotely or close to an urban area. A city is defined to be a settlement with more than 2,500 inhabitants. In 2005 there were 2,640 cities with a population between 2,500 and 15,000 inhabitants, 427 with a population between 15,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, 112 with a population between 100,000 and one million, and 11 with a population of more than one million. All cities are considered \"urban areas\" and represent 76.5% of total population. Settlements with less than 2,500 inhabitants are considered \"rural communities\" (in fact, more than 80,000 of those settlements have only one or two housing units). Rural population in Mexico is 22.2% of total population.\n\nMunicipalities (municipios in Spanish) and boroughs (delegaciones in Spanish) are incorporated places in Mexico, that is, second or third-level political divisions with internal autonomy, legally prescribed limits, powers and functions. In terms of second-level political divisions there are 2,438 municipalities and Mexico and 16 semi-autonomous boroughs (all within the Federal District). A municipality can be constituted by one or more cities one of which is the cabecera municipal (municipal seat). Cities are usually contained within the limits of a single municipality, with a few exceptions in which small areas of one city may extend to other adjacent municipalities without incorporating the city which serves as the municipal seat of the adjacent municipality. Some municipalities or cities within municipalities are further divided into delegaciones or boroughs. However, unlike the boroughs of the Federal District, these are third-level administrative divisions; they have very limited autonomy and no elective representatives.\n\nMunicipalities in central Mexico are usually very small in area and thus coextensive with cities (as is the case of Guadalajara, Puebla and León), whereas municipalities in northern and southeastern Mexico are much larger and usually contain more than one city or town that may not necessarily conform a single urban agglomeration (as is the case of Tijuana).\n\nMetropolitan areas\n\nA metropolitan area in Mexico is defined to be the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city. In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO, INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:\n the group of two or more municipalities in which a city with a population of at least 50,000 is located whose urban area extends over the limit of the municipality that originally contained the core city incorporating either physically or under its area of direct influence other adjacent predominantly urban municipalities all of which have a high degree of social and economic integration or are relevant for urban politics and administration; or\n a single municipality in which a city of a population of at least one million is located and fully contained, (that is, it does not transcend the limits of a single municipality); or\n a city with a population of at least 250,000 which forms a conurbation with other cities in the United States of America.\n\nIn 2004 there were 55 metropolitan areas in Mexico, in which close to 53% of the country's population lives. The most populous metropolitan area in Mexico is the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, or Greater Mexico City, which in 2005 had a population of 19.23 million, or 19% of the nation's population. The next four largest metropolitan areas in Mexico are Greater Guadalajara (4.1 million), Greater Monterrey (3.7 million), Greater Puebla (2.1 million) and Greater Toluca (1.6 million), whose added population, along with Greater Mexico City, is equivalent to 30% of the nation's population. Greater Mexico City was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country since the 1930s until the late 1980s. Since then, the country has slowly become economically and demographically less centralized. From 2000 to 2005 the average annual growth rate of Greater Mexico City was the lowest of the five largest metropolitan areas, whereas the fastest growing metropolitan area was Puebla (2.0%) followed by Monterrey (1.9%), Toluca (1.8%) and Guadalajara (1.8%).\n\nOther demographic statistics\n\nDemographic statistics according to the World Population Review.\n\nOne birth every 14 seconds\t\nOne death every 41 seconds\t\nOne net migrant every 9 minutes\t\nNet gain of one person every 23 seconds\n\nDemographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.\n\nPopulation\n125,959,205 (July 2018 est.)\nDemographic statistics according to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics.\n\nEthnic groups\n 21% Indigenous Mexicans (Native American)\n 25% Mestizo (indigenous+European)\n 47% Light skinned-Mexican or white-Mexicans (\"castizo\"mostly european or \"white\"european descendent)\n 1% Asian-mexicans (mostly asian or asian descendent)\n 0.1% Afro-mexicans (mostly black or black descendent)\n 1% Not classified.\n\nHair color\n 18% blond hair\n 2% red hair\n 80% black hair or dark brown\n\nEye color\n 28% light-colored eyes\n 72% dark- or mixed eyes\n\nAge structure\n0-14 years: 26.61% (male 17,143,124 /female 16,378,309)\n15-24 years: 17.35% (male 11,072,817 /female 10,779,029)\n25-54 years: 40.91% (male 24,916,204 /female 26,612,272)\n55-64 years: 7.87% (male 4,538,167 /female 5,375,867)\n65 years and over: 7.26% (male 4,079,513 /female 5,063,903) (2018 est.)\n\nMedian age\ntotal: 28.6 years Country comparison to the world: 135th\nmale: 27.5 years\nfemale: 29.7 years (2018 est.)\n\nBirth rate\n18.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 93rd\n\nDeath rate\n5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 180th\n\nNet migration rate\n-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 158th\n\nTotal fertility rate\n2.22 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 94th\n\nContraceptive prevalence rate\n66.9% (2015)\n\nPopulation growth rate\n1.09% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 101st\n\nMother's mean age at first birth\n21.3 years (2008 est.)\n\nLanguages\nSpanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8% (2005)\nnote: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages\n\nReligions\nRoman Catholic 82.7%, Pentecostal 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 1.4%, other Evangelical Churches 5%, other 1.9%, none 4.7%, unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)\n\nPopulation distribution\nmost of the population is found in the middle of the country between the states of Jalisco and Veracruz; approximately a quarter of the population lives in and around Mexico City\n\nLife expectancy at birth\ntotal population: 76.3 years\nmale: 73.5 years\nfemale: 79.2 years (2018 est.)\n\nDependency ratios\ntotal dependency ratio: 51.4 (2015 est.)\nyouth dependency ratio: 41.6 (2015 est.)\nelderly dependency ratio: 9.8 (2015 est.)\npotential support ratio: 10.2 (2015 est.)\n\nUrbanization\nurban population: 80.2% of total population (2018)\nrate of urbanization: 1.59% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)\n\nObesity - adult prevalence rate\n28.9% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 29th\n\nChildren under the age of 5 years underweight\n4.2% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 87th\n\nEducation expenditures\n5.2% of GDP (2015) Country comparison to the world: 59th\n\nLiteracy\ndefinition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.)\ntotal population: 94.9%\nmale: 95.8%\nfemale: 94% (2016 est.)\n\nSchool life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)\ntotal: 14 years\nmale: 14 years\nfemale: 14 years (2016)\n\nUnemployment, youth ages 15–24\ntotal: 6.9%. Country comparison to the world: 157th\nmale: 6.5%\nfemale: 7.6% (2018 est.)\n\nSex ratio\nat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female\n0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female\n15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female\n25-54 years: 0.94 male(s)/female\n55-64 years: 0.84 male(s)/female\n65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female\ntotal population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2018 est.)\n\nEthnic groups\nMexico is ethnically diverse. The second article of the Mexican Constitution defines the country to be a pluricultural state originally based on its indigenous peoples.\n\nMestizo\n\nA large majority of Mexicans have been classified as \"Mestizos\", meaning in modern Mexican usage that they identify fully neither with any indigenous culture nor with a Spanish cultural heritage, but rather identify as having cultural traits incorporating elements from both indigenous and Spanish traditions. By the deliberate efforts of post-revolutionary governments, the \"Mestizo identity\" was constructed as the base of the modern Mexican national identity, through a process of cultural synthesis referred to as mestizaje . Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity upon this concept.\n\nSince the Mestizo identity promoted by the government is more of a cultural identity than a biological one it has achieved a strong influence in the country, a good number of phenotypically white people identifying with it, leading to being considered Mestizos in Mexico's demographic investigations and censuses due to the ethnic criteria having its base on cultural traits rather than biological ones. A similar situation occurs regarding the distinctions between Indigenous peoples and Mestizos: while the term Mestizo is sometimes used in English with the meaning of a person with mixed indigenous and European blood, In Mexican society an indigenous person can be considered mestizo. and a person with none or a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage. In the Yucatán peninsula the word Mestizo has a different meaning, with it being to refer to the Maya-speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the caste war of the late 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as Mestizos. In Chiapas the word \"Ladino\" is used instead of mestizo.\n\nGiven that the word Mestizo has different meanings in Mexico, estimates of the Mexican Mestizo population vary widely. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, which uses a biology-based approach, between one half and two thirds of the Mexican population is Mestizo whereas a culture-based criteria estimates a percentage as high as 90%. Recent research based on self-identification nonetheless, has observed that many Mexicans do not identify as mestizos and would not agree to be labeled as such,\nwith \"static\" racial labels such as White, Indian, Black etc. being more commonly used.\n\nThe use of variated methods and criteria to quantify the number of Mestizos in Mexico is not new: Since several decades ago, many authors have analyzed colonial censuses data and have made different conjectures respecting the ethnic composition of the population of colonial Mexico/New Spain. There are Historians such as Gonzalo Aguirre-Beltrán who claimed in 1972 that practically the totality of New Spain's population, in reality, were Mestizos, using to back up his claims arguments such as that affairs of Spaniards with non-Europeans due to the alleged absence of female European immigrants were widespread as well as there being a huge desire of Mestizos to \"pass\" as Spaniards, this because Spanishness was seen as a symbol of high status. Other historians however, point that Aguirre-Beltran numbers tend to have inconsistencies and take too much liberties (it is pointed out in the book Ensayos sobre historia de la población. México y el Caribe 2 published in 1998 that on 1646, when according to historic registers the mestizo population was of 1% he estimates it to be 16.6% already, with this being attributed to him interpreting the data in a way convenient for a historic narrative), often omitting data of New Spain's northern and western provinces. His self-made classifications thus, although could be plausible, are not useful for precise statistical analysis. According 21st-century historians, Aguirre Beltran also disregards facts such as the population dynamics of New Spain being different depending on the region at hand (i.e. miscegenation couldn't happen in a significative amount in regions on which the native population was openly hostile until early 20th century, such as most of New Spain's internal provinces, which nowadays are the northern and western regions of Mexico), or that historic accounts made by investigators at the time consistently observed that New Spain's European population was notoriously concerned with preserving their European heritage, with practices such as inviting relatives and friends directly from Spain or favouring Europeans for marriage even if they were from a lower socioeconomic level than them being common. Newer publications that do cite Aguirre-Beltran's work take those factors into consideration, stating that the Spaniard/Euromestizo/Criollo ethnic label was composed on its majority by descendants of Europeans albeit the category may have included people with some non-European ancestry.\n\nIndigenous peoples\n\nPrior to contact with Europeans the indigenous people of Mexico had not had any kind of shared identity. Indigenous identity was constructed by the dominant Euro-Mestizo majority and imposed upon the indigenous people as a negatively defined identity, characterized by the lack of assimilation into modern Mexico. Indigenous identity therefore became socially stigmatizing. Cultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the indigenous people, with efforts designed to help indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the rest of society, eventually assimilating indigenous peoples completely to Mestizo Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the \"Indian problem\" by transforming indigenous communities into mestizo communities.\n\nThe category of \"indígena\" (indigenous) in Mexico has been defined based on different criteria throughout history. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as \"indigenous\" varies according to the definition applied. It can be defined narrowly according to a linguistic criterion, including only persons that speak an Indigenous language. Based on this criterion, approximately 6.1% of the population is Indigenous. Nonetheless, activists for the rights of indigenous peoples have referred to the usage of this criterion for census purposes as \"statistical genocide.\" Other surveys made by the Mexican government do count as Indigenous all persons who speak an indigenous language and people who do not speak indigenous languages nor live in indigenous communities but self-identify as Indigenous.\n\nAccording to these criteria, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, or CDI in Spanish) and the INEGI (Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography), state that there are 15.7 million indigenous people in Mexico of many different ethnic groups, which constitute 14.9% of the population in the country. Finally, according to the latest intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government in 2015, Indigenous people make up 21.5% of Mexico's population. In this occasion, people who self-identified as \"Indigenous\" and people who self-identified as \"partially Indigenous\" were classified in the \"Indigenous\" category altogether.\n\nThe Mexican constitution not only recognizes the 62 indigenous peoples living in Mexican territory but also grants them autonomy and protects their culture and languages. This protection and autonomy is extended to those Amerindian ethnic groups which have migrated from the United States — like the Cherokees and Kickapoos — and Guatemala during the 19th and 20th centuries. Municipalities in which indigenous peoples are located can keep their normative traditional systems in relation to the election of their municipal authorities. This system is known as Usos y Costumbres, roughly translated as \"customs and traditions\".\n\nAccording to official statistics —as reported by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples or CDI— Amerindians make up 10-14% of the country's population, more than half of them (5.4% of total population) speak an indigenous language and a tenth (1.2% of total population) do not speak Spanish. Official statistics of the CDI report that the states with the greatest percentage of people who speak an Amerindian language or identify as Amerindian are Yucatán (59%), Oaxaca (48%), Quintana Roo (39%), Chiapas (28%), Campeche (27%), Hidalgo (24%), Puebla (19%), Guerrero (17%), San Luis Potosí (15%) and Veracruz (15%). Oaxaca is the state with the greatest number of distinct indigenous peoples and languages in the country.\n\nWhite Mexicans\n\nWhite Mexicans are Mexican citizens of full or majority European descent. This ethnic group contrasts with the Afro-Mexican and Indigenous Mexican groups in the fact that phenotype (hair color, skin color etc.) is often used as the main criterion to delineate it. Spaniards and other Europeans began arriving in Mexico during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and continued immigrating to the country during colonial and independent Mexico. According to 20th- and 21st-century academics, large scale intermixing between the European immigrants and the native Indigenous peoples would produce a Mestizo group which would become the overwhelming majority of Mexico's population by the time of the Mexican revolution. However, according to church registers from the colonial times, the majority (73%) of Spanish men married with Spanish women. Said registers also put in question other narratives held by contemporary academics, such as European immigrants who arrived to Mexico being almost exclusively men or that \"pure Spanish\" people were all part of a small powerful elite as Spaniards were often the most numerous ethnic group in the colonial cities as there were menial workers and people in poverty who were of complete Spanish origin.\n\nEstimates of Mexico's white population differ greatly in both, methodology and percentages given, extra-official sources such as The World Factbook and Encyclopedia Britannica, which use the 1921 census results as the base of their estimations, calculate Mexico's White population as only 9% or between one tenth to one fifth (the results of the 1921 census, however, have been contested by various historians and deemed inaccurate). Surveys that account for phenotypical traits and have performed actual field research suggest rather higher percentages: using the presence of blond hair as reference to classify a Mexican as white, the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico calculated the percentage of said ethnic group at 23%. With a similar methodology, the American Sociological Association obtained a percentage of 18.8% having its higher frequency on the North region (22.3%–23.9%) followed by the Center region (18.4%–21.3%) and the South region (11.9%).\n\nAnother study made by the University College London in collaboration with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History found that the frequencies of blond hair and light eyes in Mexicans are of 18% and 28% respectively, surveys that use as reference skin color such as those made by Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination and Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography reported a percentages of 47% in 2010 and 49% in 2017 respectively. A study performed in hospitals of Mexico City reported that an average 51.8% of Mexican newborns presented the congenital skin birthmark known as the Mongolian spot. The Mongolian spot appears with a very high frequency (85-95%) in Asian, Native American, and African children. The skin lesion reportedly almost always appears on South American and Mexican children who are racially Mestizos, while having a very low frequency (5–10%) in Caucasian children. According to the Mexican Social Security Institute (shortened as IMSS) nationwide, around half of Mexican babies have the Mongolian spot.\n\nMexico's northern and western regions have the highest percentages of European population, with the majority of the people not having native admixture or being of predominantly European ancestry, resembling in aspect that of northern Spaniards. In the north and west of Mexico, the indigenous populations were substantially smaller than those found in central and southern Mexico, and also much less organized, thus they remained isolated from the rest of the population or even in some cases were hostile towards Mexican colonists. The northeast region, in which the indigenous population was eliminated by early European settlers, became the region with the highest proportion of whites during the Spanish colonial period. However, recent immigrants from southern Mexico have been changing, to some degree, its demographic trends.\n\nWhile the majority of European immigration to Mexico has been Spanish with the first wave starting with the colonization of America and the last one being a consequence of the Spanish Civil War of 1937, immigrants from other European countries have arrived to Mexico as well: during the Second Mexican Empire the immigration was mostly French, and during the late 19th and early 20th centuries spurred by government policies of Porfirio Díaz, migrants mainly from Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany followed taking advantage of the liberal policies then valid in Mexico and went into merchant, industrial and educational ventures while others arrived with no or limited capital, as employees or farmers. Most settled in Mexico City, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Puebla. Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after the First and Second World Wars. Additionally small numbers of White Americans, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Romanians, Russians and Ashkenazi Jews came. The European Jewish immigrants joined the Sephardic community that lived in Mexico since colonial times, though many lived as Crypto-Jews, mostly in the northern states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Some communities of European immigrants have remained isolated from the rest of the general population since their arrival, among them the German-speaking Mennonites from Russia of Chihuahua and Durango, and the Venetos of Chipilo, Puebla, which have retained their original languages.\n\nHowever, ethnicity in Mexico is not as clear cut as it is in the English speaking world, and \"mestizos\" are somewhat prone to identifying as \"white\" if asked. According to Pewresearch, 60% of Mexicans identify as white when asked about their race.\n\nAfro-Mexicans\n\nAfro-Mexicans are an ethnic group that predominate in certain areas of Mexico, such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and the Costa Chica of Guerrero, Veracruz (e.g. Yanga) and in some towns in northern Mexico. The existence of black people in Mexico is often unknown, denied or diminished both in Mexico and abroad for different reasons: their small numbers, continuous intermarriage and assimilation with non-African populations over various generations, as was often the case in Spanish territories and Mexico's tradition of defining itself as a \"mestizaje\" or mixing of European and indigenous. Mexico did have an active slave trade during the colonial period, but it wasn't as prominent as the one seen elsewhere in the Americas, which led to the number of free black people eventually surpassing that of enslaved ones. The institution was already in decay by the late 1700s and by the 19th century slavery and ethnic categorization at birth (see casta) have been abolished with the Mexican independence. After this the creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico's indigenous and European past, actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.\n\nThe majority of Mexico's native Afro-descendants are Afromestizos. Individuals with significantly high amounts of African ancestry make up a very low percentage of the total Mexican population, the majority being recent black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas. According to the Intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government, Afro-Mexicans make up 2.4% of Mexico's population, the Afro-Mexican category in the Intercensal survey includes people who self-identified solely as African and people who self-identified as partially African. The survey also states that 64.9% (896,829) of Afro-Mexicans also identified as indigenous, with 9.3% being speakers of indigenous languages.\n\nA number of black Mexicans descend from recent immigrants from Haiti, Africa, as well as Garifuna populations from Central America.\n\nArab Mexicans\n\nAn Arab Mexican is a Mexican citizen of Arabic-speaking origin who can be of various ancestral origins. The vast majority of Mexico's 1.1 million Arabs are from either Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, or Palestinian background.\n\nThe interethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity. As a result of this, the Arab community in Mexico shows marked language shift away from Arabic. Only a few speak any Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language. Today, the most common Arabic surnames in Mexico include Nader, Hayek, Ali, Haddad, Nasser, Malik, Abed, Mansoor, Harb and Elias.\n\nArab immigration to Mexico started in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Roughly 100,000 Arabic-speakers settled in Mexico during this time period. They came mostly from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iraq and settled in significant numbers in Nayarit, Puebla, Mexico City and the Northern part of the country (mainly in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango, as well as the city of Tampico and Guadalajara. The term \"Arab Mexican\" may include ethnic groups that do not in fact identify as Arab.\n\nDuring the Israel-Lebanon war in 1948 and during the Six-Day War, thousands of Lebanese left Lebanon and went to Mexico. They first arrived in Veracruz. Although Arabs made up less than 5% of the total immigrant population in Mexico during the 1930s, they constituted half of the immigrant economic activity.\n\nImmigration of Arabs in Mexico has influenced Mexican culture, in particular food, where they have introduced Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and even created recipes such as Tacos Árabes. By 1765, Dates, which originated from the Middle East, were introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards. The fusion between Arab and Mexican food has highly influenced the Yucatecan cuisine.\n\nAnother concentration of Arab-Mexicans is in Baja California facing the U.S.-Mexican border, esp. in cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico, and Tijuana across from San Diego with a large Arab American community (about 280,000), some of whose families have relatives in Mexico. 45% of Arab Mexicans are of Lebanese descent.\n\nThe majority of Arab-Mexicans are Christians who belong to the Maronite Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. A scant number are Muslims.\n\nAsian Mexicans\n\nAlthough Asian Mexicans make up less than 1% of the total population of modern Mexico, they are nonetheless a notable minority. Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexican society of what constitutes Asian culture (associated with the Far East rather than the Near East), Asian Mexicans typically refers to those of East Asian descent, and may also include those of South and Southeast Asian descent. For Mexicans of West Asian descent, see the Middle Eastern Mexicans section.\n\nAsian immigration began with the arrival of Filipinos to Mexico during the Spanish period. For two and a half centuries, between 1565 and 1815, many Filipinos and Mexicans sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines as sailors, crews, slaves, prisoners, adventurers and soldiers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Asia and the Americas. Also on these voyages, thousands of Asian individuals (mostly males) were brought to Mexico as slaves and were called \"Chino\", which means Chinese, although in reality they were of diverse origins, including Koreans, Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Cambodians, Timorese, and people from Bengal, India, Ceylon, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China. A notable example is the story of Catarina de San Juan (Mirra), an Indian girl captured by the Portuguese and sold into slavery in Manila. She arrived in New Spain and eventually she gave rise to the \"China Poblana\".\n\nThese early individuals are not very apparent in modern Mexico for two main reasons: the widespread mestizaje of Mexico during the Spanish period and the common practice of Chino slaves to \"pass\" as Indios (the indigenous people of Mexico) in order to attain freedom. As had occurred with a large portion of Mexico's black population, over generations the Asian populace was absorbed into the general Mestizo population. Facilitating this miscegenation was the assimilation of Asians into the indigenous population. The indigenous people were legally protected from chattel slavery, and by being recognized as part of this group, Asian slaves could claim they were wrongly enslaved.\n\nAsians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico's fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910.\n\nRomani Mexicans\n\nRomani people have settled in Mexico since the colonial era. There are around 50,000 Vlax Romani in Mexico.\n\nOfficial censuses\nHistorically, population studies and censuses have never been up to the standards that a population as diverse and numerous such as Mexico's require: the first racial census was made in 1793, being also Mexico's (then known as New Spain) first ever nationwide population census. Since only part of its original datasets survive, most of what is known of it comes from essays made by researchers who back in the day used the census' findings as reference for their own works. More than a century would pass until the Mexican government conducted a new racial census in 1921 (some sources assert that the census of 1895 included a comprehensive racial classification; however, according to the historic archives of Mexico's National Institute of Statistics, that was not the case). While the 1921 census was the last time the Mexican government conducted a census that included a comprehensive racial classification, in recent years it has conducted nationwide surveys to quantify most of the ethnic groups who inhabit the country as well as the social dynamics and inequalities between them.\n\n1793 census\nAlso known as the \"Revillagigedo census\" from the name of the Count who ordered that it be conducted, this census was the first nationwide population census of Mexico (then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain). Most of its original datasets have reportedly been lost, so most of what is known about it nowadays comes from essays and field investigations made by academics who had access to the census data and used it as reference for their works, such as Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt. Each author gives different estimations for each racial group in the country although they don't vary greatly, with Europeans ranging from 18% to 22% of New Spain's population, Mestizos from 21% to 25%, Indians from 51% to 61%, and Africans from 6,000 and 10,000. The estimations given for the total population range from 3,799,561 to 6,122,354. It is concluded then, that across nearly three centuries of colonization, the population growth trends of whites and mestizos were even, while the total percentage of the indigenous population decreased at a rate of 13%–17% per century. The authors assert that rather than whites and mestizos having higher birthrates, the reason for the indigenous population's numbers decreasing lies in their suffering higher mortality rates due to living in remote locations rather than in cities and towns founded by the Spanish colonists or in being at war with them. For the same reasons, the number of Indigenous Mexicans presents the greatest variation range between publications, as in some cases their numbers in a given location were estimated rather than counted, leading to possible overestimations in some provinces and possible underestimations in others.\n\n~Europeans are included within the Mestizo category.\n\nRegardless of the possible inaccuracies related to the counting of Indigenous peoples living outside of the colonized areas, the effort that New Spain's authorities put into considering them as subjects is worth mentioning, as censuses made by other colonial or post-colonial countries did not consider American Indians to be citizens or subjects; for example, the censuses made by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata would only count the inhabitants of the colonized settlements. Another example is the censuses made by the United States, which did not include Indigenous peoples living among the general population until 1860, and indigenous peoples as a whole until 1900.\n\n1921 census\n\nMade right after the consummation of the Mexican revolution, the social context in which this census was conducted makes it particularly unique, as the government of the time was in the process of rebuilding the country and was looking to unite all Mexicans in a single national identity. The 1921 census' final results in regards to race, which assert that 59.3% of the Mexican population self-identified as Mestizo, 29.1% as Indigenous, and only 9.8% as White, were then essential in cementing the mestizaje ideology (which asserts that the Mexican population as a whole is product of the admixture of all races), which shaped Mexican identity and culture through the 20th century and remains prominent nowadays, with extraofficial international publications such as The World Factbook and Encyclopædia Britannica using the 1921 census as a reference to estimate Mexico's racial composition up to this day.\n\nNonetheless in recent times, the census' results have been subjected to scrutiny by historians, academics and social activists alike, who assert that such drastic alterations on demographic trends with respect to the 1793 census are impossible and cite, among other statistics, the relatively low frequency of marriages between people of different continental ancestries in colonial and early independent Mexico. It is claimed that the mestizaje process sponsored by the state was more \"cultural than biological\", which resulted in the numbers of the Mestizo Mexican group being inflated at the expense of the identity of other races. Controversies aside, this census constituted the last time the Mexican Government conducted a comprehensive racial census with the breakdown by states being the following (foreigners and people who answered \"other\" not included):\n\nWhen the 1921 census' results are compared with the results of Mexico's recent censuses as well as with modern genetic research, there is high consistency with respect to the distribution of Indigenous Mexicans across the country, with states located in south and south-eastern Mexico having both the highest percentages of population who self-identify as Indigenous and the highest percentages of Amerindian genetic ancestry. However, this is not the case when it comes to European Mexicans, as there are instances in which states that have been shown through scientific research to have a considerably high European ancestry are reported to have very small white populations in the 1921 census, with the most extreme case being that of the state of Durango, where the aforementioned census asserts that only 0.01% of the state's population (33 persons) self-identified as \"white\" while modern scientific research shows that the population of Durango has similar genetic frequencies to those found on European peoples (with the state's Indigenous population showing almost no foreign admixture either). Various authors theorize that the reason for these inconsistencies may lie in the Mestizo identity promoted by the Mexican government, which reportedly led to people who are not biologically Mestizos to identify themselves as such.\n\nThe present day\nThe following table is a compilation of, when possible, official nationwide surveys conducted by the Mexican government which have attempted to quantify different Mexican ethnic groups. Given that, for the most part, each ethnic group was estimated by different surveys with different methodologies and years apart rather than on a single comprehensive racial census, some groups could overlap with others and be overestimated or underestimated.\n\nOf all the ethnic groups that have been surveyed, Mestizos are notably absent, which is likely due to the label's fluid and subjective definition, which complicates its precise quantification. However it can be safely assumed that Mestizos make up at least the remaining 30% unassessed percentage of Mexico's population with possibilities of increasing if the methodologies of the extant surveys are considered. For example, the 2015 intercensal survey considered individuals who self-identified as \"part Indigenous\" or \"part African\" as part of a combined group of Indigenous Mexicans and Afro-Mexicans altogether. Such people technically would be Mestizos. Similarly, White Mexicans were quantified based on physical traits and appearance. Thus, technically a Mestizo with a percentage of Indigenous ancestry that was low enough to not affect his or her primarily European phenotype was considered to be white. Finally, the remaining ethnicities, relatively low in number, have more permissive classification criteria. Some of these ethnicities are faiths. Therefore, a Mestizo could claim to belong to one of them by practicing the faith, or by having an ancestor who belonged to at least one of these ethnicities.\nNonetheless, contemporary sociologists and historians agree that, given that the concept of \"race\" has a psychological foundation rather than a biological one, and that to society's eyes, a Mestizo with a high percentage of European ancestry is considered \"white\", and a Mestizo with a high percentage of Indigenous ancestry is considered \"Indian\", a person who identifies with a given ethnic group should be allowed to, even if biologically he or she doesn't completely belong to that group.\n\nLanguages\n\nSpanish is the de facto official language in Mexico being spoken by 98.3% of the population. Mexican Spanish is spoken in a variety of dialects, accents and variations in different regions across the country.\n\nSome indigenous languages are still being spoken by around 5% of Mexicans according to the latest census, in 2003 the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples recognized 68 indigenous languages as \"national languages\", with the \"same validity\" in all territories and contexts where they are spoken. The indigenous language with the greatest number of speakers is Nahuatl (1,586,884 speakers in 2010 or 1.5% of the nation's population), followed by Yucatec Maya (796,405 speakers in 2010 0.8%) spoken Yucatán Peninsula, Mixtecas languages (494,454), Tzeltal (474,298), Zapotecas languages (460,683), Tzotzil (429,168), Otomí (288,052), Totonaca (250,252) Mazateco (230,124), Chol (222,051) and 1,462,857 speakers of other languages. After half a century of rural-to-urban migration, in Mexico City and other major cities large districts and sections use both written and spoken Amerindian languages.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century the government promoted a policy of castellanización, that is, promoting the use of Spanish as a way to integrate indigenous peoples into Mexican society. Later, this policy changed, and since the 1980s the government has sponsored bilingual and intercultural education in all indigenous communities. This policy has mainly been successful in large communities with a significant number of speakers. While some languages, with less than 1,000 speakers, are still facing extinction.\n\nThe second most spoken language in Mexico, however, is English. It is used extensively at border areas, tourist centers and large metropolitan areas, a phenomenon arguably caused by the economic integration of North American under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the immigration phenomenon and the return of workers and their families from the United States. In border cities, American TV and radio waves in English (and Spanish) are received as much Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations from Mexico on the US side of the border, thus a bilingual cross-cultural exchange is at work.\n\nAmong the languages brought to the country by immigrants are the Venetian of Chipilo, and Mennonite Low German spoken in Durango and Chihuahua.\n\nMexican nationality and citizenship\n\nThe Constitution of Mexico grants Mexican nationality based on birth and naturalization. Mexican laws regarding nationality by birth are very open. Mexican nationality by birth is granted to:\n all those individuals born in Mexican territory,\n all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by birth,\n all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by naturalization,\n all those individuals born aboard Mexican aircraft or sea vessels, whether warships or commercial vessels.\n\nMexican nationality by naturalization is granted to:\n foreign citizens granted Mexican nationality by the Secretariat of Government (Ministry of the Interior);\n foreign citizens married to a Mexican national, whether by birth or naturalization.\n\nReligion\n\nThe Mexican population is predominantly Catholic (82.7% of the population aged five and older, according to the 2010 census), although the percentage representing those who attend church on a weekly basis is lower (46%). About 7.6% of the population was classified as Protestant or Evangelical, 2.5% were classified as \"Non-Evangelical Biblical\" (a classification that groups Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses), 0.05% as practicing Jews, and 4.6% without a religion. The largest group of Protestants are Pentecostals and Charismatics (classified as Neo-Pentecostals).\n\nThe states with the highest percentage of professing Catholics are central states, namely Guanajuato (96.4%), Aguascalientes (95.6%) and Jalisco (95.4%), whereas southeastern states have the lowest percentage of Catholics, namely Chiapas (63.8%), Tabasco (70.4%) and Campeche (71.3%). The percentage of professing Catholics has been on the decrease over the last four decades, from over 98% in 1950 to 87.9% in 2000. The average annual growth of Catholic believers from 1990 to 2000 was 1.7% whereas that of non-Catholics was 3.7%. Given that the average annual population increase over the same time period was 1.8%, the percentage of Catholics in relation to the total population continues to be in overall decline.\n\nUnlike some other countries in Latin America or Ibero-America, the 1857 Mexican Constitution drastically separates Church and State. The State does not support or provide any economic resource to the Church (as is the case in Spain and Argentina), and the Church cannot participate in public education (no public school can be operated by a Catholic order, although they can participate in private education). Moreover, the government nationalized all the Church's properties (some of which were given back in the 1990s), and priests lost the right to vote or to be voted for (although in the 1990s they regained the right to vote).\n\nSee also\n List of cities in Mexico\n List of municipalities in Mexico by population\n Metropolitan areas of Mexico\n List of Mexican states by population\n List of Mexican states by fertility rate\n Economy of Mexico\n Poverty in Mexico\n Romani Mexicans\n\nReferences and notes\n\nFurther reading\n Merrill, Tim and Ramón Miró. Mexico: a country study (Library of Congress. Federal Research Division, 1996) US government document; not copyright online free\n\nExternal links\n UN: Fertility in Mexico: Trends and Forecasts\n Mexico population bureau CONAPO\n Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, INEGI\n Map of Fecundity in Mexico",
"Many languages are spoken in Mexico, though Spanish is the de facto national language spoken by the vast majority of the population, making Mexico the world's most populous Hispanophone country. The indigenous languages are from eleven language families, including four isolates and one that immigrated from the United States. The Mexican government recognizes 68 national languages, 63 of which are indigenous, including around 350 dialects of those languages. The large majority of the population is monolingual in Spanish. Some immigrant and indigenous populations are bilingual, while some indigenous people are monolingual in their languages. Mexican Sign Language is spoken by much of the deaf population, and there are one or two indigenous sign languages as well. \n\nThe government of Mexico uses Spanish in most official purposes, but in terms of legislation, its status is not that of an official primary language. The Law of Linguistic Rights establishes Spanish as one of the country's national languages, along with 63 distinct indigenous languages (from seven large families, plus four counted as language isolates). The law, promulgated in 2003, requires the state to offer all of its services to its indigenous citizens in their mother tongues, but in practice this is not yet the case. Note that, as defined by mutual intelligibility, the number of spoken languages in Mexico is much greater than the 63 national languages, because National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) counts distinct ethnic groups for the purposes of political classification. For instance, the Mixtec are a single ethnicity and therefore count as a single language for governmental/legal purposes, but there are a dozen distinct Mixtec dialect regions, each of which includes at least one variety that is not mutually intelligible with those of the other dialect regions (Josserand, 1983), and Ethnologue counts 52 varieties of Mixtec that require separate literature. Ethnologue currently counts 282 indigenous languages currently spoken in Mexico, plus a number of immigrant languages (Lewis et al. 2018).\n\nDue to the long history of marginalization of indigenous groups, most indigenous languages are endangered, with some languages expected to become extinct within years or decades, and others simply having populations that grow slower than the national average. According to the Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI) and National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), while 10–14% of the population identifies as belonging to an indigenous group, around 6% speak an indigenous language.\n\nThere are other languages not native to Mexico that are spoken in the country. Besides Spanish, the most populous are probably English, German (Plautdietsch), Arabic, and Chinese.\n\nLanguage history\n\nFrom the arrival of the first Franciscan missionaries, Spanish, Latin, and indigenous languages played parts in the evangelization of Mexico. Many sixteenth-century churchmen studied indigenous languages in order to instruct native peoples in Christian doctrine. The same men also found Castilian and Latin appropriate in certain contexts. All told, there existed a kind of \"linguistic coexistence\" from the beginning of the colonial period.\n\nSome monks and priests attempted to describe and classify indigenous languages with Spanish. Philip II of Spain decreed in 1570 that Nahuatl become the official language of the colonies of New Spain in order to facilitate communication between the natives of the colonies.\n\nIn 1696 Charles II reversed that policy and banned the use of any languages other than Spanish throughout New Spain. Beginning in the 18th century, decrees ordering the Hispanization of indigenous populations became more numerous and Spanish colonizers no longer learned the indigenous languages.\n\nAfter the independence the government initiated an educational system with the primary aim of Hispanization of the native populations. This policy was based on the idea that this would help the indigenous peoples become a more integrated part of the new Mexican nation.\n\nExcept for the Second Mexican Empire, led by the Habsburg Maximilian I, no Mexican government tried to prevent the loss of indigenous languages during the 19th century.\n\nIn 1889, Antonio García Cubas estimated that 38% of Mexicans spoke an indigenous language, down from 60% in 1820. By the end of the 20th century, this figure had fallen to 6%.\n\nFor most of the 20th century successive governments denied native tongues the status of valid languages. Indigenous students were forbidden to speak their native languages in school and were often punished for doing so.\n\nIn 2002, Mexico's constitution was amended to reinforce the nation's pluricultural nature by giving the State the obligation to protect and nurture the expressions of this diversity. On June 14, 1999, the Council of Writers in Indigenous Languages presented Congress with a document entitled \"Suggested legal initiatives towards linguistic rights of indigenous peoples and communities\", with the goal of beginning to protect the linguistic rights of indigenous communities. The Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas was passed in March 2003, establishing a framework for the conservation, nurturing and development of indigenous languages. Critics claim that the law's complexity makes enforcement difficult.\n\nIndigenous languages\n\nSpanish is the de facto national language spoken by the vast majority of Mexicans, though it is not defined as an official language in legislation. The second article of the 1917 Constitution defines the country as multicultural, recognizes the right of the indigenous peoples to \"preserve and enrich their languages\" and promotes \"bilingual and intercultural education\".\n\nIn 2003, the Mexican Congress approved the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, which is a law that recognizes that Mexico's history makes its indigenous languages \"national languages\". Accordingly, they \"have the same validity [as Spanish] in their territory, location and context\". At the same time, legislators made no specific provisions for the official or legal status of the Spanish language. This law means that indigenous peoples can use their native language in communicating with government officials and request official documents in that language. The Mexican state supports the preservation and promotion of the use of the national languages through the activities of the National Institute of Indigenous Languages.\n\nMexico has about six million citizens who speak indigenous languages. That is the second-largest group in the Americas after Peru. However, a relatively small percentage of Mexico's population speaks an indigenous language compared to other countries in the Americas, such as Guatemala (42.8%), Peru (35%), and even Ecuador (9.4%), Panama (8.3%), Paraguay and Bolivia.\n\nThe only indigenous language spoken by more than a million people in Mexico is the Nahuatl language; the other Native American languages with a large population of native speakers include Yucatec Maya.\n\nLanguage endangerment \n\nAccording to the Law of Linguistic Rights, Mexico recognizes sixty-two indigenous languages as co-official National languages. With Spanish being the dominant language, Mexico has become a site for endangered languages. \"Indigenous people’s disadvantaged socioeconomic status and the pressure of assimilation into mestizo or Ladino society have been influential on indigenous language loss.\" The result of the conflict between indigenous languages and Spanish has been a language shift in Mexico from indigenous languages being spoken to more people using Spanish in every domain. Due to this situation there have been many language revitalization strategies implemented in order to create a language shift to try to reverse this language shift. Literature projects done with the Nahua people include \"Keeping the fire alive: a decade of language revitalization in Mexico\" showing the experiences of language revitalization in South Mexico.\n\nClassification\n\nThe following is a classification of the 65 indigenous languages grouped by family:\n\nLanguage families with members north of Mexico\n\n Algonquian languages: Kikapú\n Yuman–Cochimí languages: Paipai, Kiliwa, Cucapá, Cochimi and KumiaiUto-Aztecan languages: Tepiman branch: Pápago, Pima Bajo, Northern and Southern Tepehuán\nTaracahita branch: Tarahumara, Guarijio language, Yaqui and Mayo\nCorachol branch: Cora and Huichol\n Nahuan branch: Nahuatl, Nahuan dialectsLanguage families with all known members in Mexico Totonacan languages:\nTotonac (different varieties)\nTepehua (different varieties)Oto-Manguean languages:\n Oto-pamean branch: Northern Pame, Southern Pame, Chichimeca Jonaz, Otomí, Mazahua, Matlatzinca and Ocuiltec.\nPopolocan branch: Popoloca language, Chocho, Ixcatec language*, Mazatecan languages\n Tlapanec–Subtiaban branch: Me'phaa\nAmuzgoan branch: Amuzgo de Guerrero, Amuzgo de Oaxaca\nMixtecan branch: Mixtecan languages, Cuicatec and Trique language.\nZapotecan branch: Chatino languages, Zapotec languages.\nChinantec branch: Chinantec languages\nChiapaneca–Mangue branch: Chiapaneco*\n Mixe–Zoquean languages:\nZoque languages\nMixe languages\nPopoluca (Texistepec Popoluca, Sierra Popoluca (Both Zoquean) and Sayula Popoluca Oluta Popoluca (Both Mixean))Language family with members south of Mexico Mayan languages:\n Huastecan branch: Wastek language,\nYucatecan branch: Yukatek Maya, Lacandón,\nCholan branch: Ch'ol language, Chontal Maya language, Tzeltal language, Tzotzil language,\n Qanjobalan–Chujean branch: Chuj language, Tojolabal language, Q'anjob'al language, Jakaltek, Motozintlec, Akatek language\nQuichean–Mamean branch: Mam language, Tektitek language, Ixil, K'iche' language, Kaqchikel and Q'eqchi'.Language isolates''':\n Seri\n Tequistlatecan languages: Lowland Chontal, Highland Chontal\n Purépecha\n Huave\n*In danger of extinction.\n\nOther languages\n\nThe deaf community uses Mexican Sign Language, Yucatan Sign Language, and, in northern Baja California, American Sign Language.\n\nThe non-indigenous languages spoken in Mexico include English (by English-speaking as well as by the residents of border states). One example of this group is of the American Mormon colony of Nueva Casas Grandes in Chihuahua, which settled in the late 19th century. German (spoken mainly in Mexico City and Puebla), Greek (spoken mainly in Mexico City, Guadalajara and especially in Sinaloa state), Arabic, Venetian (in Chipilo), Italian, French, Occitan, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Asturian, Filipino, Polish, Hebrew, Korean, Ladino, Plautdietsch, Armenian, Japanese, Chinese and other languages are spoken by smaller numbers. Some of these languages (Venetian and Plautdietsch) are spoken in isolated communities or villages. The rest are spoken by immigrants or their descendants who tend to live in the larger cities and towns.\n\nAs far as second languages go, many educated Mexicans (and those with little education who have immigrated to the US and returned) have different degrees of fluency in English. Many Mexicans working in the tourist industry can speak some English.\n\nIn a study conducted by the Alliance française in 2019 revealed that Mexicans have begun to take a greater interest in studying the French language, with 250,000 people being French speakers and 350,000 learning French.\n\nRomani is spoken by the Mexican gypsies.\n\nSee also\n\n List of Mexican states by indigenous-speaking population\n Pura López Colomé\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n CDI\n \"¿Qué lengua hablas?\", a portal that contains multimedia files of phrases spoken in some of the national indigenous languages\n National Institute of Indigenous Languages / in Spanish\n Ethnologue report for Mexico\n General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples (in Spanish)\n\n \nMexico\nMexican culture"
]
|
[
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico",
"Population statistics",
"How many indigenous peoples are there in Mexico?",
"there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico.",
"How many different groups of indigenous peoples are included in those statistics?",
"Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.",
"In what part of Mexico do most of these indigenous peoples live?",
"According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%,",
"What is the age distribution of indigenous peoples?",
"I don't know.",
"Besides the Yucutan, what other Mexican states have a significant indigenous population?",
"Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population,",
"Do indigenous peoples tend to live in urban or suburban areas?",
"Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas,",
"What percentage live in rural areas?",
"I don't know.",
"What are some other statistics that are relevant to the indigenous people of Mexico?",
"The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population."
]
| C_52fd9deef13a467fb22ee7c251424364_1 | What is the reason for this increase? | 9 | What is the reason for the increase of population of Mexican indigenous people? | Indigenous peoples of Mexico | According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law. The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatan, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosi and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups. CANNOTANSWER | This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. | Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
According to a calculation by the National Indigenous Institute (INI), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. In 2020 the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) census showed that at the national level there are 11.8 million indigenous people. The indigenous population is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico, but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Yucatan Peninsula and in the most remote and difficult-to-access areas, such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental and neighboring areas. The state with the largest indigenous population is Oaxaca, although much of them have emigrated to neighboring states so Yucatan is the state with the largest indigenous population living in its own territory. Much of the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have historically always been very lowly population by indigenous people, but some notable groups from this region are the Tarahumaras (also known as Rarámuri), the Tepehuanos, the Yaquis and the Mayos.
Definition
In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation.
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures.
The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".
The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:
the right to decide the internal forms of social, economic, political, and cultural organization;
the right to apply their own normative systems of regulation as long as human rights and gender equality are respected;
the right to preserve and enrich their languages and cultures;
the right to elect representatives before the municipal council where their territories are located;
among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language – that is, approximately half of those identified as indigenous. The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
History
Pre-Columbian civilizations
The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are usually divided in two regions: Mesoamerica, in reference to the cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North") in reference to the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer where few civilizations developed and was mostly inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic groups. Despite the conditions however, it is argued that the Mogollon culture and Peoples successfully established population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations.
One of the most influential civilizations that developed in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacán reached its peak around 600 AD, when the city became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of multiracial communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan).
The Maya civilization, though also influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed a vast cultural region in south-east Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec culture dominated the valley of Oaxaca, and the Purépecha in western Mexico.
Trade
There is common academic agreement that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica and the American Southwest, and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north to ancient communities that included such population centers in the United States such as at Snaketown, Chaco Canyon, and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located).
Colonial era
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many of the diverse ethnic civilizations (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire, the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of the empire, Tenochtitlan, became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants.
During the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadors, vastly outnumbered by indigenous peoples, made alliance with other ethnic groups in the Aztec Empire, including the Tlaxcaltecs. This strategy was found to be very effective as the Aztecs had a very bad reputation in the region for cannibalism and other inhumane practices and native alliances were crucial to the Spanish victory. After a few decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain through the Valladolid Debate. The crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule and with the indigenous power structure largely intact. However, the viceroys and indigenous people both resisted to gain more freedom for themselves.
As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into the colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there are huge corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Yucatec Maya as well as others. Such a written tradition likely took hold because there was an existing tradition of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices. Scholars have utilized the colonial-era alphabetic documentation in what is currently called the New Philology to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints.
Since Mesoamerican peoples had an existing requirement of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, Spaniards who were awarded the labor and tribute of particular communities in encomienda could benefit financially. Indigenous officials in their communities were involved in maintaining this system. There was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the New World. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members.
With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, Africans (many of which were slaves), and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves (chinos) brought as goods the trade via the Manila Galleon there was intermingling of the groups, with mixed-race castas, particularly Mestizos, becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the república de indios (the republic of Indians) from the república de españoles (republic of Spaniards), the latter of which encompassed all those in the Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although in many ways indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to the Spanish legal system. In practice in central Mexico this meant that until the nineteenth-century liberal reform that eliminated the corporate status of indigenous communities, indigenous communities had a protected status.
Although the crown recognized the political structures and the ruling elites in the civil sphere, in the religious sphere indigenous men were banned from the Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan experiment that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún at the Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco to train such a group. Mendicants of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what is often called the "spiritual conquest". Later on the northern frontiers where nomadic indigenous groups had no fixed settlements, the Spanish created missions and settled indigenous populations in these complexes. The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism with particular local aspects was the only permissible religion in the colonial era.
Indigenous Land
During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in having access to indigenous labor than in ownership of land. The institution of the encomienda, a crown grant of the labor of particular indigenous communities to individuals was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule, with the land tenure of indigenous communities continuing largely in its preconquest form. The Spanish crown initially kept intact the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés's legitimate son and heir). Second was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor to the exclusion of newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals of the crown and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542, the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, known as the repartimiento. Indigenous labor was no longer monopolized by a small group of privileged encomienda holders, but rather labor was apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Natives performed low-paid or underpaid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises.
The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to the land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures.
Colonial-era racial categories
The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles, consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and the República de Indios. Offspring of Spaniards and indigenous people were typically also considered Spaniards.
The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was first developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have widely challenged this notion, considering it a flawed an ideologically-based reinterpretations of the colonial period.
When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained.
White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the Indian Problem, that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of the new republic. The Mexican constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples.
Independence to the Mexican Revolution
The insurgency against the Spanish Empire was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. When New Spain became independent, the new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City. The new flag of the country had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of black slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens under the law. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma. Some indigenous individuals integrated into the Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president of a country in the New World. As a political liberal, however, Juárez supported the removal of protections of indigenous community corporate land holding.
In the arid North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache, who had acquired the horse, were able to wage successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria. The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent. The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867.
In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán, which was most intensely fought in 1847, but lasted until 1901.
20th century
The greatest change came about as a result of the Mexican Revolution, a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th century Mexico. The Revolution produced a national sentiment that the indigenous peoples were the foundation of Mexican society. Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" (sentimiento indigenista) of the country, including Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in certain indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity.
In spite of the official recognition of the indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of the communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the social and cultural development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico as well as in the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of the consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe. Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. This large movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government.
The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of the rural and indigenous communities and the preservation and promotion of their languages. The second article of the Constitution was modified to grant them the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of the indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions.
Rights
Constitutional
The Spanish crown had legal protections of indigenous as individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth century liberal reform removed those, so that there was equality of individuals before Mexican law. The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism.
In the late twentieth century there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity.
According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized:
acknowledgement as indigenous communities, right to self-ascription, and the application of their own regulatory systems
preservation of their cultural identity, land, consultation and participation
access to the jurisdiction to the state and to development
recognition of indigenous peoples and communities as subject of public law
self-determination and self-autonomy
remunicipalization for the advancement of indigenous communities
administer own forms of communication and media
The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution.
VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in a preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals.
Under the Mexican government, some indigenous people had land rights under ejido and agrarian communities. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of the land. Indigenous communities choose to do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, shifts were made to the economic structure and ejidos could now be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. This privatization of land undermined the economic base of the indigenous communities much like the taking of their land during colonization.
Linguistic
The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. During the early sixteenth century mestizaje, mixing of races of culture, led to mixing of languages as well.
The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During the late sixteenth century, the status of Spanish language increased.
By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers.
After independence in 1821 there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by the Mexican criollos. Since then, indigenous tongues were discriminated against and seen as not modern. The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish only education. Linguistic uniformity was sought out to strengthen national identity. This left indigenous languages out of power structures.
The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andres accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andres Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education.
In 2001, the constitution of Mexico was changed to acknowledge indigenous peoples and grant them protection. The second article of the constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to:
Preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity.
In 2003, the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico.
There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example, the General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico), Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples of this include Jacinta Francisca Marcial, an indigenous woman who was imprisoned for kidnapping in 2006. After three years and the assistance of Amnesty International she was released for lack of evidence.
Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. People commonly complain that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize teaching the indigenous language. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages.
Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear that they will be discriminated against. Scholars argue that there needs to be a social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected.
Women's
Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous culture has been used as a pretext for Mexican government to enact laws that deny human rights to women such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by the Mexican government as a cultural practice. The government has enforced impunity of the exploitation of indigenous women by its own government including by the military.
The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government has increased militarization of indigenous areas which makes women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses.
Indigenous women are forming many organizations to support each other, improve their position in society, and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence.
Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care.
Development and socio-economy
Generally, indigenous Mexicans live more poorly than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities and between rural and urban areas. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations.
Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as the Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population.
Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of the educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The Mexican government is obligated to provide education in indigenous languages, but many times fails to provide schooling in languages other than Spanish. As a result, many indigenous groups have resorted to creating their own small community educational institutions.
The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. A major reason for this is that significant number of the indigenous practice economically under productive agriculture and receive no regular salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care.
Demographics
Definition
The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures.
Languages
The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 62 indigenous languages as "national languages" which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 6.7% of the population speaks an indigenous language. That is, less than half of those identified as indigenous. 6,695,228 people 5 years or older were tallied as indigenous-language speakers in the 2010 census, an increase of about 650,000 from the 2000 census. In 2000, 6,044,547 people 5 years or older spoke an indigenous language.
In previous censuses, information on the indigenous speaking population five years of age and older was obtained from the Mexican people. However, in the 2010 census, this approach was changed and the Government also began to collect data on people 3 years and older because from the age of 3, children are able to communicate verbally. With this new approach, it was determined that there were 6,913,362 people 3 years of age or more who spoke an indigenous language (218,000 children 3 and 4 four years of age fell into this category), accounting for 6.6% of the total population. The population of children aged 0 to 2 years in homes where the head of household or a spouse spoke an indigenous language was 678 954. The indigenous language speaking population has been increasing in absolute numbers for decades, but have nonetheless been falling in proportion to the national population.
The recognition of indigenous languages and the protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory, but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s.
States
The five states with the largest indigenous-language-speaking populations are:
Oaxaca, with 1,165,186 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 34.2% of the state's population.
Chiapas, with 1,141,499 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 27.2% of the state's population.
Veracruz, with 644,559 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 9.4% the state's population.
Puebla, with 601,680 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 11.7% of the state's population.
Yucatán, with 537,516 indigenous language speakers, accounting for 30.3% of the state's population.
These five states accounted for 61.1% of all indigenous language speakers in Mexico. Most indigenous Mexicans do not speak their own languages and speak only Spanish. This is reflected in these five states' populations. Although Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán have 34.2%, 27.2%, 9.4%, 11.7%, and 30.3% of their populations speaking an indigenous language, these states' indigenous populations are 65.73%, 36.15%, 29.25%, 35.28%, 65.4% respectively.
Population statistics
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), there were 25,694,928 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2015, which constitutes 21.5% of the population of Mexico. This is a significant increase from the 2010 census, in which indigenous Mexicans accounted for 14.9% of the population, and numbered 15,700,000 Most indigenous communities have a degree of financial, political autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate internal issues under customary law.
The indigenous population of Mexico has in recent decades increased both in absolute numbers as-well as a percentage of the population. This is largely due to increased self-identification as indigenous, as-well as indigenous women having higher birth rates as compared to the Mexican average. Indigenous peoples are more likely to live in more rural areas, than the Mexican average, but many do reside in urban or suburban areas, particularly, in the central states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula.
According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are: Yucatán, with 65.40%, Quintana Roo with 44.44% and Campeche with 44.54% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 65.73% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 36.15%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 36.21%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 35.28%, and Guerrero with 33.92%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 19% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.
States
The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population as of 2015 are:
Oaxaca, 65.73%
Yucatán, 65.40%
Campeche, 44.54%
Quintana Roo, 44.44%
Hidalgo, 36.21%
Chiapas, 36.15%
Puebla, 35.28%
Guerrero, 33.92%
Veracruz, 29.25%
Morelos, 28.11%
Michoacán, 27.69%
Tabasco, 25.77%
Tlaxcala, 25.24%
San Luis Potosí, 23.20%
Nayarit, 22.18%
Colima, 20.43%
Querétaro, 19.17%
Sonora, 17.83%
State of Mexico, 17.00%
Baja California Sur, 14.47%
Sinaloa, 12.83%
Aguascalientes, 11.69%
Chihuahua, 11.28%
Jalisco, 11.12%
Guanajuato, 9.13%
Distrito Federal, 8.80%
Baja California, 8.54%
Durango, 7.94%
Zacatecas, 7.61%
Coahuila, 6.93%
Nuevo León, 6.88%
Tamaulipas, 6.30%
Population genetics
In 2011 a large scale mitochondrial sequencing in Mexican Americans revealed 85 to 90% of maternal mtDNA lineages are of Native American origin, with the remainder having European (5–7%) or African ancestry (3–5%). Thus the observed frequency of Native American mtDNA in Mexican/Mexican Americans is higher than was expected on the basis of autosomal estimates of Native American admixture for these populations i.e. ~ 30–46%
The indigenous groups within what is now Mexico are genetically distinct from each other. The genetic differences between geographically separated indigenous groups (e.g., between indigenous people living in the Yucatán Peninsula compared to indigenous people living in western Mexico) can be as large as the genetic differences seen between a European person and an East Asian person.
Populations of more than 100,000
Populations of less than 20,000
1Number of indigenous peoples that still speak their Indigenous language
Education
Mexico is the nation of the Americas with the highest number of living languages in the early years of the 21st century, despite this cultural wealth, there is a technological disparity in education for indigenous peoples compared to other ethnic groups living in the country.
With the creation of the SEP, the first indigenous education works for children and adults were carried out in order to eradicate illiteracy. However, the first educational policies for indigenous peoples did not work because they reduced the number of indigenous speakers with Spanish language literacy. In the year 2003 INALI was created, the first institution of the Mexican government that activated bilingualism by providing literacy in the mother language of indigenous speakers. But the poverty of the communities and the lack of teachers in indigenous languages limited progress in writing in the mother language.
Culture
The Mexican Indigenous communities are enriched on celebrations, traditional costumes, oral heritage, medicine, literature, architecture and music by gender-separated groups. It includes parades of indigenous walking bands, native food, and statewide artisanal crafts, such as Pre-Hispanic-style textiles. Each costume and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.
The Guelaguetza is an indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, other similar celebration is the Atlixcayotl in Atlixco, Puebla. While this celebrations have attracted an increasing number of tourists, are primarily of deep cultural importance for the indigenous peoples of the country and is important for the survival of these cultures. Xantolo is other indigenous cultural event in The Huastecas (Hidalgo, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí) celebrated with Day of the Deaths.
The anthrolopogist and chef Raquel Torres Cerdán has recorded and ensured the preservation of many of the indigenous cuisines of Veracruz.
Notable people
Colonial period figures
Indigenous Mexicans
See also
Colonial Mexico
Indigenismo in Mexico
Indigenous peoples of California
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican chronology
Mexican Indian Wars
Mexicans of European descent
Mestizos in Mexico
References
Sources
Further reading
General
Prehispanic era
Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris.
Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. .
Postconquest era
Postcolonial era
External links
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas
Consejo Nacional de Poblacion
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia
Mexico and Southwest USA – Native Y-DNA Project
Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México (El Colegio de México)
Virtual museum of the indigenous languages of Mexico
Information about the Native American tribes that historically lived on the US-Mexico Border
Demographics of Mexico
Mexican society | true | [
"In philosophy, practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act. It contrasts with theoretical reason, often called speculative reason, the use of reason to decide what to follow. For example, agents use practical reason to decide whether to build a telescope, but theoretical reason to decide which of two theories of light and optics is the best.\n\nOverview\nPractical reason is understood by most philosophers as determining a plan of action. Thomistic ethics defines the first principle of practical reason as \"good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.\" For Kant, practical reason has a law-abiding quality because the categorical imperative is understood to be binding one to one's duty rather than subjective preferences. Utilitarians tend to see reason as an instrument for the satisfactions of wants and needs.\n\nIn classical philosophical terms, it is very important to distinguish three domains of human activity: theoretical reason, which investigates the truth of contingent events as well as necessary truths; practical reason, which determines whether a prospective course of action is worth pursuing; and productive or technical reason, which attempts to find the best means for a given end. Aristotle viewed philosophical activity as the highest activity of the human being and gave pride of place to metaphysics or wisdom. Since Descartes practical judgment and reasoning have been treated with less respect because of the demand for greater certainty and an infallible method to justify beliefs.\n\nIn argumentation \n\nPractical reasoning is basically goal-directed reasoning from an agent's goal, and from some action selected as a means to carry out the goal, to the agent's reasoned decision to carry out the action. The agent can be a person or a technical device, such as a robot or a software device for multi-agent communications. It is a type of reasoning used all the time in everyday life and all kinds of technology where autonomous reasoning is required. Argumentation theorists have identified two kinds of practical reasoning: instrumental practical reasoning that does not explicitly take values into account, and value-based practical reasoning. The following argumentation scheme for instrumental practical reasoning is given in . The pronoun I represents an autonomous agent.\n\nArgumentation scheme for instrumental practical reasoning\n\nCritical questions\n\nCQ1: What other goals do I have that should be considered that might conflict with G?\nCQ2: What alternative actions to my bringing about A that would also bring about G should be considered?\nCQ3: Among bringing about A and these alternative actions, which is arguably the most efficient?\nCQ4: What grounds are there for arguing that it is practically possible for me to bring about A?\nCQ5: What consequences of my bringing about A should also be taken into account?\n\nIt can be seen from CQ5 that argumentation from consequences is closely related to the scheme for practical reasoning.\nIt has often been disputed in philosophy whether practical reasoning is purely instrumental or whether it needs to be based on values. Argument from values is combined with practical reasoning in the type of argumentation called value-based practical reasoning. The following argumentation scheme for value-based practical reasoning is given in .\n\nArgumentation scheme for value-based practical reasoning\n\nIn the current circumstances R\nwe should perform action A\nto achieve New Circumstances S\nwhich will realize some goal G\nwhich will promote some value V.\n\nPractical reasoning is used in arguments, but also in explanations used to draw conclusions about an agent's goals, motives or intentions, based on reports of what the agent said or did.\n\nPractical reasoning is centrally important in artificial intelligence, and also vitally important in many other fields such as law, medicine and engineering. It has been known as a distinctive type of argumentation as far back as Aristotle.\n\nSee also \n\n Action theory (philosophy)\n Critique of Practical Reason\n Decisional balance, or balance-of-considerations reasoning\n \n Philosophy of action\n Phronesis\n Pure practical reason\n Rationality\n Rationality and Power\n Rhetorical reason\n Tacit knowledge\n\nReferences\n\nSources \nElijah Millgram, ed., Varieties of Practical Reasoning, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2001. .\nJoseph Raz, ed., Practical Reasoning, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978. .\nCharles Taylor, \"Explanation and Practical Reason,\" in Philosophical Arguments, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995. .\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \n \n\nReasoning\nAction (philosophy)\nConcepts in epistemology\nConcepts in ethics\nCritical thinking\nPhilosophy of logic\nPhilosophy of mind\nThought",
"A spiral valve or scroll valve is the corkscrew-shaped lower portion of the intestine of some sharks, Acipenseriformes (sturgeon and paddlefish), rays, skates, bichirs, Lepisosteiformes (gars), and lungfishes. A modification of the ileum, the spiral valve is internally twisted or coiled to increase the surface area of the intestine which increases nutrient absorption.\n\nDescription \nThe intestines of a shark are much shorter than those of mammals. Sharks have compensated for this problem by having a spiral valve, or a scroll valve, inside the intestine to increase the absorbent surface of the intestine. By keeping digestible material in the ileum for an extended period maximum nutrient absorption is ensured. For this reason, many sharks and related fish feed very infrequently. The food passes into the comparatively short colon of the shark almost fully digested, and then out the cloaca and vent.\n\nA consequence of the spiral valve constricting the lumen of the ileum is that sharks cannot pass large hard objects (such as bones) through their lower intestine. Such objects rather remain in the stomach until sufficiently broken down for passing through the valve region, or are regurgitated. Consequently, shark stomachs often contain items of interest that enable one to determine what the animals feed on, as well as non-food items ingested during a feeding frenzy.\n\nSharks also possess a rectal gland that removes excess salt.\n\nSee also\n\n Small intestine\n Physical characteristics of sharks\n\nReferences\n\nFish anatomy\nSharks"
]
|
[
"Martin Luther King Jr.",
"Albany Movement"
]
| C_61c4565e8444463ea73674e77fc78d44_1 | Who started the Albany movement? | 1 | Who started the Albany movement? | Martin Luther King Jr. | The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town. King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (equivalent to $1,400 in 2017); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations. CANNOTANSWER | King and the SCLC became involved. | Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. His role in leading the cause of civil rights in the South differed in style from the previous accomodationist stances represented by Booker T. Washington and black-and-tan faction leader Perry Wilbon Howard II.
King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with some success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were several dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent. Several times King would be jailed. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963, forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life and secretly recorded him, and in 1964, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.
On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches. In his final years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty, capitalism, and the Vietnam War. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger leading to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in cities and states throughout the United States beginning in 1971; the holiday was enacted at the federal level by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and the most populous county in Washington State was rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
Early life and education
Birth
King was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the second of three children to Michael King and Alberta King ( Williams). King had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A.D." King. King's maternal grandfather Adam Daniel Williams, who was a minister in rural Georgia, moved to Atlanta in 1893, and became pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Williams was of African-Irish descent. Williams married Jennie Celeste Parks. King, Sr. was born to sharecroppers, James Albert and Delia King of Stockbridge, Georgia. In his adolescent years, King Sr. left his parents' farm and walked to Atlanta where he attained a high school education, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study for entry to the ministry. King Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on November 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, they lived together on the second floor of her parent's two-story Victorian house, where King was born.
Shortly after marrying Alberta, King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior pastor Williams died in the spring of 1931 and that fall, King Sr. took the role, where he would in time raise the attendance from six hundred to several thousand. In 1934, the church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip, including to Berlin for the meeting of the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). He also visited sites in Germany associated with the Reformation leader, Martin Luther. While there, King Sr. and the BWA delegates witnessed the rise of Nazism. In reaction, the BWA issued a resolution stating, "This Congress deplores and condemns as a violation of the law of God the Heavenly Father, all racial animosity, and every form of oppression or unfair discrimination toward the Jews, toward coloured people, or toward subject races in any part of the world." On returning home in August 1934, King Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King, and his son's name to Martin Luther King Jr.
Early childhood
At his childhood home, King and his two siblings would read aloud the Bible as instructed by their father. After dinners there, King's grandmother Jennie, whom he affectionately referred to as "Mama", would tell lively stories from the Bible to her grandchildren. King's father would regularly use whippings to discipline his children. At times, King Sr. would also have his children whip each other. King's father later remarked, "[King] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once when King witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally upset his sister Christine, he took a telephone and knocked out A.D. with it. When he and his brother were playing at their home, A.D. slid from a banister and hit into their grandmother, Jennie, causing her to fall down unresponsive. King, believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window. Upon hearing that his grandmother was alive, King rose and left the ground where he had fallen.
King became friends with a white boy whose father owned a business across the street from his family's home. In September 1935, when the boys were about six years old, they started school. King had to attend a school for black children, Younge Street Elementary School, while his close playmate went to a separate school for white children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of the white boy stopped allowing King to play with their son, stating to him "we are white, and you are colored". When King relayed the happenings to his parents, they had a long discussion with him about the history of slavery and racism in America. Upon learning of the hatred, violence and oppression that black people had faced in the U.S., King would later state that he was "determined to hate every white person". His parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone.
King witnessed his father stand up against segregation and various forms of discrimination. Once, when stopped by a police officer who referred to King Sr. as "boy", King's father responded sharply that King was a boy but he was a man. When King's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. King's father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before taking King and leaving the store. He told King afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, King's father led hundreds of African Americans in a civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest voting rights discrimination. King later remarked that King Sr. was "a real father" to him.
King memorized and sang hymns, and stated verses from the Bible, by the time he was five years old. Over the next year, he began to go to church events with his mother and sing hymns while she played piano. His favorite hymn to sing was "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus"; he moved attendees with his singing. King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. King enjoyed opera, and played the piano. As he grew up, King garnered a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries and consistently used his expanding lexicon. He got into physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, but oftentimes used his knowledge of words to stymie fights. King showed a lack of interest in grammar and spelling, a trait that he carried throughout his life. In 1939, King sang as a member of his church choir in slave costume, for the all-white audience at the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone with the Wind. In September 1940, at the age of 11, King was enrolled at the Atlanta University Laboratory School for the seventh grade. While there, King took violin and piano lessons, and showed keen interest in his history and English classes.
On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked away from studying at home to watch a parade, King was informed that something had happened to his maternal grandmother. Upon returning home, he found out that she had suffered a heart attack and died while being transported to a hospital. He took the death very hard and believed that his deception of going to see the parade may have been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his home, but again survived an attempt to kill himself. His father instructed him in his bedroom that King should not blame himself for her death, and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan that could not be changed. King struggled with this, and could not fully believe that his parents knew where his grandmother had gone. Shortly thereafter, King's father decided to move the family to a two-story brick home on a hill that overlooked downtown Atlanta.
Adolescence
In his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. In 1942, when King was 13 years old, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal. That year, King skipped the ninth grade and was enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only one in the city for African-American students. It had been formed after local black leaders, including King's grandfather (Williams), urged the city government of Atlanta to create it.
While King was brought up in a Baptist home, King grew skeptical of some of Christianity's claims as he entered adolescence. He began to question the literalist teachings preached at his father's church. At the age of 13, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. King said that he found himself unable to identify with the emotional displays and gestures from congregants frequent at his church, and doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He later stated of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."
In high school, King became known for his public-speaking ability, with a voice that had grown into an orotund baritone. He proceeded to join the school's debate team. King continued to be most drawn to history and English, and chose English and sociology to be his main subjects while at the school. King maintained an abundant vocabulary. But, he relied on his sister, Christine, to help him with his spelling, while King assisted her with math. They studied in this manner routinely until Christine's graduation from high school. King also developed an interest in fashion, commonly adorning himself in well polished patent leather shoes and tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He further grew a liking for flirting with girls and dancing. His brother A. D. later remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to chick, and I decided I couldn't keep up with him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."
On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, King gave his first public speech during an oratorical contest, sponsored by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World in Dublin, Georgia. In his speech he stated, "black America still wears chains. The finest negro is at the mercy of the meanest white man. Even winners of our highest honors face the class color bar." King was selected as the winner of the contest. On the ride home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so that white passengers could sit down. The driver of the bus called King a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did not follow the directions of the driver. As all the seats were occupied, he and his teacher were forced to stand on the rest of the drive back to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident, saying "That night will never leave my memory. It was the angriest I have ever been in my life."
Morehouse College
During King's junior year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandfather had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the school's entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted in the war, decreasing the numbers of students at Morehouse College. So, the university aimed to increase their student numbers by allowing junior high school students to apply. In 1944, at the age of 15, King passed the entrance examination and was enrolled at the university for the school season that autumn.
In the summer before King started his freshman year at Morehouse, he boarded a train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a group of other Morehouse College students to work in Simsbury, Connecticut at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco (a cigar business). This was King's first trip outside of the segregated south into the integrated north. In a June 1944 letter to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him between the two parts of the country, "On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see. After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit any where we want to." The students worked at the farm to be able to provide for their educational costs at Morehouse College, as the farm had partnered with the college to allot their salaries towards the university's tuition, housing, and other fees. On weekdays King and the other students worked in the fields, picking tobacco from 7:00am till at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures above 100°F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day. On Friday evenings, King and the other students visited downtown Simsbury to get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut to see theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants. On each Sunday they would go to Hartford to attend church services, at a church filled with white congregants. King wrote to his parents about the lack of segregation in Connecticut, relaying how he was amazed they could go to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to the same church".
He played freshman football there. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry. Throughout his time in college, King studied under the mentorship of its president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays, who he would later credit with being his "spiritual mentor." King had concluded that the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity." His "inner urge" had begun developing, and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.
Religious education, ministry, marriage and family
Crozer Theological Seminary
King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education and made arrangements for King to work with prominent Crozer alum, J. Pius Barbour, a family friend who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. King became known as one of the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he shared with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel D. Proctor who both went on to become well-known preachers in the black church.
While attending Crozer, King was joined by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King became fond of the street because a classmate had an aunt who prepared collard greens for them, which they both relished.
King once reproved another student for keeping beer in his room, saying they had shared responsibility as African Americans to bear "the burdens of the Negro race." For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel." In his third year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with the white daughter of an immigrant German woman who worked as a cook in the cafeteria. The woman had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King planned to marry her, but friends advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later. He continued to have lingering feelings toward the woman he left; one friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.) degree in 1951. He applied to University of Edinburgh to do his doctorate in the School of Divinity. An offer was made by Edinburgh but he chose Boston instead.
Boston University
In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. While pursuing doctoral studies, King worked as an assistant minister at Boston's historic Twelfth Baptist Church with William Hunter Hester. Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael Haynes, associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury (and younger brother of jazz drummer Roy Haynes). The young men often held bull sessions in their various apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues.
King attended philosophy classes at Harvard University as an audit student in 1952 and 1953.
At the age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.
An academic inquiry in October 1991 concluded that portions of his doctoral dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose." The committee found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." A letter is now attached to the copy of King's dissertation held in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. Significant debate exists on how to interpret King's plagiarism.
Marriage and family
While studying at Boston University, he asked a friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, who was a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, if she knew any nice Southern girls. Powell asked fellow student Coretta Scott if she was interested in meeting a Southern friend studying divinity. Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow Martin to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first phone call, King told Scott "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." They went out for dates in his green Chevy. After the second date, King was certain Scott possessed the qualities he sought in a wife. She had been an activist at Antioch in undergrad, where Carol and Rod Serling were schoolmates.
King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.
In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at the request of the SCLC. In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and helped expand the Civil Rights Movement across the South.
Activism and organizational leadership
Montgomery bus boycott, 1955
The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King was called to be minister in 1954, was influential in the Montgomery, Alabama, African-American community. As the church's pastor, he became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region.
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws, local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue because the incident involved a minor.
Nine months later on December 1, 1955, a similar incident occurred when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus. The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by Nixon and led by King. King was in his twenties, and had just taken up his clerical role. The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role simply because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant about taking the role, but decided to do so if no one else wanted it.
The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested and jailed during this campaign, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. Blacks resumed riding the buses again, and were able to sit in the front with full legal authorization.
King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies Stanley Levison and Ella Baker. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
The Common Society
Harry Wachtel joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in the libel case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; the case was litigated in reference to the newspaper advertisement "Heed Their Rising Voices". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights." King served as honorary president for the group. He was displeased with the pace that President Kennedy was using to address the issue of segregation. In 1962, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document that called on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. Kennedy did not execute the order.
The FBI was under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when it began tapping King's telephone line in the fall of 1963. Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in the SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this, the FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of his leadership position in the COINTELPRO program.
King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.
Survived knife attack, 1958
On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem when he narrowly escaped death. Izola Curry—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano. King underwent emergency surgery with three doctors: Aubre de Lambert Maynard, Emil Naclerio and John W. V. Cordice; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Atlanta sit-ins, prison sentence, and the 1960 elections
Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver expressed open hostility towards King's return to his hometown in late 1959. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King, Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance. On May 4, 1960, several months after his return, King drove writer Lillian Smith to Emory University when police stopped them. King was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license. King paid a fine but was apparently unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that also included a probationary sentence.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Student Movement had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces in the city, organizing the Atlanta sit-ins from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how 1960's Presidential election campaign had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside Rich's, Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over the next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was taken from his county jail cell and transported to a maximum-security state prison.
The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism. Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at a time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship prior to the sit-in, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from Jackie Robinson requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent John F. Kennedy called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother Robert to exert more pressure on state authorities, and also, at the personal request of Sargent Shriver, made a phone call to King's wife to express his sympathy and offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won.
After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However, the negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed in full swing for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools. Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church, the audience was hostile and frustrated towards the elders and the compromise. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity," and helping to calm tensions.
Albany Movement, 1961
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town.
King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time.
After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.
Birmingham campaign, 1963
In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.
King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. Newsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade.
During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.
King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner". King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'." Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, arranged for $160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors.
March on Washington, 1963
King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Bayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary logistical and strategic organizer. For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of United States President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.
Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and Walter Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone. As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.
The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.
I (We) Have a Dream
King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passagein which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"King said:
"I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The original typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26 years old, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech, and he got it.
St. Augustine, Florida, 1964
In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. However, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
Biddeford, Maine, 1964
On May 7, 1964, King spoke at Saint Francis College's "The Negro and the Quest for Identity," in Biddeford, Maine. This was a symposium that brought many civil rights leaders together such as Dorothy Day and Roy Wilkins. King spoke about how "We must get rid of the idea of superior and inferior races," through nonviolent tactics.
New York City, 1964
On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called "The American Race Crisis." In August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. The original speech recording is part of a collection of audio tapes in the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections in 1989. Dr. King's speech had been rebroadcast on Amherst's student-run radio station, WAMF (now WAMH). The tape was digitized in the fall of 2015 and shared with The New School Archives. In his March 18, 1964 interview by Robert Penn Warren, King compared his activism to his father's, citing his training in non-violence as a key difference. He also discusses the next phase of the civil rights movement and integration.
Selma voting rights movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965
In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of three or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. During the 1965 march to Montgomery, Alabama, violence by state police and others against the peaceful marchers resulted in much publicity, which made racism in Alabama visible nationwide.
Acting on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Bevel and other SCLC members, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, at which King was not present, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the civil rights movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King and Bevel's nonviolence strategy.
On March 5, King met with officials in the Johnson Administration in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line." Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.
King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. Meanwhile, on March 11 King cried at the news of Johnson supporting a voting rights bill on television in Marie Foster's living room. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as "How Long, Not Long." In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" and "you shall reap what you sow".
Chicago open housing movement, 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations took the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue, in the slums of North Lawndale on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.
The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.
During that spring, several white couple/black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others.
King later stated and Abernathy wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. King was hit by a brick during one march, but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.
When King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.
A 1967 CIA document declassified in 2017 downplayed King's role in the "black militant situation" in Chicago, with a source stating that King "sought at least constructive, positive projects."
Opposition to the Vietnam War
King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. At the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of Muhammad Ali, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.
During an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:
King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children." King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.
King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers. "The press is being stacked against me", King said, complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children." Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi", and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for social democracy and democratic socialism.
In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ..." In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism." King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism."
King stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." King quoted a United States official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.
King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K. Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal on the grounds that he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited for his morally unambiguous role as an activist.
On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. The march was organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King brought up issues of civil rights and the draft:
Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement. In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:
On January 13, 1968 (the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address), King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars."
Correspondence with Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thích Nhất Hạnh was an influential Vietnamese Buddhist who taught at Princeton University and Columbia University. He had written a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 entitled: "In Search of the Enemy of Man". It was during his 1966 stay in the US that Nhất Hạnh met with King and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. In 1967, King gave a famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, his first to publicly question the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".
Poor People's Campaign, 1968
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.
The campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.
King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity." He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness." His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."
The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.
Assassination and aftermath
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, who were represented by AFSCME Local 1733. The workers had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. In the prophetic peroration of the last speech of his life, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
King was booked in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel (owned by Walter Bailey) in Memphis. Ralph Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at Room 306 so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite." According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."
King was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m., Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor. Jackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had "reached out" for King.
After emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the civil rights movement. King was initially interred in South View Cemetery in South Atlanta, but in 1977 his remains were transferred to a tomb on the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
Aftermath
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short, improvised speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. The following day, he delivered a prepared response in Cleveland. James Farmer Jr. and other civil rights leaders also called for non-violent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.
The plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered. Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and stayed for six weeks, establishing a camp they called "Resurrection City."
President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to quell the riots by making several telephone calls to civil rights leaders, mayors and governors across the United States and told politicians that they should warn the police against the unwarranted use of force. But his efforts didn't work out: "I'm not getting through," Johnson told his aides. "They're all holing up like generals in a dugout getting ready to watch a war." Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity." His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral. The assassination helped to spur the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Two months after King's death, James Earl Ray—who was on the loose from a previous prison escape—was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave England on a false Canadian passport. He was using the alias Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had. Ray died in 1998 at age 70.
Allegations of conspiracy
Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists. Supporters of this assertion said that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. They admitted that Ray was a thief and burglar, but claimed that he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."
Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle. Witnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.
Two years later, King's widow Coretta Scott King and the couple's children won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators." Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.
William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.
In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.
In 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.
King researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. In 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:
Legacy
South Africa
King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights movement in South Africa. King's work was cited by, and served as, an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country during apartheid and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
United Kingdom
King influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him "one of my great heroes of the century."
In the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honor King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US civil rights movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to "build cultures of peace."
In 2017, Newcastle University unveiled a bronze statue of King to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his honorary doctorate ceremony. The Students Union also voted to rename their bar Luthers.
United States
King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community.
King's wife Coretta Scott King followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide. Their son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. Daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.
Even within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta publicly said that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.
On February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:
Martin Luther King Jr. was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Beginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. Arizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day.
Veneration
Martin Luther King Jr. was canonized by Archbishop Timothy Paul of the Holy Christian Orthodox Church (not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church) on September 9, 2016 in the Christian Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, his feast day is April 4, the date of his assassination. King is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on April 4 or January 15. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15.
Ideas, influences, and political stances
Christianity
As a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:
King's private writings show that he rejected biblical literalism; he described the Bible as "mythological," doubted that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not believe that the story of Jonah and the whale was true.
The Measure of a Man
In 1959, King published a short book called The Measure of a Man, which contained his sermons "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization.
Nonviolence
Veteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s.
King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term "nonviolence" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms.
In the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting.
King was inspired by Gandhi and his success with nonviolent activism, and as a theology student, King described Gandhi as being one of the "individuals who greatly reveal the working of the Spirit of God". King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India." With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity."
King's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the "successful precedent" of using nonviolence "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
Another influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience and its theme of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and said that Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis left an "indelible imprint" on his thinking by giving him a theological grounding for his social concerns. King was moved by Rauschenbusch's vision of Christians spreading social unrest in "perpetual but friendly conflict" with the state, simultaneously critiquing it and calling it to act as an instrument of justice. However, he was apparently unaware of the American tradition of Christian pacifism exemplified by Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison. King frequently referred to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as central for his work. King also sometimes used the concept of "agape" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings.
Even after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
Criticism within the movement
King was criticized by other black leaders during the course of his participation in the civil rights movement. This included opposition by more militant thinkers such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founder Ella Baker regarded King as a charismatic media figure who lost touch with the grassroots of the movement as he became close to elite figures like Nelson Rockefeller. Stokely Carmichael, a protege of Baker's, became a black separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.
Activism and involvement with Native Americans
King was an avid supporter of Native American rights. Native Americans were also active supporters of King's civil rights movement which included the active participation of Native Americans. In fact, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was especially supportive in King's campaigns especially the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. In King's book Why We Can't Wait he writes:
Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.
King assisted Native American people in south Alabama in the late 1950s. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. The South had many egregious racial problems: In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and through his intervention the problem was quickly resolved.
In September 1959, King flew from Los Angeles, California, to Tucson, Arizona. After giving a speech at the University of Arizona on the ideals of using nonviolent methods in creating social change. He put into words his belief that one must not use force in this struggle "but match the violence of his opponents with his suffering." King then went to Southside Presbyterian, a predominantly Native American church, and was fascinated by their photos. On the spur of the moment, King wanted to go to an Indian Reservation to meet the people so Casper Glenn took King to the Papago Indian Reservation. At the reservation King met with all the tribal leaders, and others on the reservation then ate with them. King then visited another Presbyterian church near the reservation, and preached there attracting a Native American crowd. He later returned to Old Pueblo in March 1962 where he preached again to a Native American congregation, and then went on to give another speech at the University of Arizona. King would continue to attract the attention of Native Americans throughout the civil rights movement. During the 1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the Navajo nation. Native Americans were also active participants in the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
King was a major inspiration along with the civil rights movement which inspired the Native American rights movement of the 1960s and many of its leaders. John Echohawk a member of the Pawnee tribe and the executive director and one of the founders of the Native American Rights Fund stated:
Inspired by Dr. King, who was advancing the civil rights agenda of equality under the laws of this country, we thought that we could also use the laws to advance our Indianship, to live as tribes in our territories governed by our own laws under the principles of tribal sovereignty that had been with us ever since 1831. We believed that we could fight for a policy of self-determination that was consistent with U.S. law and that we could govern our own affairs, define our own ways and continue to survive in this society.
Politics
As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either." In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party." King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.
King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he had not decided whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson II or Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1956 presidential election, but that "In the past, I always voted the Democratic ticket." In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."
In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."
King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout the United States at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the necessities of many American people, particularly the African-American community.
Compensation
King stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.
He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils." He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
Television
Actress Nichelle Nichols planned to leave the science-fiction television series Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, wanting to return to musical theater. She changed her mind after talking to King who was a fan of the show. King explained that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation. King told Nichols, "You are our image of where we're going, you're 300 years from now, and that means that's where we are and it takes place now. Keep doing what you're doing, you are our inspiration." As Nichols recounted, "Star Trek was one of the only shows that [King] and his wife Coretta would allow their little children to watch. And I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face. And he said, 'Don't you understand for the first time we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.' For his part, the series' creator, Gene Roddenberry, was deeply moved upon learning of King's support.
State surveillance and coercion
FBI surveillance and wiretapping
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader. The Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, found that "From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader."
In the fall of 1963, the FBI received authorization from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to proceed with wiretapping of King's phone lines, purportedly due to his association with Stanley Levison. The Bureau informed President John F. Kennedy. He and his brother unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's telephone lines "on a trial basis, for a month or so", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.
The Bureau placed wiretaps on the home and office phone lines of both Levison and King, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country. In 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: "No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure [sic] the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited."
NSA monitoring of King's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who were critical of the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
Allegations of communism
For years, Hoover had been suspicious of potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC when it was established.
Due to the relationship between King and Stanley Levison, the FBI feared Levison was working as an "agent of influence" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Jack O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Despite the extensive surveillance conducted, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.
For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism. In a 1965 Playboy interview, he stated that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida." He argued that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the civil rights movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements." Hoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country." After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country." It alleged that he was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists."
The attempts to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were content with the status quo, but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators." As context, the civil rights movement in 1950s and '60s arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."
CIA surveillance
CIA files declassified in 2017 revealed that the agency was investigating possible links between King and Communism after a Washington Post article dated November 4, 1964, claimed he was invited to the Soviet Union and that Ralph Abernathy, as spokesman for King, refused to comment on the source of the invitation. Mail belonging to King and other civil rights activists was intercepted by the CIA program HTLINGUAL.
Allegations of adultery
The FBI having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, attempts to discredit King began through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also had numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon B. Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".
In his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy stated that King had a "weakness for women", although they "all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation." In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term "womanizing", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual.
Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had stated that he saw King coming out of his room with a woman when he awoke the next morning and later said that "he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know...the Sanitation Worker's Strike."
In his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels." He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt." King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that "all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high-level relationship we enjoyed." Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were "sensational" and stated that Garrow was "amassing facts rather than analyzing them."
The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. The FBI–King suicide letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:
The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.
The letter was accompanied by a tape recording—excerpted from FBI wiretaps—of several of King's extramarital liaisons. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC." King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.
In 1977, Judge John Lewis Smith Jr. ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.
In May 2019, an FBI file emerged on which a handwritten note alleged that King "looked on, laughed and offered advice" as one of his friends raped a woman. Expert professional historians of the period who have examined this notional evidence have dismissed it as highly unreliable. David Garrow, author of an earlier biography of King, wrote that "the suggestion... that he either actively tolerated or personally employed violence against any woman, even while drunk, poses so fundamental a challenge to his historical stature as to require the most complete and extensive historical review possible". Garrow's reliance on a handwritten note addended to a typed report is considered poor scholarship by several other authorities. The Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham, Peter Ling, pointed out that Garrow was excessively credulous, if not naive, in accepting the accuracy of FBI reports during a period when the FBI was undertaking a massive operation to attempt to discredit King as part of its COINTELPRO activities. Garrow had earlier referred to Ling's work on King, widely considered authoritative, as "thoughtful, perceptive, and thoroughly well-informed". Experts in 20th-century American history, including Distinguished Professor of Political Science Jeanne Theoharis, the professors Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Nathan Connolly of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Emeritus of History Glenda Gilmore of Yale University have expressed reservations about Garrow's scholarship. Theoharis commented "Most scholars I know would penalize graduate students for doing this." It is not the first time the care and rigor of Garrow's work has been called into serious question. Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King biographer and overseer of the Dr. King records at Stanford University states that he came to the opposite conclusion of Garrow saying "None of this is new. Garrow is talking about a recently added summary of a transcript of a 1964 recording from the Willard Hotel that others, including Mrs. King, have said they did not hear Martin's voice on it. The added summary was four layers removed from the actual recording. This supposedly new information comes from an anonymous source in a single paragraph in an FBI report. You have to ask how could anyone conclude King looked at a rape from an audio recording in a room where he was not present." Carson bases his position of Coretta Scott King's memoirs where she states "I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened. I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin's voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading." The tapes that could confirm or refute the allegation are scheduled to be declassified in 2027.
Police observation during the assassination
A fire station was located across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. Agents were watching King at the time he was shot. Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.
Awards and recognition
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the (at the time) youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free."
In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity." Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967, he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honored by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said
There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.
In addition to being nominated for three Grammy Awards, the civil-rights leader posthumously won for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1971 for "Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam".
In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:
Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet.
King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
King was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. In 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and, in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online "Person of the Century" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.
Five-dollar bill
On April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 bills would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the front of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson.
Works
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
The Measure of a Man (1959)
Strength to Love (1963)
Why We Can't Wait (1964)
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
The Trumpet of Conscience (1968)
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson
"All Labor Has Dignity" (2011) ed. Michael Honey
"Thou, Dear God": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits. Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin
MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image (2011). Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson
See also
Civil rights movement in popular culture
Equality before the law
List of civil rights leaders
List of peace activists
List of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr.
Post–civil rights era in African-American history
Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
United States labor law
Violence begets violence
Portrait made by Columbus P. Knox
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Garrow, David. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1989). Pulitzer Prize.
"James L. Bevel, The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement", a 1984 paper by Randall Kryn, published with a 1988 addendum by Kryn in Prof. David Garrow's We Shall Overcome, Volume II (Carlson Publishing Company, 1989).
Further reading
King, Martin Luther Jr. (1986), Testament of Hope. The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper & Row), edited by J. M. Washington; reissued by Harper in 1992 as I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World.
Kirk, John A., ed. (2007). Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. pp. 224.
Schulke, Flip; McPhee, Penelope (1986). King Remembered, Foreword by Jesse Jackson. .
Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta (2012). Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and the Struggle for Black Equality. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. .
External links
The King Center
FBI file on Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize, Civil Rights Digital Library
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Buffalo, digital collection of King's visit and speech in Buffalo, New York on November 9, 1967, from the University at Buffalo Libraries
BBC Face to Face interview with Martin Luther King and John Freeman, broadcast October 29, 1961.
including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964 The quest for peace and justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. Collected Papers held by the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
1929 births
1968 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Baptist ministers
1968 murders in the United States
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Atlanta
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
African-American Baptist ministers
African-American theologians
African-American writers
American anti-racism activists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American Christian pacifists
American Christian socialists
American Christian Zionists
American clergy of Irish descent
American democratic socialists
American dissidents
American human rights activists
American humanitarians
American male non-fiction writers
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Nobel laureates
American prisoners and detainees
American saints
American social democrats
Anglican saints
Articles containing video clips
Assassinated American civil rights activists
Assassinated religious leaders
Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptist writers
Baptists from Alabama
Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Boston University School of Theology alumni
Burials in Georgia (U.S. state)
Civil rights movement
Clergy from Atlanta
COINTELPRO targets
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Crozer Theological Seminary alumni
Critics of Marxism
Deaths by firearm in Tennessee
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Gandhians
Grammy Award winners
Male murder victims
Martyrdom
Montgomery bus boycott
Morehouse College alumni
Murdered African-American people
Native Americans' rights activists
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
Liberalism in the United States
Nonviolence advocates
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
People from Atlanta
People involved in plagiarism controversies
People murdered in Tennessee
Political prisoners
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Prisoners and detainees of Alabama
Prisoners and detainees of Florida
Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state)
Selma to Montgomery marches
Spingarn Medal winners
Stabbing attacks in the United States
Stabbing survivors
Time Person of the Year
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Writers from Montgomery, Alabama
Google Doodles
Non-Indian Gandhians | true | [
"McCree Harris (July 10, 1934 – July 24, 2000) was an American educator and political activist leader. Harris worked at the all-Black Monroe Comprehensive High School, where she taught Latin, French, and Social Studies. She is best known for her participation with the Freedom Singers and for encouraging her students' involvement in the Civil Rights Movement through voter registration marches and by leading groups of students to downtown Albany, Georgia, after school hours to test desegregation rulings at local stores and movie theaters.\n\nEarly life\nMcCree Harris was an African American activist born in 1934 in Albany, Georgia. Her family life was sheltered, as she was raised by Reverend Isaiah A. Harris and Katie B. Harris, who both dedicated their time towards the racial equality and economic empowerment of African Americans. As the founder of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, the reverend used the church as a means to support this empowerment with the goal of increasing voter registration among African Americans in the south. Rev. Harris, a minister, architect, church builder, and entrepreneur, passed in 1951, long before the Albany Movement began. He was an active leader in the Black Church movement throughout Georgia and deemed a prominent minister in Georgia. At this time, attaining voter registration was very difficult in the south primarily for African Americans. Whites used intimidation including poll taxes and literacy tests to African Americans that were necessary to pay or pass in order to attain voting privileges. These tests often included minor details about the US Constitution which many of the white test administrators could not answer themselves, resulting in African Americans not successfully passing the test or gaining voting privileges. The Reverend compensated by attempting to educate the voters in preparation for the exams to become registered. These tests and racial unfairness sprouted from the Jim Crow laws that enacted racial segregation in the south.\n\nKatie Harris began her education at Albany State College after the birth of her eight children. She devoted her life to the education of children as an elementary school teacher. McCree had seven siblings: John H, Rosetta (Bae), Juanita (Neat), Alphonso, Elijah (Peter Rabit), Rutha Mae and Emory Harris, each actively participating in the movement.\n\nJanie Culbreth Rambeau, who began working with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while she was a student at Albany State College, stresses that there were many women in southwest Georgia “who didn't actually march and go to jail, per se, but who made contributions that you would not believe.” \"Katie B. Harris, for example, whose children include Rutha Harris, one of the original SNCC Freedom Singers, her brother, Emory, and sister, McCree, all of whom were extremely active in the movement, opened her home to any movement worker who needed something to eat or a place to sleep. Rambeau says, “People would come in and they would sleep on a pallet on the floor, just to be with Mama Katie B.” Women in southwest Georgia made their homes gathering places for the movement, and their rooms were filled with young participants who felt a sense of responsibility toward them and sought security in their homes and under their care.\"\n\nRutha, Alphonso, Elijah and Emory provided their services to the movement as members of the Freedom Singers. Rutha was an original Freedom Singer and Emory was a founding member of a chapter of male Freedom Singers in the early 1960s. Freedom Singers originated in an African American congregation, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, that followed fellowship through singing that developed common spiritual lyrics to embody the purpose of the civil rights movement that was developing across the south. The Freedom Singers performed across the country and raised money for the SNCC. These Freedom Singers were likely to be imprisoned for protesting, which allowed them to boost morale and increase positivity through song whilst they remained committed to their movement. As a following of the Albany Movement under the leadership of C.B. King the SNCC formed along with the support of Freedom Singers' fundraising.\n\nMcCree Harris attended graduate school at Columbia University and started her career as a teacher at Monroe High School, where she taught French, Latin, Social Studies and African American History. She encouraged students to participate in the movement, leading them to protest segregation of stores and theaters.\n\nThe Albany Movement led to over 1,000 supporters being jailed. In the summer of 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abernathy returned for the sentencing of December convictions for which they would rather be jailed then pay the fine. Albany sheriff Lorie Pritchett, who encouraged officers to use nonviolent tactics in public/media settings, took care of the fines so that King and Abernathy were released against their will. Unfulfilled immediate efforts left Albany's African American community to rally around other leaders.\n\nA lot happened outside of the public eye in the Albany Movement. McCree and others of her family actively worked behind the scenes of the movement tirelessly protecting protesting students both black and white, developing strategy, preparing meals, and donating finances, all to keep the cause running smoothly while avoiding jail time. McCree Harris believed strongly in Albany's movement for equality and rights in conjunction with the civil rights movement as a whole, by educating black youth to build a larger movement for years to come.\n\nThe Albany Movement\nMcCree Harris became a political activist leader as a result of her teaching job at the all-black Monroe Comprehensive High School. She had known that she wanted to help change the segregated south for her whole life. Harris went back to Albany, Georgia, and joined the Albany Movement because she felt that something wasn't quite right in Albany. The town of Albany, as Harris says, was hard to desegregate. Harris' work in the Albany Movement eventually brought many changes to segregated Albany. Harris advocated for equal rights and desegregation, and her main goal was to \"raise the educational status of black youth\". When the Albany Movement started in the fall of 1961, she encouraged her students to boycott the public transportation system, to take part in local sit-ins, and join marches. Because Harris \"had direct contact with the student body\", the marching lines increased. Albany as a precursor to the Birmingham movement strategy allowed the students and young people to participate in the movement because they did not have jobs to lose while being arrested. This work was done with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC).\n\nMcCree Harris also took her teachings from Talladega College and told students, \"Don't pay for segregation.\" The phrase was used as a reminder to stay away from businesses that practiced racial segregation, like her local movie theater. The one exception was when Harris took her students to see a popular film. When the \"white section\" was filled and individuals came to the \"black section\" for seats, she told her students not to give up their chairs. Eventually, the authorities arrived and threatened to arrest the kids, so McCree Harris left with her class.\n\nMcCree Harris was one of the original board members of the Albany Civil Rights Movement. She was a teacher at her old high school, Monroe High School when she joined. Harris joined the board against the advisement of the superintendent of schools, who told her joining would result in her arrest and subsequent loss of a teaching job. Despite this, she was able to contribute a considerable amount to the movement, and she participated in civil rights marches and evaluations of public facilities. These evaluations weren't always without resistance. Harris herself gave an account of one such event where a man threw a hot drink on her while she did not retaliate.\n\nShe worked vigorously and privately for the Albany Movement because she could not jeopardize her job as a Social Studies, Latin, and French teacher at all-black Monroe High School. At Monroe High School, McCree Harris was also involved with The Freedom Singers. She often went on field trips with the school's music teacher, Ann Elizabeth Wright, and the school chorus at statewide competitions. She even organized protests on voter registration and brought groups of her high school students to protests after school hours. Local college students would come to protest with Harris too; she worked hard to bring the community together to fight the racial inequality that was happening in the south. In Albany she also started working for the SNCC. This work on voter registration was with the SNCC. This organization was unique because it allowed people with little or no power the opportunity to help in the fight for voter rights.\n\nThe work she remained involved in was very demanding. Afterward, being a lifelong diabetic, the stress and wear caught up with her body. She took a year off work to restore her health. Despite this, she retained a strong loyalty to her school and concern for her students. Known to them as \"Teach\", she valued them beyond measure. In a personal statement, Harris said, \"My main goal in the (Albany Civil Rights) Movement was to raise the educational status of black youth in our community.\" Her work and accomplishments reflect this, and in 1999 upon the recommendation of her niece Deidra L Fryer, the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) named her the State of Georgia and National Community Leader of the Year.\n\nAfter the first civil rights meeting was held on November 25, hundreds of civilians were arrested and beaten in the streets. 700 African American residents of Albany were jailed just days after the meeting. During an interview, McCree Harris stated, \"I thought I would get involved in politics because it would help my race, which is who and what I am interested in.\" She joined several community groups during her lifetime. McCree was on the board of both the Economic Development Council and the Water, Gas, and Light Commission. She was also a member of the National Urban League, the National Association of Colored People (NAACP), and the community relations council. During her participation, she worked alongside Shirley Sherrod and Martin Luther King Jr. to lead voter registration marches. Harris also went with Martin Luther King Jr. to Saint Augustine, Florida, in an attempt to desegregate the Munson Motor Hotel.\n\nActivist meetings were held at Old Mount Zion Baptist Church; and although fearful of being caught and thrown in prison, Harris attended every meeting. During the 1990s, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Individuals wanted the transform the Zion Baptist Church into a museum to show the hard work and dedication of those who participated in the Albany movement, Harris being one of the participants. McCree Harris was a secretary of a non-profit organization that helped transform the church. The board used $750,000 to convert the church into \"Albany's Museum at Old Mount Zion Church,\" which officially opened in November 1998. The executive director of the Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum, Angela Whitmal, stated, \"From the inception of the idea of a museum, 'McCree Harris' worked very hard to make it a reality.\"\n\nDemocratic Party Involvement\nAfter her time working for the Albany Movement, she worked as a political operative for several local Albany candidates. Harris has been a huge part of the desegregated civic effort in Albany. Harris worked as an advisor to several members of the Democratic Party in Albany, including John White and former Mayor Paul Keenan, who recalled her as \"a valuable personal friend and a valuable citizen.\" Harris was his consultant during Albany's flood of 1994. After the flood, many black citizens of Albany accused the city of purposely diverting floodwater away from wealthy white families and towards their neighborhoods, creating more racial tension. Harris advised Keenan on the difficult task of admitting the greater property damage to black homes while denying any sort of manipulation by the government.\n\nReferences\n\n1934 births\n2000 deaths\nAmerican civil rights activists",
"{{Infobox civil conflict\n| title = Albany Movement\n| partof = the Civil Rights Movement\n| image = \n| place = Albany, Georgia in Dougherty County and adjacent counties – Baker, Lee, Mitchell, Sumter, and Terrell\n| date = 1961–1962\n| caption = \n| map_type = \n| map_caption = \n| map_size = \n| coordinates = \n| causes = \nRacial segregation\nDesegregation order from Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)\n| status = \n| result = \n| concessions =\n| side1= \nAlbany Movement (coalition)\nMinisterial Alliance\nFederation of Women's Clubs\nNegro Voters League\nNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)\nNAACP Youth Council\nStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)\nSouthern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)\n| side2= \nAlbany Board of City Commissioners\nCity Manager of Albany\nAlbany Police Department\nAlbany State College\n| leadfigures1= SCLC membersMartin Luther King Jr.SNCC membersCharles Sherrod\nCordell Reagon\nJ. Charles Jones\n| leadfigures2= City of Albany Asa Kelley, Albany Mayor and Chairman of City Commissioners\n Steve Roos, City Manager of Albany\n Laurie Pritchett, Albany Chief of Police\n}}\n\nThe Albany Movement' was a desegregation and voters' rights coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. This movement was founded by local black leaders and ministers, as well as members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The group were assisted by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). It was meant to draw attention to the brutally enforced racial segregation practices in Southwest Georgia. However, many leaders in SNCC were fundamentally opposed to King and the SCLC's involvement. They felt that a more democratic approach aimed at long-term solutions was preferable for the area other than King's tendency towards short-term, authoritatively-run organizing.\n\nAlthough the Albany Movement is deemed by some as a failure due to its unsuccessful attempt at desegregating public spaces in Southwest Georgia, those most directly involved in the Movement tend to disagree. People involved in this movement labeled it as a beneficial lesson in strategy and tactics for the leaders of the civil rights movement and a key component to the movement's future successes in desegregation and policy changes in other areas of the Deep South.\n\n Campaign \n\nInitially the established African-American leadership in Albany was resistant to the activities of the incoming SNCC activists. Clennon Washington King Sr. (C. W. King), an African-American real estate agent in Albany, was the SNCC agents' main initial contact. H. C. Boyd, the preacher at Shiloh Baptist in Albany allowed Sherrod to use part of his church to recruit people for meetings on nonviolence. For decades, the situation in segregated Albany had been insufferable for its black inhabitants, who made up 40% of the town's population. At the time of the Albany Movement's formation, sexual assaults against female students of all-black Albany State College by white men remained virtually ignored by law enforcement officials. Local news stations such as WALB and newspapers such as The Albany Herald refused to truthfully report on the abuse suffered by the Movement workers at the hands of local white people, even referring to blacks as \"niggers [and] nigras\" on air and in print.Slater King, \"The Bloody Battleground of Albany\", Originally published in Freedomways, 1st Quarter, 1964 (article explaining the rise of the Albany movement).\n\nThomas Chatmon, the head of the local Youth Council of the NAACP, initially was highly opposed to Sherrod and Reagon's activism. As a result of this some members of the African-American Criterion Club in Albany considered driving Sherrod and Reagon out of town, but they did not take this action.\n\nOn November 1, 1961, at the urging and with full support of Reagon and Sherrod, local black Albany students tested the Federal orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which ruled that \"no bus facility, bus, or driver could deny access to its facilities based on race\". The students obeyed local authorities and peacefully left the station after having been denied access to the white waiting room and threatened with arrest for having attempted to desegregate it. However, they immediately filed a complaint with the ICC for the bus terminal's refusal to comply with the ruling. In response to this, Albany Mayor Asa Kelley, the city commission, and police chief Laurie Pritchett formulated a plan to arrest anyone who tried to press for desegregation on charges of disturbing the peace.\n\nOn November 22, 1961, the Trailways terminal was once again tested for compliance, this time by a group of youth activists from both the NAACP and SNCC. The students were arrested; in an attempt to bring more attention to their pursuit of desegregation of public spaces and \"demand[s] for justice\", the two SNCC volunteers chose to remain in jail rather than post bail. In protest of the arrests, more than 100 students from Albany State College marched from their campus to the courthouse. The first mass meeting of the Albany Movement took place soon after at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.\n\nAt the same time, C. W. King's son, Chevene Bowers King (C. B. King), a lawyer, was pushing the case of Charles Ware from nearby Baker County, Georgia against Sheriff L. Warren Johnson of that county for shooting him multiple times while in police custody. These developing conditions where the limits of segregation and oppression of African Americans were being tested led to a meeting at the home of Slater King, another son of C. W. King, including representatives of eight organizations. Besides local officers of the NAACP and SNCC, the meeting included Albany's African-American Ministerial Alliance, as well as the city's African-American Federated Women's Clubs. Most of the people at this meeting wanted to try for negotiation more than direct action. They formed the Albany Movement to coordinate their leadership, with William G. Anderson made president on the recommendation of Slater King, who was made vice president. The incorporation documents were largely the work of C. B. King.\n\nThe Albany police chief, Laurie Pritchett, carefully studied the movement's strategy and developed a strategy he hoped could subvert it. He used mass arrests but avoided violent incidents that might backfire by attracting national publicity. He used non-violence against non-violence to good effect, thwarting King's \"direct action\" strategy. Pritchett arranged to disperse the prisoners to county jails all over southwest Georgia to prevent his jail from filling up. The Birmingham Post-Herald stated: \"The manner in which Albany's chief of police has enforced the law and maintained order has won the admiration of... thousands.\"\n\nIn 1963, after Sheriff Johnson was acquitted in his federal trial in the Ware case, people connected with the Albany Movement staged a protest against one of the stores of one of the jurors. This led to charges of jury tampering being brought.\n\n Dr. King's involvement \nPrior to the movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had been criticized by the SNCC, who felt he had not fully supported the Freedom Rides. Some SNCC activists had even given King the derisive nickname \"De Lawd\" for maintaining a safe distance from challenges to the Jim Crow laws.\nWhen King first visited on December 15, 1961, he wasn't planning on staying for more than a couple days until counsel, but the following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators. He declined bail until the city made concessions, then after leaving town stating, \"Those agreements were dishonored and violated by the city\".\n\nKing returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to either forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine; he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Chief Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. \"We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools during the sit-ins, ejected from churches during the kneel-ins, and thrown into jail during the Freedom Rides. But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail.\" During this time, prominent evangelist Billy Graham, a close friend of King's who privately advised the SCLC, bailed King out of jail.\n\nAfter nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. During one demonstration, black youth hurled children's toys and paper balls at Albany police. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a \"Day of Penance\" to promote non-violence and maintain the moral high ground. Later in July, King was again arrested and held for two weeks. Following his release, King left town.\n\n Legacy \nHistorian Howard Zinn, who played a role in the Albany movement, contested this interpretation in chapter 4 of his autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Beacon Press, 1994; new edition 2002): \"That always seemed to me a superficial assessment, a mistake often made in evaluating protest movements. Social movements may have many 'defeats'—failing to achieve objectives in the short run—but in the course of the struggle the strength of the old order begins to erode, the minds of people begin to change; the protesters are momentarily defeated but not crushed, and have been lifted, heartened, by their ability to fight back\" (p. 54).\n\nLocal activism continued even as national attention shifted to other issues. That fall an African American came close to being elected to city council. In March 1963, the city of Albany removed all the citywide segregation ordinances from its books following a 6-1 city commission vote.https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/831/1.0089960/3 On September 12, 1963, the Albany Movement scored a major court victory after the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit found that the city's Chief of Police and other officials of the city of Albany had still been enforcing the ordinances after they were repealed by the city commission and could no longer continue to do so because the Albany city commission regulated all citywide ordinances. According to the movement's SNCC organizer Charles Sherrod, \"I can’t help how Dr. King might have felt, or ... any of the rest of them in SCLC, NAACP, CORE, any of the groups, but as far as we were concerned, things moved on. We didn’t skip one beat.\" In 1976, he was elected a city commissioner and served in this position until 1990.\n\nKing later said about the setbacks of the Albany Movement:\n\nThe mistake I made there was to protest against segregation generally rather than against a single and distinct facet of it. Our protest was so vague that we got nothing, and the people were left very depressed and in despair. It would have been much better to have concentrated upon integrating the buses or the lunch counters. One victory of this kind would have been symbolic, would have galvanized support and boosted morale.... When we planned our strategy for Birmingham months later, we spent many hours assessing Albany and trying to learn from its errors. Our appraisals not only helped to make our subsequent tactics more effective, but revealed that Albany was far from an unqualified failure.\n\nSherrod had taken on the repressive forces in Southwest Georgia. Sherrod had also taken it upon himself to organize a rally with African Americans and students of the Albany State College in Albany, Georgia. He failed in his attempts to bypass the older black leaders of the NAACP and remove the SNCC organizers at the university despite the support he had gained from Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy.\n\nAlthough the rallies themselves had failed, the Albany Movement provided insight on the media and its relation with white supremacists. The Albany police chief, Laurie Pritchett had reported to the media that he had defeated nonviolent actions with nonviolence and in return the press provided Pritchett with details of what was planned and who the targets were during the Albany Movement, which then caused great distrust among the students and the press. Although publicity was needed, the distrust everyone who was involved in the rallies felt towards the media could not go unheard. Journalists and the media were banned from mass meetings and conferences.\n\n References \n\nSources\n Riches, William Terence Martin, The Civil Rights Movement: Struggle and Resistance'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 67–68.\n\"You Got To Move\" a 1985 documentary about the Highlander Folk School has good footage of the Albany movement, with clips of Charles Sherrod, interviews with Bernice Johnson Reagon, and demonstrators singing freedom songs.\n\nExternal links\n SNCC Digital Gateway: Albany Movement Formed Digital documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out\n The Albany Movement (New Georgia Encyclopedia entry)\n Albany GA, Movement ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive\n Albany Civil Rights Institute website\n Interview with Chief Laurie Pritchett ~ A transcript of an interview about the Albany Movement\nOral History Interview with Laurie Pritchett from Oral Histories of the American South\n Albany Movement article, Civil Rights Digital Library.\n\n1961 in Georgia (U.S. state)\n1962 in Georgia (U.S. state)\nCivil rights movement\nDougherty County, Georgia\nHistory of Georgia (U.S. state)\nHistory of civil rights in the United States\nCivil rights protests in the United States\nMartin Luther King Jr.\nAlbany, Georgia\n1961 protests\n1962 protests\n1963 protests"
]
|
[
"Martin Luther King Jr.",
"Albany Movement",
"Who started the Albany movement?",
"King and the SCLC became involved."
]
| C_61c4565e8444463ea73674e77fc78d44_1 | When did the movement started | 2 | When did the Albany movement start? | Martin Luther King Jr. | The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town. King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (equivalent to $1,400 in 2017); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations. CANNOTANSWER | November 1961. | Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. His role in leading the cause of civil rights in the South differed in style from the previous accomodationist stances represented by Booker T. Washington and black-and-tan faction leader Perry Wilbon Howard II.
King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with some success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were several dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent. Several times King would be jailed. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963, forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life and secretly recorded him, and in 1964, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.
On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches. In his final years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty, capitalism, and the Vietnam War. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger leading to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in cities and states throughout the United States beginning in 1971; the holiday was enacted at the federal level by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and the most populous county in Washington State was rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
Early life and education
Birth
King was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the second of three children to Michael King and Alberta King ( Williams). King had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A.D." King. King's maternal grandfather Adam Daniel Williams, who was a minister in rural Georgia, moved to Atlanta in 1893, and became pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Williams was of African-Irish descent. Williams married Jennie Celeste Parks. King, Sr. was born to sharecroppers, James Albert and Delia King of Stockbridge, Georgia. In his adolescent years, King Sr. left his parents' farm and walked to Atlanta where he attained a high school education, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study for entry to the ministry. King Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on November 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, they lived together on the second floor of her parent's two-story Victorian house, where King was born.
Shortly after marrying Alberta, King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior pastor Williams died in the spring of 1931 and that fall, King Sr. took the role, where he would in time raise the attendance from six hundred to several thousand. In 1934, the church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip, including to Berlin for the meeting of the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). He also visited sites in Germany associated with the Reformation leader, Martin Luther. While there, King Sr. and the BWA delegates witnessed the rise of Nazism. In reaction, the BWA issued a resolution stating, "This Congress deplores and condemns as a violation of the law of God the Heavenly Father, all racial animosity, and every form of oppression or unfair discrimination toward the Jews, toward coloured people, or toward subject races in any part of the world." On returning home in August 1934, King Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King, and his son's name to Martin Luther King Jr.
Early childhood
At his childhood home, King and his two siblings would read aloud the Bible as instructed by their father. After dinners there, King's grandmother Jennie, whom he affectionately referred to as "Mama", would tell lively stories from the Bible to her grandchildren. King's father would regularly use whippings to discipline his children. At times, King Sr. would also have his children whip each other. King's father later remarked, "[King] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once when King witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally upset his sister Christine, he took a telephone and knocked out A.D. with it. When he and his brother were playing at their home, A.D. slid from a banister and hit into their grandmother, Jennie, causing her to fall down unresponsive. King, believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window. Upon hearing that his grandmother was alive, King rose and left the ground where he had fallen.
King became friends with a white boy whose father owned a business across the street from his family's home. In September 1935, when the boys were about six years old, they started school. King had to attend a school for black children, Younge Street Elementary School, while his close playmate went to a separate school for white children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of the white boy stopped allowing King to play with their son, stating to him "we are white, and you are colored". When King relayed the happenings to his parents, they had a long discussion with him about the history of slavery and racism in America. Upon learning of the hatred, violence and oppression that black people had faced in the U.S., King would later state that he was "determined to hate every white person". His parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone.
King witnessed his father stand up against segregation and various forms of discrimination. Once, when stopped by a police officer who referred to King Sr. as "boy", King's father responded sharply that King was a boy but he was a man. When King's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. King's father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before taking King and leaving the store. He told King afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, King's father led hundreds of African Americans in a civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest voting rights discrimination. King later remarked that King Sr. was "a real father" to him.
King memorized and sang hymns, and stated verses from the Bible, by the time he was five years old. Over the next year, he began to go to church events with his mother and sing hymns while she played piano. His favorite hymn to sing was "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus"; he moved attendees with his singing. King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. King enjoyed opera, and played the piano. As he grew up, King garnered a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries and consistently used his expanding lexicon. He got into physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, but oftentimes used his knowledge of words to stymie fights. King showed a lack of interest in grammar and spelling, a trait that he carried throughout his life. In 1939, King sang as a member of his church choir in slave costume, for the all-white audience at the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone with the Wind. In September 1940, at the age of 11, King was enrolled at the Atlanta University Laboratory School for the seventh grade. While there, King took violin and piano lessons, and showed keen interest in his history and English classes.
On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked away from studying at home to watch a parade, King was informed that something had happened to his maternal grandmother. Upon returning home, he found out that she had suffered a heart attack and died while being transported to a hospital. He took the death very hard and believed that his deception of going to see the parade may have been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his home, but again survived an attempt to kill himself. His father instructed him in his bedroom that King should not blame himself for her death, and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan that could not be changed. King struggled with this, and could not fully believe that his parents knew where his grandmother had gone. Shortly thereafter, King's father decided to move the family to a two-story brick home on a hill that overlooked downtown Atlanta.
Adolescence
In his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. In 1942, when King was 13 years old, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal. That year, King skipped the ninth grade and was enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only one in the city for African-American students. It had been formed after local black leaders, including King's grandfather (Williams), urged the city government of Atlanta to create it.
While King was brought up in a Baptist home, King grew skeptical of some of Christianity's claims as he entered adolescence. He began to question the literalist teachings preached at his father's church. At the age of 13, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. King said that he found himself unable to identify with the emotional displays and gestures from congregants frequent at his church, and doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He later stated of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."
In high school, King became known for his public-speaking ability, with a voice that had grown into an orotund baritone. He proceeded to join the school's debate team. King continued to be most drawn to history and English, and chose English and sociology to be his main subjects while at the school. King maintained an abundant vocabulary. But, he relied on his sister, Christine, to help him with his spelling, while King assisted her with math. They studied in this manner routinely until Christine's graduation from high school. King also developed an interest in fashion, commonly adorning himself in well polished patent leather shoes and tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He further grew a liking for flirting with girls and dancing. His brother A. D. later remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to chick, and I decided I couldn't keep up with him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."
On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, King gave his first public speech during an oratorical contest, sponsored by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World in Dublin, Georgia. In his speech he stated, "black America still wears chains. The finest negro is at the mercy of the meanest white man. Even winners of our highest honors face the class color bar." King was selected as the winner of the contest. On the ride home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so that white passengers could sit down. The driver of the bus called King a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did not follow the directions of the driver. As all the seats were occupied, he and his teacher were forced to stand on the rest of the drive back to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident, saying "That night will never leave my memory. It was the angriest I have ever been in my life."
Morehouse College
During King's junior year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandfather had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the school's entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted in the war, decreasing the numbers of students at Morehouse College. So, the university aimed to increase their student numbers by allowing junior high school students to apply. In 1944, at the age of 15, King passed the entrance examination and was enrolled at the university for the school season that autumn.
In the summer before King started his freshman year at Morehouse, he boarded a train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a group of other Morehouse College students to work in Simsbury, Connecticut at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco (a cigar business). This was King's first trip outside of the segregated south into the integrated north. In a June 1944 letter to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him between the two parts of the country, "On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see. After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit any where we want to." The students worked at the farm to be able to provide for their educational costs at Morehouse College, as the farm had partnered with the college to allot their salaries towards the university's tuition, housing, and other fees. On weekdays King and the other students worked in the fields, picking tobacco from 7:00am till at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures above 100°F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day. On Friday evenings, King and the other students visited downtown Simsbury to get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut to see theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants. On each Sunday they would go to Hartford to attend church services, at a church filled with white congregants. King wrote to his parents about the lack of segregation in Connecticut, relaying how he was amazed they could go to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to the same church".
He played freshman football there. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry. Throughout his time in college, King studied under the mentorship of its president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays, who he would later credit with being his "spiritual mentor." King had concluded that the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity." His "inner urge" had begun developing, and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.
Religious education, ministry, marriage and family
Crozer Theological Seminary
King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education and made arrangements for King to work with prominent Crozer alum, J. Pius Barbour, a family friend who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. King became known as one of the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he shared with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel D. Proctor who both went on to become well-known preachers in the black church.
While attending Crozer, King was joined by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King became fond of the street because a classmate had an aunt who prepared collard greens for them, which they both relished.
King once reproved another student for keeping beer in his room, saying they had shared responsibility as African Americans to bear "the burdens of the Negro race." For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel." In his third year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with the white daughter of an immigrant German woman who worked as a cook in the cafeteria. The woman had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King planned to marry her, but friends advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later. He continued to have lingering feelings toward the woman he left; one friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.) degree in 1951. He applied to University of Edinburgh to do his doctorate in the School of Divinity. An offer was made by Edinburgh but he chose Boston instead.
Boston University
In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. While pursuing doctoral studies, King worked as an assistant minister at Boston's historic Twelfth Baptist Church with William Hunter Hester. Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael Haynes, associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury (and younger brother of jazz drummer Roy Haynes). The young men often held bull sessions in their various apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues.
King attended philosophy classes at Harvard University as an audit student in 1952 and 1953.
At the age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.
An academic inquiry in October 1991 concluded that portions of his doctoral dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose." The committee found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." A letter is now attached to the copy of King's dissertation held in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. Significant debate exists on how to interpret King's plagiarism.
Marriage and family
While studying at Boston University, he asked a friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, who was a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, if she knew any nice Southern girls. Powell asked fellow student Coretta Scott if she was interested in meeting a Southern friend studying divinity. Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow Martin to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first phone call, King told Scott "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." They went out for dates in his green Chevy. After the second date, King was certain Scott possessed the qualities he sought in a wife. She had been an activist at Antioch in undergrad, where Carol and Rod Serling were schoolmates.
King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.
In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at the request of the SCLC. In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and helped expand the Civil Rights Movement across the South.
Activism and organizational leadership
Montgomery bus boycott, 1955
The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King was called to be minister in 1954, was influential in the Montgomery, Alabama, African-American community. As the church's pastor, he became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region.
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws, local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue because the incident involved a minor.
Nine months later on December 1, 1955, a similar incident occurred when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus. The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by Nixon and led by King. King was in his twenties, and had just taken up his clerical role. The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role simply because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant about taking the role, but decided to do so if no one else wanted it.
The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested and jailed during this campaign, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. Blacks resumed riding the buses again, and were able to sit in the front with full legal authorization.
King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies Stanley Levison and Ella Baker. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
The Common Society
Harry Wachtel joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in the libel case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; the case was litigated in reference to the newspaper advertisement "Heed Their Rising Voices". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights." King served as honorary president for the group. He was displeased with the pace that President Kennedy was using to address the issue of segregation. In 1962, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document that called on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. Kennedy did not execute the order.
The FBI was under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when it began tapping King's telephone line in the fall of 1963. Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in the SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this, the FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of his leadership position in the COINTELPRO program.
King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.
Survived knife attack, 1958
On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem when he narrowly escaped death. Izola Curry—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano. King underwent emergency surgery with three doctors: Aubre de Lambert Maynard, Emil Naclerio and John W. V. Cordice; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Atlanta sit-ins, prison sentence, and the 1960 elections
Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver expressed open hostility towards King's return to his hometown in late 1959. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King, Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance. On May 4, 1960, several months after his return, King drove writer Lillian Smith to Emory University when police stopped them. King was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license. King paid a fine but was apparently unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that also included a probationary sentence.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Student Movement had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces in the city, organizing the Atlanta sit-ins from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how 1960's Presidential election campaign had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside Rich's, Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over the next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was taken from his county jail cell and transported to a maximum-security state prison.
The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism. Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at a time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship prior to the sit-in, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from Jackie Robinson requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent John F. Kennedy called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother Robert to exert more pressure on state authorities, and also, at the personal request of Sargent Shriver, made a phone call to King's wife to express his sympathy and offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won.
After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However, the negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed in full swing for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools. Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church, the audience was hostile and frustrated towards the elders and the compromise. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity," and helping to calm tensions.
Albany Movement, 1961
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town.
King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time.
After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.
Birmingham campaign, 1963
In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.
King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. Newsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade.
During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.
King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner". King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'." Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, arranged for $160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors.
March on Washington, 1963
King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Bayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary logistical and strategic organizer. For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of United States President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.
Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and Walter Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone. As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.
The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.
I (We) Have a Dream
King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passagein which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"King said:
"I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The original typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26 years old, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech, and he got it.
St. Augustine, Florida, 1964
In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. However, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
Biddeford, Maine, 1964
On May 7, 1964, King spoke at Saint Francis College's "The Negro and the Quest for Identity," in Biddeford, Maine. This was a symposium that brought many civil rights leaders together such as Dorothy Day and Roy Wilkins. King spoke about how "We must get rid of the idea of superior and inferior races," through nonviolent tactics.
New York City, 1964
On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called "The American Race Crisis." In August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. The original speech recording is part of a collection of audio tapes in the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections in 1989. Dr. King's speech had been rebroadcast on Amherst's student-run radio station, WAMF (now WAMH). The tape was digitized in the fall of 2015 and shared with The New School Archives. In his March 18, 1964 interview by Robert Penn Warren, King compared his activism to his father's, citing his training in non-violence as a key difference. He also discusses the next phase of the civil rights movement and integration.
Selma voting rights movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965
In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of three or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. During the 1965 march to Montgomery, Alabama, violence by state police and others against the peaceful marchers resulted in much publicity, which made racism in Alabama visible nationwide.
Acting on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Bevel and other SCLC members, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, at which King was not present, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the civil rights movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King and Bevel's nonviolence strategy.
On March 5, King met with officials in the Johnson Administration in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line." Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.
King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. Meanwhile, on March 11 King cried at the news of Johnson supporting a voting rights bill on television in Marie Foster's living room. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as "How Long, Not Long." In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" and "you shall reap what you sow".
Chicago open housing movement, 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations took the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue, in the slums of North Lawndale on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.
The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.
During that spring, several white couple/black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others.
King later stated and Abernathy wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. King was hit by a brick during one march, but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.
When King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.
A 1967 CIA document declassified in 2017 downplayed King's role in the "black militant situation" in Chicago, with a source stating that King "sought at least constructive, positive projects."
Opposition to the Vietnam War
King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. At the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of Muhammad Ali, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.
During an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:
King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children." King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.
King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers. "The press is being stacked against me", King said, complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children." Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi", and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for social democracy and democratic socialism.
In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ..." In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism." King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism."
King stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." King quoted a United States official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.
King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K. Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal on the grounds that he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited for his morally unambiguous role as an activist.
On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. The march was organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King brought up issues of civil rights and the draft:
Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement. In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:
On January 13, 1968 (the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address), King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars."
Correspondence with Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thích Nhất Hạnh was an influential Vietnamese Buddhist who taught at Princeton University and Columbia University. He had written a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 entitled: "In Search of the Enemy of Man". It was during his 1966 stay in the US that Nhất Hạnh met with King and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. In 1967, King gave a famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, his first to publicly question the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".
Poor People's Campaign, 1968
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.
The campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.
King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity." He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness." His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."
The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.
Assassination and aftermath
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, who were represented by AFSCME Local 1733. The workers had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. In the prophetic peroration of the last speech of his life, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
King was booked in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel (owned by Walter Bailey) in Memphis. Ralph Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at Room 306 so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite." According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."
King was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m., Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor. Jackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had "reached out" for King.
After emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the civil rights movement. King was initially interred in South View Cemetery in South Atlanta, but in 1977 his remains were transferred to a tomb on the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
Aftermath
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short, improvised speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. The following day, he delivered a prepared response in Cleveland. James Farmer Jr. and other civil rights leaders also called for non-violent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.
The plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered. Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and stayed for six weeks, establishing a camp they called "Resurrection City."
President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to quell the riots by making several telephone calls to civil rights leaders, mayors and governors across the United States and told politicians that they should warn the police against the unwarranted use of force. But his efforts didn't work out: "I'm not getting through," Johnson told his aides. "They're all holing up like generals in a dugout getting ready to watch a war." Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity." His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral. The assassination helped to spur the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Two months after King's death, James Earl Ray—who was on the loose from a previous prison escape—was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave England on a false Canadian passport. He was using the alias Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had. Ray died in 1998 at age 70.
Allegations of conspiracy
Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists. Supporters of this assertion said that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. They admitted that Ray was a thief and burglar, but claimed that he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."
Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle. Witnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.
Two years later, King's widow Coretta Scott King and the couple's children won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators." Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.
William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.
In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.
In 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.
King researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. In 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:
Legacy
South Africa
King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights movement in South Africa. King's work was cited by, and served as, an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country during apartheid and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
United Kingdom
King influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him "one of my great heroes of the century."
In the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honor King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US civil rights movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to "build cultures of peace."
In 2017, Newcastle University unveiled a bronze statue of King to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his honorary doctorate ceremony. The Students Union also voted to rename their bar Luthers.
United States
King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community.
King's wife Coretta Scott King followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide. Their son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. Daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.
Even within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta publicly said that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.
On February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:
Martin Luther King Jr. was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Beginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. Arizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day.
Veneration
Martin Luther King Jr. was canonized by Archbishop Timothy Paul of the Holy Christian Orthodox Church (not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church) on September 9, 2016 in the Christian Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, his feast day is April 4, the date of his assassination. King is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on April 4 or January 15. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15.
Ideas, influences, and political stances
Christianity
As a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:
King's private writings show that he rejected biblical literalism; he described the Bible as "mythological," doubted that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not believe that the story of Jonah and the whale was true.
The Measure of a Man
In 1959, King published a short book called The Measure of a Man, which contained his sermons "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization.
Nonviolence
Veteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s.
King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term "nonviolence" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms.
In the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting.
King was inspired by Gandhi and his success with nonviolent activism, and as a theology student, King described Gandhi as being one of the "individuals who greatly reveal the working of the Spirit of God". King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India." With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity."
King's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the "successful precedent" of using nonviolence "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
Another influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience and its theme of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and said that Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis left an "indelible imprint" on his thinking by giving him a theological grounding for his social concerns. King was moved by Rauschenbusch's vision of Christians spreading social unrest in "perpetual but friendly conflict" with the state, simultaneously critiquing it and calling it to act as an instrument of justice. However, he was apparently unaware of the American tradition of Christian pacifism exemplified by Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison. King frequently referred to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as central for his work. King also sometimes used the concept of "agape" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings.
Even after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
Criticism within the movement
King was criticized by other black leaders during the course of his participation in the civil rights movement. This included opposition by more militant thinkers such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founder Ella Baker regarded King as a charismatic media figure who lost touch with the grassroots of the movement as he became close to elite figures like Nelson Rockefeller. Stokely Carmichael, a protege of Baker's, became a black separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.
Activism and involvement with Native Americans
King was an avid supporter of Native American rights. Native Americans were also active supporters of King's civil rights movement which included the active participation of Native Americans. In fact, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was especially supportive in King's campaigns especially the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. In King's book Why We Can't Wait he writes:
Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.
King assisted Native American people in south Alabama in the late 1950s. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. The South had many egregious racial problems: In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and through his intervention the problem was quickly resolved.
In September 1959, King flew from Los Angeles, California, to Tucson, Arizona. After giving a speech at the University of Arizona on the ideals of using nonviolent methods in creating social change. He put into words his belief that one must not use force in this struggle "but match the violence of his opponents with his suffering." King then went to Southside Presbyterian, a predominantly Native American church, and was fascinated by their photos. On the spur of the moment, King wanted to go to an Indian Reservation to meet the people so Casper Glenn took King to the Papago Indian Reservation. At the reservation King met with all the tribal leaders, and others on the reservation then ate with them. King then visited another Presbyterian church near the reservation, and preached there attracting a Native American crowd. He later returned to Old Pueblo in March 1962 where he preached again to a Native American congregation, and then went on to give another speech at the University of Arizona. King would continue to attract the attention of Native Americans throughout the civil rights movement. During the 1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the Navajo nation. Native Americans were also active participants in the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
King was a major inspiration along with the civil rights movement which inspired the Native American rights movement of the 1960s and many of its leaders. John Echohawk a member of the Pawnee tribe and the executive director and one of the founders of the Native American Rights Fund stated:
Inspired by Dr. King, who was advancing the civil rights agenda of equality under the laws of this country, we thought that we could also use the laws to advance our Indianship, to live as tribes in our territories governed by our own laws under the principles of tribal sovereignty that had been with us ever since 1831. We believed that we could fight for a policy of self-determination that was consistent with U.S. law and that we could govern our own affairs, define our own ways and continue to survive in this society.
Politics
As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either." In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party." King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.
King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he had not decided whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson II or Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1956 presidential election, but that "In the past, I always voted the Democratic ticket." In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."
In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."
King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout the United States at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the necessities of many American people, particularly the African-American community.
Compensation
King stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.
He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils." He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
Television
Actress Nichelle Nichols planned to leave the science-fiction television series Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, wanting to return to musical theater. She changed her mind after talking to King who was a fan of the show. King explained that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation. King told Nichols, "You are our image of where we're going, you're 300 years from now, and that means that's where we are and it takes place now. Keep doing what you're doing, you are our inspiration." As Nichols recounted, "Star Trek was one of the only shows that [King] and his wife Coretta would allow their little children to watch. And I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face. And he said, 'Don't you understand for the first time we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.' For his part, the series' creator, Gene Roddenberry, was deeply moved upon learning of King's support.
State surveillance and coercion
FBI surveillance and wiretapping
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader. The Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, found that "From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader."
In the fall of 1963, the FBI received authorization from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to proceed with wiretapping of King's phone lines, purportedly due to his association with Stanley Levison. The Bureau informed President John F. Kennedy. He and his brother unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's telephone lines "on a trial basis, for a month or so", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.
The Bureau placed wiretaps on the home and office phone lines of both Levison and King, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country. In 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: "No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure [sic] the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited."
NSA monitoring of King's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who were critical of the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
Allegations of communism
For years, Hoover had been suspicious of potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC when it was established.
Due to the relationship between King and Stanley Levison, the FBI feared Levison was working as an "agent of influence" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Jack O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Despite the extensive surveillance conducted, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.
For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism. In a 1965 Playboy interview, he stated that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida." He argued that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the civil rights movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements." Hoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country." After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country." It alleged that he was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists."
The attempts to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were content with the status quo, but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators." As context, the civil rights movement in 1950s and '60s arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."
CIA surveillance
CIA files declassified in 2017 revealed that the agency was investigating possible links between King and Communism after a Washington Post article dated November 4, 1964, claimed he was invited to the Soviet Union and that Ralph Abernathy, as spokesman for King, refused to comment on the source of the invitation. Mail belonging to King and other civil rights activists was intercepted by the CIA program HTLINGUAL.
Allegations of adultery
The FBI having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, attempts to discredit King began through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also had numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon B. Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".
In his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy stated that King had a "weakness for women", although they "all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation." In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term "womanizing", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual.
Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had stated that he saw King coming out of his room with a woman when he awoke the next morning and later said that "he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know...the Sanitation Worker's Strike."
In his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels." He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt." King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that "all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high-level relationship we enjoyed." Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were "sensational" and stated that Garrow was "amassing facts rather than analyzing them."
The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. The FBI–King suicide letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:
The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.
The letter was accompanied by a tape recording—excerpted from FBI wiretaps—of several of King's extramarital liaisons. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC." King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.
In 1977, Judge John Lewis Smith Jr. ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.
In May 2019, an FBI file emerged on which a handwritten note alleged that King "looked on, laughed and offered advice" as one of his friends raped a woman. Expert professional historians of the period who have examined this notional evidence have dismissed it as highly unreliable. David Garrow, author of an earlier biography of King, wrote that "the suggestion... that he either actively tolerated or personally employed violence against any woman, even while drunk, poses so fundamental a challenge to his historical stature as to require the most complete and extensive historical review possible". Garrow's reliance on a handwritten note addended to a typed report is considered poor scholarship by several other authorities. The Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham, Peter Ling, pointed out that Garrow was excessively credulous, if not naive, in accepting the accuracy of FBI reports during a period when the FBI was undertaking a massive operation to attempt to discredit King as part of its COINTELPRO activities. Garrow had earlier referred to Ling's work on King, widely considered authoritative, as "thoughtful, perceptive, and thoroughly well-informed". Experts in 20th-century American history, including Distinguished Professor of Political Science Jeanne Theoharis, the professors Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Nathan Connolly of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Emeritus of History Glenda Gilmore of Yale University have expressed reservations about Garrow's scholarship. Theoharis commented "Most scholars I know would penalize graduate students for doing this." It is not the first time the care and rigor of Garrow's work has been called into serious question. Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King biographer and overseer of the Dr. King records at Stanford University states that he came to the opposite conclusion of Garrow saying "None of this is new. Garrow is talking about a recently added summary of a transcript of a 1964 recording from the Willard Hotel that others, including Mrs. King, have said they did not hear Martin's voice on it. The added summary was four layers removed from the actual recording. This supposedly new information comes from an anonymous source in a single paragraph in an FBI report. You have to ask how could anyone conclude King looked at a rape from an audio recording in a room where he was not present." Carson bases his position of Coretta Scott King's memoirs where she states "I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened. I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin's voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading." The tapes that could confirm or refute the allegation are scheduled to be declassified in 2027.
Police observation during the assassination
A fire station was located across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. Agents were watching King at the time he was shot. Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.
Awards and recognition
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the (at the time) youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free."
In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity." Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967, he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honored by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said
There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.
In addition to being nominated for three Grammy Awards, the civil-rights leader posthumously won for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1971 for "Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam".
In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:
Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet.
King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
King was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. In 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and, in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online "Person of the Century" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.
Five-dollar bill
On April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 bills would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the front of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson.
Works
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
The Measure of a Man (1959)
Strength to Love (1963)
Why We Can't Wait (1964)
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
The Trumpet of Conscience (1968)
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson
"All Labor Has Dignity" (2011) ed. Michael Honey
"Thou, Dear God": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits. Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin
MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image (2011). Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson
See also
Civil rights movement in popular culture
Equality before the law
List of civil rights leaders
List of peace activists
List of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr.
Post–civil rights era in African-American history
Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
United States labor law
Violence begets violence
Portrait made by Columbus P. Knox
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Garrow, David. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1989). Pulitzer Prize.
"James L. Bevel, The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement", a 1984 paper by Randall Kryn, published with a 1988 addendum by Kryn in Prof. David Garrow's We Shall Overcome, Volume II (Carlson Publishing Company, 1989).
Further reading
King, Martin Luther Jr. (1986), Testament of Hope. The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper & Row), edited by J. M. Washington; reissued by Harper in 1992 as I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World.
Kirk, John A., ed. (2007). Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. pp. 224.
Schulke, Flip; McPhee, Penelope (1986). King Remembered, Foreword by Jesse Jackson. .
Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta (2012). Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and the Struggle for Black Equality. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. .
External links
The King Center
FBI file on Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize, Civil Rights Digital Library
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Buffalo, digital collection of King's visit and speech in Buffalo, New York on November 9, 1967, from the University at Buffalo Libraries
BBC Face to Face interview with Martin Luther King and John Freeman, broadcast October 29, 1961.
including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964 The quest for peace and justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. Collected Papers held by the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
1929 births
1968 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Baptist ministers
1968 murders in the United States
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Atlanta
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
African-American Baptist ministers
African-American theologians
African-American writers
American anti-racism activists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American Christian pacifists
American Christian socialists
American Christian Zionists
American clergy of Irish descent
American democratic socialists
American dissidents
American human rights activists
American humanitarians
American male non-fiction writers
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Nobel laureates
American prisoners and detainees
American saints
American social democrats
Anglican saints
Articles containing video clips
Assassinated American civil rights activists
Assassinated religious leaders
Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptist writers
Baptists from Alabama
Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Boston University School of Theology alumni
Burials in Georgia (U.S. state)
Civil rights movement
Clergy from Atlanta
COINTELPRO targets
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Crozer Theological Seminary alumni
Critics of Marxism
Deaths by firearm in Tennessee
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Gandhians
Grammy Award winners
Male murder victims
Martyrdom
Montgomery bus boycott
Morehouse College alumni
Murdered African-American people
Native Americans' rights activists
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
Liberalism in the United States
Nonviolence advocates
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
People from Atlanta
People involved in plagiarism controversies
People murdered in Tennessee
Political prisoners
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Prisoners and detainees of Alabama
Prisoners and detainees of Florida
Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state)
Selma to Montgomery marches
Spingarn Medal winners
Stabbing attacks in the United States
Stabbing survivors
Time Person of the Year
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Writers from Montgomery, Alabama
Google Doodles
Non-Indian Gandhians | true | [
"\"Long civil rights movement\" is a historiographical argument regarding the timing and substance of the Civil Rights Movement, advanced by American historian Jacquelyn Dowd Hall. The argument was proposed in the article \"The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past\" in The Journal of American History in 2005. Dowd had used the term in a 2001 article, titled \"Broadening Our View of the Civil Rights Movement\", in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Since 2005, the long civil rights movement argument has attracted substantial attention from scholars and academics that study the civil rights movement.\n\nThe Long civil rights movement argues the length and influence of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was an organized effort to gain equal rights for black Americans. This movement has always been thought to start at the court case of Brown vs Board of Education in 1954 as this was a turning point for black Americans when segregation was deemed unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Movement has long been associated with this court case as well as Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the Long Civil Rights Movement argues that the Civil Rights Movement started in the 1930s and extended through the Black Lives Matter Movement in modern day. \n\nSome argue that the civil rights movement started as early as emancipation and continued through Barack Obama's presidency to present day. Most agree the Long Civil Rights Movement took off with the social reform in the 1930s surrounding the New Deal Era During this time, following up to Brown vs Board of Education, there were many campaigns and other forms of resistance against segregation. In 1954, when the court case, Brown vs Board of Education, found it unconstitutional to segregate in public places, it still took fifteen years for the US to wholly implement it. As schools started to integrate, they started to push once again for resegregation within the school system. As the Civil Rights Act was passed and the movement started to die down, black people continued to face harsh discriminations. in The 1970s and 80s, finding affordable housing, fighting unwilling residential integrating, finding equal job opportunities, fighting labor organizations and welfare rights were a few ways black Americans continued to be discriminated against. While these situations were most often found in the South, they were also relevant problems all over the nation. \n\nIn the 1980s, Black people experienced marginalized labor and increasing incarceration. Gerrymandering was a way people manipulated boundaries to stop black people from voting. \"Underclass\" was a label put on black Americans which showed that they were still thought of as inferior to white people during the 1980s. \n\nFollowing the 1960s and the major Civil Rights events, many started to correlate Martin Luther King Jr. with extreme radicalism and his anti-Vietnam stance rather than his ideals and efforts towards equality. During this time, many started to neglect everything that had happened in the Civil Rights Movement with some even claiming that racism was insignificant and did not matter. While the Civil Rights Movements made huge strides towards equal rights, not everyone was accepting of the changes. In the 1970s, New Right Conservatism was a movement that followed the Civil Rights Movement and rose during Ronald Reagan's presidency. This caused racial polarization in neighborhoods and other areas of society where people purposefully did not sell to black people or allow black people in certain communities. Polarization is the opposite of diversifying where they actually strived to keep different races separate from each other.\n\nAt the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, its initial progress was a result of private philanthropy, federal dollars, and a forced mobilization of the poor from the government. It was a forced effort where the federal government used money and force to achieve civil equalities. While, the government's involvement to support the civil rights movement was positive, when their involvement was retracted, it left many people who did not support the government's choice originally to revert to their old ways. Many areas of the US went back to opposing the Civil Rights Act as well as other government assisted efforts like helping the poor. The South, especially, continued to nourish Jim Crow Law.\n\nThey also formed one party politics that opposed Civil Rights and made it so black people did not have much of a voice. The South was motivated to protect their economy that was built on cheap labor despite what the government had passed as laws and constitutional rights. The civil rights movement is a continuing effort for equality that The Long Civil Rights Movement argues can still be seen in present day. The Black Lives Matter Movement is the modern movement for Civil Rights. This black power movement calls it a \"never-ending fight for freedom\" as they continue to fight for political, social, and economic equality. Martin Luther King Jr. said, \"The racial issue we confront in America is not a sectional but a national problem.\" The Long Civil Rights Movement is not only a fight extending over a century or more but also a fight that extends not just over the South but over the entire nation.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nThe Long Civil Rights Movement Initiative - Provided by the Southern Oral History Program in the Center for the Study of the American South.\n\nCivil rights movement\nHistory of African-American civil rights",
"The Åkerblom Movement was an evangelical movement often described as a sect active in Finland in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The movement was most active in Swedish speaking Ostrobothnia, but it attracted people also in the south of Finland. The leader of the movement was the young girl Maria Åkerblom from the village of Snappertuna in Uusimaa.\n\nThe sect has its roots in Snappertuna in 1917, when it is said that twelve-year-old Maria Åkerblom received prophesies from God. Åkerblom was struck by sickness and as she fell asleep, she started to preach. She delivered her speeches in trance as a so-called \"sleeping preacher\". This happened several times, and Åkerblom became famous. Services with Åkerblom preaching became more and more popular and her reputation spread throughout Finland. She started to travel around in Finland preaching. \n\nÅkerblom's sermons attracted most people in the northern parts of Ostrobothnia, especially in the Kokkola-region and the village of Teerijärvi. In the beginning no problems occurred as the movement started spreading in the region. Later, though, the members of the movement were accused of several different crimes, for instance shooting a policeman, stealing and physical violence.\n\nThe movement grew larger in the early 1920s, in spite of all the accusations made against it. The leaders of the movement decided that all the members should sell all their belongings and give it to the sect. The movement's aim was to move to the holy land of Israel.\n\nThe Åkerblom Movement did not make it that far, though. In the 1920s it fell apart because of all the accusations and trials it went through. Some members remained close to Maria Åkerblom, but the vast majority returned to normal life.\n\nReferences\n\nHistory of Christianity in Finland\n20th century in Finland\nProtestantism in Finland"
]
|
[
"Martin Luther King Jr.",
"Albany Movement",
"Who started the Albany movement?",
"King and the SCLC became involved.",
"When did the movement started",
"November 1961."
]
| C_61c4565e8444463ea73674e77fc78d44_1 | Ask questions about birmingham campaing....... What was Albany movement about? | 3 | What was Albany movement about? | Martin Luther King Jr. | The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town. King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (equivalent to $1,400 in 2017); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations. CANNOTANSWER | desegregation | Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. His role in leading the cause of civil rights in the South differed in style from the previous accomodationist stances represented by Booker T. Washington and black-and-tan faction leader Perry Wilbon Howard II.
King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with some success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were several dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent. Several times King would be jailed. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963, forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life and secretly recorded him, and in 1964, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.
On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches. In his final years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty, capitalism, and the Vietnam War. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger leading to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in cities and states throughout the United States beginning in 1971; the holiday was enacted at the federal level by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and the most populous county in Washington State was rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
Early life and education
Birth
King was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the second of three children to Michael King and Alberta King ( Williams). King had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A.D." King. King's maternal grandfather Adam Daniel Williams, who was a minister in rural Georgia, moved to Atlanta in 1893, and became pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Williams was of African-Irish descent. Williams married Jennie Celeste Parks. King, Sr. was born to sharecroppers, James Albert and Delia King of Stockbridge, Georgia. In his adolescent years, King Sr. left his parents' farm and walked to Atlanta where he attained a high school education, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study for entry to the ministry. King Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on November 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, they lived together on the second floor of her parent's two-story Victorian house, where King was born.
Shortly after marrying Alberta, King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior pastor Williams died in the spring of 1931 and that fall, King Sr. took the role, where he would in time raise the attendance from six hundred to several thousand. In 1934, the church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip, including to Berlin for the meeting of the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). He also visited sites in Germany associated with the Reformation leader, Martin Luther. While there, King Sr. and the BWA delegates witnessed the rise of Nazism. In reaction, the BWA issued a resolution stating, "This Congress deplores and condemns as a violation of the law of God the Heavenly Father, all racial animosity, and every form of oppression or unfair discrimination toward the Jews, toward coloured people, or toward subject races in any part of the world." On returning home in August 1934, King Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King, and his son's name to Martin Luther King Jr.
Early childhood
At his childhood home, King and his two siblings would read aloud the Bible as instructed by their father. After dinners there, King's grandmother Jennie, whom he affectionately referred to as "Mama", would tell lively stories from the Bible to her grandchildren. King's father would regularly use whippings to discipline his children. At times, King Sr. would also have his children whip each other. King's father later remarked, "[King] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once when King witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally upset his sister Christine, he took a telephone and knocked out A.D. with it. When he and his brother were playing at their home, A.D. slid from a banister and hit into their grandmother, Jennie, causing her to fall down unresponsive. King, believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window. Upon hearing that his grandmother was alive, King rose and left the ground where he had fallen.
King became friends with a white boy whose father owned a business across the street from his family's home. In September 1935, when the boys were about six years old, they started school. King had to attend a school for black children, Younge Street Elementary School, while his close playmate went to a separate school for white children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of the white boy stopped allowing King to play with their son, stating to him "we are white, and you are colored". When King relayed the happenings to his parents, they had a long discussion with him about the history of slavery and racism in America. Upon learning of the hatred, violence and oppression that black people had faced in the U.S., King would later state that he was "determined to hate every white person". His parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone.
King witnessed his father stand up against segregation and various forms of discrimination. Once, when stopped by a police officer who referred to King Sr. as "boy", King's father responded sharply that King was a boy but he was a man. When King's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. King's father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before taking King and leaving the store. He told King afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, King's father led hundreds of African Americans in a civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest voting rights discrimination. King later remarked that King Sr. was "a real father" to him.
King memorized and sang hymns, and stated verses from the Bible, by the time he was five years old. Over the next year, he began to go to church events with his mother and sing hymns while she played piano. His favorite hymn to sing was "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus"; he moved attendees with his singing. King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. King enjoyed opera, and played the piano. As he grew up, King garnered a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries and consistently used his expanding lexicon. He got into physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, but oftentimes used his knowledge of words to stymie fights. King showed a lack of interest in grammar and spelling, a trait that he carried throughout his life. In 1939, King sang as a member of his church choir in slave costume, for the all-white audience at the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone with the Wind. In September 1940, at the age of 11, King was enrolled at the Atlanta University Laboratory School for the seventh grade. While there, King took violin and piano lessons, and showed keen interest in his history and English classes.
On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked away from studying at home to watch a parade, King was informed that something had happened to his maternal grandmother. Upon returning home, he found out that she had suffered a heart attack and died while being transported to a hospital. He took the death very hard and believed that his deception of going to see the parade may have been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his home, but again survived an attempt to kill himself. His father instructed him in his bedroom that King should not blame himself for her death, and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan that could not be changed. King struggled with this, and could not fully believe that his parents knew where his grandmother had gone. Shortly thereafter, King's father decided to move the family to a two-story brick home on a hill that overlooked downtown Atlanta.
Adolescence
In his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. In 1942, when King was 13 years old, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal. That year, King skipped the ninth grade and was enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only one in the city for African-American students. It had been formed after local black leaders, including King's grandfather (Williams), urged the city government of Atlanta to create it.
While King was brought up in a Baptist home, King grew skeptical of some of Christianity's claims as he entered adolescence. He began to question the literalist teachings preached at his father's church. At the age of 13, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. King said that he found himself unable to identify with the emotional displays and gestures from congregants frequent at his church, and doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He later stated of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."
In high school, King became known for his public-speaking ability, with a voice that had grown into an orotund baritone. He proceeded to join the school's debate team. King continued to be most drawn to history and English, and chose English and sociology to be his main subjects while at the school. King maintained an abundant vocabulary. But, he relied on his sister, Christine, to help him with his spelling, while King assisted her with math. They studied in this manner routinely until Christine's graduation from high school. King also developed an interest in fashion, commonly adorning himself in well polished patent leather shoes and tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He further grew a liking for flirting with girls and dancing. His brother A. D. later remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to chick, and I decided I couldn't keep up with him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."
On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, King gave his first public speech during an oratorical contest, sponsored by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World in Dublin, Georgia. In his speech he stated, "black America still wears chains. The finest negro is at the mercy of the meanest white man. Even winners of our highest honors face the class color bar." King was selected as the winner of the contest. On the ride home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so that white passengers could sit down. The driver of the bus called King a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did not follow the directions of the driver. As all the seats were occupied, he and his teacher were forced to stand on the rest of the drive back to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident, saying "That night will never leave my memory. It was the angriest I have ever been in my life."
Morehouse College
During King's junior year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandfather had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the school's entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted in the war, decreasing the numbers of students at Morehouse College. So, the university aimed to increase their student numbers by allowing junior high school students to apply. In 1944, at the age of 15, King passed the entrance examination and was enrolled at the university for the school season that autumn.
In the summer before King started his freshman year at Morehouse, he boarded a train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a group of other Morehouse College students to work in Simsbury, Connecticut at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco (a cigar business). This was King's first trip outside of the segregated south into the integrated north. In a June 1944 letter to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him between the two parts of the country, "On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see. After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit any where we want to." The students worked at the farm to be able to provide for their educational costs at Morehouse College, as the farm had partnered with the college to allot their salaries towards the university's tuition, housing, and other fees. On weekdays King and the other students worked in the fields, picking tobacco from 7:00am till at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures above 100°F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day. On Friday evenings, King and the other students visited downtown Simsbury to get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut to see theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants. On each Sunday they would go to Hartford to attend church services, at a church filled with white congregants. King wrote to his parents about the lack of segregation in Connecticut, relaying how he was amazed they could go to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to the same church".
He played freshman football there. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry. Throughout his time in college, King studied under the mentorship of its president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays, who he would later credit with being his "spiritual mentor." King had concluded that the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity." His "inner urge" had begun developing, and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.
Religious education, ministry, marriage and family
Crozer Theological Seminary
King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education and made arrangements for King to work with prominent Crozer alum, J. Pius Barbour, a family friend who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. King became known as one of the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he shared with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel D. Proctor who both went on to become well-known preachers in the black church.
While attending Crozer, King was joined by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King became fond of the street because a classmate had an aunt who prepared collard greens for them, which they both relished.
King once reproved another student for keeping beer in his room, saying they had shared responsibility as African Americans to bear "the burdens of the Negro race." For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel." In his third year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with the white daughter of an immigrant German woman who worked as a cook in the cafeteria. The woman had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King planned to marry her, but friends advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later. He continued to have lingering feelings toward the woman he left; one friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.) degree in 1951. He applied to University of Edinburgh to do his doctorate in the School of Divinity. An offer was made by Edinburgh but he chose Boston instead.
Boston University
In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. While pursuing doctoral studies, King worked as an assistant minister at Boston's historic Twelfth Baptist Church with William Hunter Hester. Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael Haynes, associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury (and younger brother of jazz drummer Roy Haynes). The young men often held bull sessions in their various apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues.
King attended philosophy classes at Harvard University as an audit student in 1952 and 1953.
At the age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.
An academic inquiry in October 1991 concluded that portions of his doctoral dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose." The committee found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." A letter is now attached to the copy of King's dissertation held in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. Significant debate exists on how to interpret King's plagiarism.
Marriage and family
While studying at Boston University, he asked a friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, who was a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, if she knew any nice Southern girls. Powell asked fellow student Coretta Scott if she was interested in meeting a Southern friend studying divinity. Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow Martin to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first phone call, King told Scott "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." They went out for dates in his green Chevy. After the second date, King was certain Scott possessed the qualities he sought in a wife. She had been an activist at Antioch in undergrad, where Carol and Rod Serling were schoolmates.
King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.
In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at the request of the SCLC. In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and helped expand the Civil Rights Movement across the South.
Activism and organizational leadership
Montgomery bus boycott, 1955
The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King was called to be minister in 1954, was influential in the Montgomery, Alabama, African-American community. As the church's pastor, he became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region.
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws, local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue because the incident involved a minor.
Nine months later on December 1, 1955, a similar incident occurred when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus. The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by Nixon and led by King. King was in his twenties, and had just taken up his clerical role. The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role simply because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant about taking the role, but decided to do so if no one else wanted it.
The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested and jailed during this campaign, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. Blacks resumed riding the buses again, and were able to sit in the front with full legal authorization.
King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies Stanley Levison and Ella Baker. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
The Common Society
Harry Wachtel joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in the libel case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; the case was litigated in reference to the newspaper advertisement "Heed Their Rising Voices". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights." King served as honorary president for the group. He was displeased with the pace that President Kennedy was using to address the issue of segregation. In 1962, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document that called on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. Kennedy did not execute the order.
The FBI was under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when it began tapping King's telephone line in the fall of 1963. Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in the SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this, the FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of his leadership position in the COINTELPRO program.
King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.
Survived knife attack, 1958
On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem when he narrowly escaped death. Izola Curry—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano. King underwent emergency surgery with three doctors: Aubre de Lambert Maynard, Emil Naclerio and John W. V. Cordice; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Atlanta sit-ins, prison sentence, and the 1960 elections
Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver expressed open hostility towards King's return to his hometown in late 1959. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King, Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance. On May 4, 1960, several months after his return, King drove writer Lillian Smith to Emory University when police stopped them. King was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license. King paid a fine but was apparently unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that also included a probationary sentence.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Student Movement had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces in the city, organizing the Atlanta sit-ins from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how 1960's Presidential election campaign had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside Rich's, Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over the next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was taken from his county jail cell and transported to a maximum-security state prison.
The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism. Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at a time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship prior to the sit-in, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from Jackie Robinson requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent John F. Kennedy called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother Robert to exert more pressure on state authorities, and also, at the personal request of Sargent Shriver, made a phone call to King's wife to express his sympathy and offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won.
After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However, the negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed in full swing for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools. Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church, the audience was hostile and frustrated towards the elders and the compromise. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity," and helping to calm tensions.
Albany Movement, 1961
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town.
King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time.
After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.
Birmingham campaign, 1963
In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.
King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. Newsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade.
During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.
King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner". King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'." Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, arranged for $160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors.
March on Washington, 1963
King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Bayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary logistical and strategic organizer. For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of United States President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.
Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and Walter Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone. As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.
The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.
I (We) Have a Dream
King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passagein which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"King said:
"I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The original typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26 years old, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech, and he got it.
St. Augustine, Florida, 1964
In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. However, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
Biddeford, Maine, 1964
On May 7, 1964, King spoke at Saint Francis College's "The Negro and the Quest for Identity," in Biddeford, Maine. This was a symposium that brought many civil rights leaders together such as Dorothy Day and Roy Wilkins. King spoke about how "We must get rid of the idea of superior and inferior races," through nonviolent tactics.
New York City, 1964
On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called "The American Race Crisis." In August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. The original speech recording is part of a collection of audio tapes in the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections in 1989. Dr. King's speech had been rebroadcast on Amherst's student-run radio station, WAMF (now WAMH). The tape was digitized in the fall of 2015 and shared with The New School Archives. In his March 18, 1964 interview by Robert Penn Warren, King compared his activism to his father's, citing his training in non-violence as a key difference. He also discusses the next phase of the civil rights movement and integration.
Selma voting rights movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965
In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of three or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. During the 1965 march to Montgomery, Alabama, violence by state police and others against the peaceful marchers resulted in much publicity, which made racism in Alabama visible nationwide.
Acting on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Bevel and other SCLC members, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, at which King was not present, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the civil rights movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King and Bevel's nonviolence strategy.
On March 5, King met with officials in the Johnson Administration in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line." Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.
King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. Meanwhile, on March 11 King cried at the news of Johnson supporting a voting rights bill on television in Marie Foster's living room. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as "How Long, Not Long." In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" and "you shall reap what you sow".
Chicago open housing movement, 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations took the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue, in the slums of North Lawndale on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.
The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.
During that spring, several white couple/black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others.
King later stated and Abernathy wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. King was hit by a brick during one march, but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.
When King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.
A 1967 CIA document declassified in 2017 downplayed King's role in the "black militant situation" in Chicago, with a source stating that King "sought at least constructive, positive projects."
Opposition to the Vietnam War
King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. At the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of Muhammad Ali, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.
During an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:
King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children." King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.
King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers. "The press is being stacked against me", King said, complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children." Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi", and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for social democracy and democratic socialism.
In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ..." In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism." King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism."
King stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." King quoted a United States official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.
King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K. Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal on the grounds that he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited for his morally unambiguous role as an activist.
On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. The march was organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King brought up issues of civil rights and the draft:
Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement. In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:
On January 13, 1968 (the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address), King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars."
Correspondence with Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thích Nhất Hạnh was an influential Vietnamese Buddhist who taught at Princeton University and Columbia University. He had written a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 entitled: "In Search of the Enemy of Man". It was during his 1966 stay in the US that Nhất Hạnh met with King and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. In 1967, King gave a famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, his first to publicly question the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".
Poor People's Campaign, 1968
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.
The campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.
King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity." He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness." His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."
The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.
Assassination and aftermath
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, who were represented by AFSCME Local 1733. The workers had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. In the prophetic peroration of the last speech of his life, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
King was booked in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel (owned by Walter Bailey) in Memphis. Ralph Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at Room 306 so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite." According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."
King was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m., Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor. Jackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had "reached out" for King.
After emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the civil rights movement. King was initially interred in South View Cemetery in South Atlanta, but in 1977 his remains were transferred to a tomb on the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
Aftermath
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short, improvised speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. The following day, he delivered a prepared response in Cleveland. James Farmer Jr. and other civil rights leaders also called for non-violent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.
The plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered. Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and stayed for six weeks, establishing a camp they called "Resurrection City."
President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to quell the riots by making several telephone calls to civil rights leaders, mayors and governors across the United States and told politicians that they should warn the police against the unwarranted use of force. But his efforts didn't work out: "I'm not getting through," Johnson told his aides. "They're all holing up like generals in a dugout getting ready to watch a war." Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity." His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral. The assassination helped to spur the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Two months after King's death, James Earl Ray—who was on the loose from a previous prison escape—was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave England on a false Canadian passport. He was using the alias Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had. Ray died in 1998 at age 70.
Allegations of conspiracy
Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists. Supporters of this assertion said that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. They admitted that Ray was a thief and burglar, but claimed that he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."
Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle. Witnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.
Two years later, King's widow Coretta Scott King and the couple's children won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators." Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.
William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.
In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.
In 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.
King researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. In 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:
Legacy
South Africa
King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights movement in South Africa. King's work was cited by, and served as, an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country during apartheid and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
United Kingdom
King influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him "one of my great heroes of the century."
In the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honor King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US civil rights movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to "build cultures of peace."
In 2017, Newcastle University unveiled a bronze statue of King to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his honorary doctorate ceremony. The Students Union also voted to rename their bar Luthers.
United States
King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community.
King's wife Coretta Scott King followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide. Their son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. Daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.
Even within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta publicly said that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.
On February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:
Martin Luther King Jr. was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Beginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. Arizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day.
Veneration
Martin Luther King Jr. was canonized by Archbishop Timothy Paul of the Holy Christian Orthodox Church (not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church) on September 9, 2016 in the Christian Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, his feast day is April 4, the date of his assassination. King is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on April 4 or January 15. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15.
Ideas, influences, and political stances
Christianity
As a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:
King's private writings show that he rejected biblical literalism; he described the Bible as "mythological," doubted that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not believe that the story of Jonah and the whale was true.
The Measure of a Man
In 1959, King published a short book called The Measure of a Man, which contained his sermons "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization.
Nonviolence
Veteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s.
King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term "nonviolence" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms.
In the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting.
King was inspired by Gandhi and his success with nonviolent activism, and as a theology student, King described Gandhi as being one of the "individuals who greatly reveal the working of the Spirit of God". King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India." With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity."
King's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the "successful precedent" of using nonviolence "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
Another influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience and its theme of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and said that Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis left an "indelible imprint" on his thinking by giving him a theological grounding for his social concerns. King was moved by Rauschenbusch's vision of Christians spreading social unrest in "perpetual but friendly conflict" with the state, simultaneously critiquing it and calling it to act as an instrument of justice. However, he was apparently unaware of the American tradition of Christian pacifism exemplified by Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison. King frequently referred to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as central for his work. King also sometimes used the concept of "agape" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings.
Even after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
Criticism within the movement
King was criticized by other black leaders during the course of his participation in the civil rights movement. This included opposition by more militant thinkers such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founder Ella Baker regarded King as a charismatic media figure who lost touch with the grassroots of the movement as he became close to elite figures like Nelson Rockefeller. Stokely Carmichael, a protege of Baker's, became a black separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.
Activism and involvement with Native Americans
King was an avid supporter of Native American rights. Native Americans were also active supporters of King's civil rights movement which included the active participation of Native Americans. In fact, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was especially supportive in King's campaigns especially the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. In King's book Why We Can't Wait he writes:
Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.
King assisted Native American people in south Alabama in the late 1950s. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. The South had many egregious racial problems: In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and through his intervention the problem was quickly resolved.
In September 1959, King flew from Los Angeles, California, to Tucson, Arizona. After giving a speech at the University of Arizona on the ideals of using nonviolent methods in creating social change. He put into words his belief that one must not use force in this struggle "but match the violence of his opponents with his suffering." King then went to Southside Presbyterian, a predominantly Native American church, and was fascinated by their photos. On the spur of the moment, King wanted to go to an Indian Reservation to meet the people so Casper Glenn took King to the Papago Indian Reservation. At the reservation King met with all the tribal leaders, and others on the reservation then ate with them. King then visited another Presbyterian church near the reservation, and preached there attracting a Native American crowd. He later returned to Old Pueblo in March 1962 where he preached again to a Native American congregation, and then went on to give another speech at the University of Arizona. King would continue to attract the attention of Native Americans throughout the civil rights movement. During the 1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the Navajo nation. Native Americans were also active participants in the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
King was a major inspiration along with the civil rights movement which inspired the Native American rights movement of the 1960s and many of its leaders. John Echohawk a member of the Pawnee tribe and the executive director and one of the founders of the Native American Rights Fund stated:
Inspired by Dr. King, who was advancing the civil rights agenda of equality under the laws of this country, we thought that we could also use the laws to advance our Indianship, to live as tribes in our territories governed by our own laws under the principles of tribal sovereignty that had been with us ever since 1831. We believed that we could fight for a policy of self-determination that was consistent with U.S. law and that we could govern our own affairs, define our own ways and continue to survive in this society.
Politics
As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either." In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party." King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.
King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he had not decided whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson II or Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1956 presidential election, but that "In the past, I always voted the Democratic ticket." In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."
In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."
King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout the United States at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the necessities of many American people, particularly the African-American community.
Compensation
King stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.
He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils." He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
Television
Actress Nichelle Nichols planned to leave the science-fiction television series Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, wanting to return to musical theater. She changed her mind after talking to King who was a fan of the show. King explained that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation. King told Nichols, "You are our image of where we're going, you're 300 years from now, and that means that's where we are and it takes place now. Keep doing what you're doing, you are our inspiration." As Nichols recounted, "Star Trek was one of the only shows that [King] and his wife Coretta would allow their little children to watch. And I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face. And he said, 'Don't you understand for the first time we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.' For his part, the series' creator, Gene Roddenberry, was deeply moved upon learning of King's support.
State surveillance and coercion
FBI surveillance and wiretapping
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader. The Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, found that "From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader."
In the fall of 1963, the FBI received authorization from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to proceed with wiretapping of King's phone lines, purportedly due to his association with Stanley Levison. The Bureau informed President John F. Kennedy. He and his brother unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's telephone lines "on a trial basis, for a month or so", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.
The Bureau placed wiretaps on the home and office phone lines of both Levison and King, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country. In 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: "No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure [sic] the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited."
NSA monitoring of King's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who were critical of the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
Allegations of communism
For years, Hoover had been suspicious of potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC when it was established.
Due to the relationship between King and Stanley Levison, the FBI feared Levison was working as an "agent of influence" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Jack O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Despite the extensive surveillance conducted, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.
For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism. In a 1965 Playboy interview, he stated that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida." He argued that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the civil rights movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements." Hoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country." After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country." It alleged that he was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists."
The attempts to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were content with the status quo, but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators." As context, the civil rights movement in 1950s and '60s arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."
CIA surveillance
CIA files declassified in 2017 revealed that the agency was investigating possible links between King and Communism after a Washington Post article dated November 4, 1964, claimed he was invited to the Soviet Union and that Ralph Abernathy, as spokesman for King, refused to comment on the source of the invitation. Mail belonging to King and other civil rights activists was intercepted by the CIA program HTLINGUAL.
Allegations of adultery
The FBI having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, attempts to discredit King began through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also had numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon B. Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".
In his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy stated that King had a "weakness for women", although they "all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation." In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term "womanizing", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual.
Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had stated that he saw King coming out of his room with a woman when he awoke the next morning and later said that "he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know...the Sanitation Worker's Strike."
In his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels." He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt." King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that "all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high-level relationship we enjoyed." Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were "sensational" and stated that Garrow was "amassing facts rather than analyzing them."
The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. The FBI–King suicide letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:
The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.
The letter was accompanied by a tape recording—excerpted from FBI wiretaps—of several of King's extramarital liaisons. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC." King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.
In 1977, Judge John Lewis Smith Jr. ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.
In May 2019, an FBI file emerged on which a handwritten note alleged that King "looked on, laughed and offered advice" as one of his friends raped a woman. Expert professional historians of the period who have examined this notional evidence have dismissed it as highly unreliable. David Garrow, author of an earlier biography of King, wrote that "the suggestion... that he either actively tolerated or personally employed violence against any woman, even while drunk, poses so fundamental a challenge to his historical stature as to require the most complete and extensive historical review possible". Garrow's reliance on a handwritten note addended to a typed report is considered poor scholarship by several other authorities. The Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham, Peter Ling, pointed out that Garrow was excessively credulous, if not naive, in accepting the accuracy of FBI reports during a period when the FBI was undertaking a massive operation to attempt to discredit King as part of its COINTELPRO activities. Garrow had earlier referred to Ling's work on King, widely considered authoritative, as "thoughtful, perceptive, and thoroughly well-informed". Experts in 20th-century American history, including Distinguished Professor of Political Science Jeanne Theoharis, the professors Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Nathan Connolly of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Emeritus of History Glenda Gilmore of Yale University have expressed reservations about Garrow's scholarship. Theoharis commented "Most scholars I know would penalize graduate students for doing this." It is not the first time the care and rigor of Garrow's work has been called into serious question. Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King biographer and overseer of the Dr. King records at Stanford University states that he came to the opposite conclusion of Garrow saying "None of this is new. Garrow is talking about a recently added summary of a transcript of a 1964 recording from the Willard Hotel that others, including Mrs. King, have said they did not hear Martin's voice on it. The added summary was four layers removed from the actual recording. This supposedly new information comes from an anonymous source in a single paragraph in an FBI report. You have to ask how could anyone conclude King looked at a rape from an audio recording in a room where he was not present." Carson bases his position of Coretta Scott King's memoirs where she states "I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened. I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin's voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading." The tapes that could confirm or refute the allegation are scheduled to be declassified in 2027.
Police observation during the assassination
A fire station was located across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. Agents were watching King at the time he was shot. Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.
Awards and recognition
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the (at the time) youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free."
In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity." Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967, he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honored by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said
There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.
In addition to being nominated for three Grammy Awards, the civil-rights leader posthumously won for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1971 for "Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam".
In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:
Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet.
King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
King was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. In 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and, in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online "Person of the Century" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.
Five-dollar bill
On April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 bills would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the front of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson.
Works
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
The Measure of a Man (1959)
Strength to Love (1963)
Why We Can't Wait (1964)
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
The Trumpet of Conscience (1968)
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson
"All Labor Has Dignity" (2011) ed. Michael Honey
"Thou, Dear God": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits. Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin
MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image (2011). Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson
See also
Civil rights movement in popular culture
Equality before the law
List of civil rights leaders
List of peace activists
List of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr.
Post–civil rights era in African-American history
Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
United States labor law
Violence begets violence
Portrait made by Columbus P. Knox
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Garrow, David. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1989). Pulitzer Prize.
"James L. Bevel, The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement", a 1984 paper by Randall Kryn, published with a 1988 addendum by Kryn in Prof. David Garrow's We Shall Overcome, Volume II (Carlson Publishing Company, 1989).
Further reading
King, Martin Luther Jr. (1986), Testament of Hope. The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper & Row), edited by J. M. Washington; reissued by Harper in 1992 as I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World.
Kirk, John A., ed. (2007). Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. pp. 224.
Schulke, Flip; McPhee, Penelope (1986). King Remembered, Foreword by Jesse Jackson. .
Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta (2012). Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and the Struggle for Black Equality. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. .
External links
The King Center
FBI file on Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize, Civil Rights Digital Library
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Buffalo, digital collection of King's visit and speech in Buffalo, New York on November 9, 1967, from the University at Buffalo Libraries
BBC Face to Face interview with Martin Luther King and John Freeman, broadcast October 29, 1961.
including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964 The quest for peace and justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. Collected Papers held by the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
1929 births
1968 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Baptist ministers
1968 murders in the United States
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Atlanta
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
African-American Baptist ministers
African-American theologians
African-American writers
American anti-racism activists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American Christian pacifists
American Christian socialists
American Christian Zionists
American clergy of Irish descent
American democratic socialists
American dissidents
American human rights activists
American humanitarians
American male non-fiction writers
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Nobel laureates
American prisoners and detainees
American saints
American social democrats
Anglican saints
Articles containing video clips
Assassinated American civil rights activists
Assassinated religious leaders
Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptist writers
Baptists from Alabama
Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Boston University School of Theology alumni
Burials in Georgia (U.S. state)
Civil rights movement
Clergy from Atlanta
COINTELPRO targets
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Crozer Theological Seminary alumni
Critics of Marxism
Deaths by firearm in Tennessee
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Gandhians
Grammy Award winners
Male murder victims
Martyrdom
Montgomery bus boycott
Morehouse College alumni
Murdered African-American people
Native Americans' rights activists
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
Liberalism in the United States
Nonviolence advocates
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
People from Atlanta
People involved in plagiarism controversies
People murdered in Tennessee
Political prisoners
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Prisoners and detainees of Alabama
Prisoners and detainees of Florida
Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state)
Selma to Montgomery marches
Spingarn Medal winners
Stabbing attacks in the United States
Stabbing survivors
Time Person of the Year
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Writers from Montgomery, Alabama
Google Doodles
Non-Indian Gandhians | true | [
"Richard Valeriani (August 29, 1932 – June 18, 2018) was an American journalist who was a White House correspondent and diplomatic correspondent with NBC News in the 1960s and 1970s. \nHe previously covered the Civil Rights Movement for the network and was seriously injured when hit in the head with an ax handle at a demonstration in Marion, Alabama, in 1965 in which Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot and killed by Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler.\n\nHe spoke 5 languages and began his career in the 1950s covering the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. However, his seemingly most important works were in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He reported on the important happenings at Selma and Marion Alabama, along with numerous other civil rights happenings.\n\nIn an interview with Richard Valeriani by Eyes on the Prize, on December 10, 1985, he said, \"I think the Selma campaign was kind of the culmination of the movement. They had gone through the exercise in Albany, Georgia. . .they had the experience in Birmingham. . .so they refined a lot of their techniques and so I think Selma was carried out with that experience\" He was one of the reporters covering Selma, Albany, and Birmingham; which is how he knows what the movement members went through in order to prepare for Selma.\n\nIn that same interview Valeriani, in response to a question about whether the press was hated as much as the movement participants, he said, \"Um, yeah, I think a lot of people identified us with the movement. We were in the middle. . . If you wanted to do something, well you couldn't do anything anyway, you couldn't write an editorial as a reporter, the best you could do, um, and you did it as much for the news value. . .\" He was in just as much danger as the movement participants because of this association with the movement. He would get complaints from the white population saying he was instigating aggravators for promoting the movement; while there were complaints from the movement saying that he wasn't promoting the movement enough. Based on this he couldn't satisfy both sides of the argument in the nation.\n\nFebruary 18, 1965 in Marion, Alabama, there was a march from the Baptist Church to the jail. Although this was only a half block march, they were met with strong opposition from the police. This was nothing short of a mass beating when the police moved in on the marchers. During this time, Valeriani was hit in the back on the head with an axe handle and put in the hospital because of his injuries. This was an infamous time for Valeriani. He continued his work throughout the movement.\n\nIn July 1962, he interviewed Marion King, the wife of Slater King, who had been beaten by policemen in Camilla, Georgia, while trying to take clothes to jailed civil rights protesters from Albany, Georgia.\n\nValeriani portrayed himself as a reporter for CNN from the deck of the French aircraft carrier Foch in the 1995 film Crimson Tide, providing the opening newscast which sets up the plot.\n\nAs a participant in the events portrayed in the 2014 film Selma, Valeriani considered the film excellent and substantially accurate in presenting the role of media such as Roy Reed of The New York Times, but found the role of television underplayed.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nAmerican reporters and correspondents\nNBC News people\n1932 births\n2018 deaths\nPeople from Camden, New Jersey\n\nja:NBCニュース",
"Ask a Stupid Question Day is a holiday that is sometimes celebrated in the United States, usually by school students and teachers. Although Ask a Stupid Question Day's default date is September 28, in practice it is usually observed on the last school day of September.\n\nOrigin\nThis holiday was created by teachers in the 1980s to encourage students to ask more questions in the classroom. According to HolidayInsights.com, \"at the time, there was a movement by teachers to try to get kids to ask more questions in the classroom. Kids sometimes hold back, fearing their question is stupid, and asking it will result in ridicule.\"\n\nInternational\nIn 2009 The Daily Telegraph reported that the day was being celebrated in Britain. It has been reported as far afield as India, in The Hindu.\n\nSee also\n No such thing as a stupid question\n\nReferences\n\nUnofficial observances\nSeptember observances"
]
|
[
"Martin Luther King Jr.",
"Albany Movement",
"Who started the Albany movement?",
"King and the SCLC became involved.",
"When did the movement started",
"November 1961.",
"Ask questions about birmingham campaing....... What was Albany movement about?",
"desegregation"
]
| C_61c4565e8444463ea73674e77fc78d44_1 | What challenge did the movement face? | 4 | What challenge did the Albany movement face? | Martin Luther King Jr. | The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town. King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (equivalent to $1,400 in 2017); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time. After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations. CANNOTANSWER | mass arrest | Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. His role in leading the cause of civil rights in the South differed in style from the previous accomodationist stances represented by Booker T. Washington and black-and-tan faction leader Perry Wilbon Howard II.
King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with some success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were several dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent. Several times King would be jailed. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963, forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life and secretly recorded him, and in 1964, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.
On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches. In his final years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty, capitalism, and the Vietnam War. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger leading to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in cities and states throughout the United States beginning in 1971; the holiday was enacted at the federal level by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and the most populous county in Washington State was rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
Early life and education
Birth
King was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the second of three children to Michael King and Alberta King ( Williams). King had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A.D." King. King's maternal grandfather Adam Daniel Williams, who was a minister in rural Georgia, moved to Atlanta in 1893, and became pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Williams was of African-Irish descent. Williams married Jennie Celeste Parks. King, Sr. was born to sharecroppers, James Albert and Delia King of Stockbridge, Georgia. In his adolescent years, King Sr. left his parents' farm and walked to Atlanta where he attained a high school education, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study for entry to the ministry. King Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on November 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, they lived together on the second floor of her parent's two-story Victorian house, where King was born.
Shortly after marrying Alberta, King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior pastor Williams died in the spring of 1931 and that fall, King Sr. took the role, where he would in time raise the attendance from six hundred to several thousand. In 1934, the church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip, including to Berlin for the meeting of the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). He also visited sites in Germany associated with the Reformation leader, Martin Luther. While there, King Sr. and the BWA delegates witnessed the rise of Nazism. In reaction, the BWA issued a resolution stating, "This Congress deplores and condemns as a violation of the law of God the Heavenly Father, all racial animosity, and every form of oppression or unfair discrimination toward the Jews, toward coloured people, or toward subject races in any part of the world." On returning home in August 1934, King Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King, and his son's name to Martin Luther King Jr.
Early childhood
At his childhood home, King and his two siblings would read aloud the Bible as instructed by their father. After dinners there, King's grandmother Jennie, whom he affectionately referred to as "Mama", would tell lively stories from the Bible to her grandchildren. King's father would regularly use whippings to discipline his children. At times, King Sr. would also have his children whip each other. King's father later remarked, "[King] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once when King witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally upset his sister Christine, he took a telephone and knocked out A.D. with it. When he and his brother were playing at their home, A.D. slid from a banister and hit into their grandmother, Jennie, causing her to fall down unresponsive. King, believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window. Upon hearing that his grandmother was alive, King rose and left the ground where he had fallen.
King became friends with a white boy whose father owned a business across the street from his family's home. In September 1935, when the boys were about six years old, they started school. King had to attend a school for black children, Younge Street Elementary School, while his close playmate went to a separate school for white children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of the white boy stopped allowing King to play with their son, stating to him "we are white, and you are colored". When King relayed the happenings to his parents, they had a long discussion with him about the history of slavery and racism in America. Upon learning of the hatred, violence and oppression that black people had faced in the U.S., King would later state that he was "determined to hate every white person". His parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone.
King witnessed his father stand up against segregation and various forms of discrimination. Once, when stopped by a police officer who referred to King Sr. as "boy", King's father responded sharply that King was a boy but he was a man. When King's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. King's father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before taking King and leaving the store. He told King afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, King's father led hundreds of African Americans in a civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest voting rights discrimination. King later remarked that King Sr. was "a real father" to him.
King memorized and sang hymns, and stated verses from the Bible, by the time he was five years old. Over the next year, he began to go to church events with his mother and sing hymns while she played piano. His favorite hymn to sing was "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus"; he moved attendees with his singing. King later became a member of the junior choir in his church. King enjoyed opera, and played the piano. As he grew up, King garnered a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries and consistently used his expanding lexicon. He got into physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, but oftentimes used his knowledge of words to stymie fights. King showed a lack of interest in grammar and spelling, a trait that he carried throughout his life. In 1939, King sang as a member of his church choir in slave costume, for the all-white audience at the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone with the Wind. In September 1940, at the age of 11, King was enrolled at the Atlanta University Laboratory School for the seventh grade. While there, King took violin and piano lessons, and showed keen interest in his history and English classes.
On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked away from studying at home to watch a parade, King was informed that something had happened to his maternal grandmother. Upon returning home, he found out that she had suffered a heart attack and died while being transported to a hospital. He took the death very hard and believed that his deception of going to see the parade may have been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his home, but again survived an attempt to kill himself. His father instructed him in his bedroom that King should not blame himself for her death, and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan that could not be changed. King struggled with this, and could not fully believe that his parents knew where his grandmother had gone. Shortly thereafter, King's father decided to move the family to a two-story brick home on a hill that overlooked downtown Atlanta.
Adolescence
In his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. In 1942, when King was 13 years old, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal. That year, King skipped the ninth grade and was enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only one in the city for African-American students. It had been formed after local black leaders, including King's grandfather (Williams), urged the city government of Atlanta to create it.
While King was brought up in a Baptist home, King grew skeptical of some of Christianity's claims as he entered adolescence. He began to question the literalist teachings preached at his father's church. At the age of 13, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. King said that he found himself unable to identify with the emotional displays and gestures from congregants frequent at his church, and doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He later stated of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."
In high school, King became known for his public-speaking ability, with a voice that had grown into an orotund baritone. He proceeded to join the school's debate team. King continued to be most drawn to history and English, and chose English and sociology to be his main subjects while at the school. King maintained an abundant vocabulary. But, he relied on his sister, Christine, to help him with his spelling, while King assisted her with math. They studied in this manner routinely until Christine's graduation from high school. King also developed an interest in fashion, commonly adorning himself in well polished patent leather shoes and tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He further grew a liking for flirting with girls and dancing. His brother A. D. later remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to chick, and I decided I couldn't keep up with him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."
On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, King gave his first public speech during an oratorical contest, sponsored by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World in Dublin, Georgia. In his speech he stated, "black America still wears chains. The finest negro is at the mercy of the meanest white man. Even winners of our highest honors face the class color bar." King was selected as the winner of the contest. On the ride home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so that white passengers could sit down. The driver of the bus called King a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did not follow the directions of the driver. As all the seats were occupied, he and his teacher were forced to stand on the rest of the drive back to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident, saying "That night will never leave my memory. It was the angriest I have ever been in my life."
Morehouse College
During King's junior year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandfather had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the school's entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted in the war, decreasing the numbers of students at Morehouse College. So, the university aimed to increase their student numbers by allowing junior high school students to apply. In 1944, at the age of 15, King passed the entrance examination and was enrolled at the university for the school season that autumn.
In the summer before King started his freshman year at Morehouse, he boarded a train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a group of other Morehouse College students to work in Simsbury, Connecticut at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco (a cigar business). This was King's first trip outside of the segregated south into the integrated north. In a June 1944 letter to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him between the two parts of the country, "On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see. After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit any where we want to." The students worked at the farm to be able to provide for their educational costs at Morehouse College, as the farm had partnered with the college to allot their salaries towards the university's tuition, housing, and other fees. On weekdays King and the other students worked in the fields, picking tobacco from 7:00am till at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures above 100°F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day. On Friday evenings, King and the other students visited downtown Simsbury to get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut to see theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants. On each Sunday they would go to Hartford to attend church services, at a church filled with white congregants. King wrote to his parents about the lack of segregation in Connecticut, relaying how he was amazed they could go to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to the same church".
He played freshman football there. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry. Throughout his time in college, King studied under the mentorship of its president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays, who he would later credit with being his "spiritual mentor." King had concluded that the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity." His "inner urge" had begun developing, and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.
Religious education, ministry, marriage and family
Crozer Theological Seminary
King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania. King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education and made arrangements for King to work with prominent Crozer alum, J. Pius Barbour, a family friend who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. King became known as one of the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he shared with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel D. Proctor who both went on to become well-known preachers in the black church.
While attending Crozer, King was joined by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse. At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. The African-American students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King became fond of the street because a classmate had an aunt who prepared collard greens for them, which they both relished.
King once reproved another student for keeping beer in his room, saying they had shared responsibility as African Americans to bear "the burdens of the Negro race." For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel." In his third year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with the white daughter of an immigrant German woman who worked as a cook in the cafeteria. The woman had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King planned to marry her, but friends advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later. He continued to have lingering feelings toward the woman he left; one friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.) degree in 1951. He applied to University of Edinburgh to do his doctorate in the School of Divinity. An offer was made by Edinburgh but he chose Boston instead.
Boston University
In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. While pursuing doctoral studies, King worked as an assistant minister at Boston's historic Twelfth Baptist Church with William Hunter Hester. Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael Haynes, associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury (and younger brother of jazz drummer Roy Haynes). The young men often held bull sessions in their various apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues.
King attended philosophy classes at Harvard University as an audit student in 1952 and 1953.
At the age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.
An academic inquiry in October 1991 concluded that portions of his doctoral dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose." The committee found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." A letter is now attached to the copy of King's dissertation held in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. Significant debate exists on how to interpret King's plagiarism.
Marriage and family
While studying at Boston University, he asked a friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, who was a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, if she knew any nice Southern girls. Powell asked fellow student Coretta Scott if she was interested in meeting a Southern friend studying divinity. Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow Martin to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first phone call, King told Scott "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." They went out for dates in his green Chevy. After the second date, King was certain Scott possessed the qualities he sought in a wife. She had been an activist at Antioch in undergrad, where Carol and Rod Serling were schoolmates.
King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963). During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.
In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at the request of the SCLC. In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and helped expand the Civil Rights Movement across the South.
Activism and organizational leadership
Montgomery bus boycott, 1955
The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King was called to be minister in 1954, was influential in the Montgomery, Alabama, African-American community. As the church's pastor, he became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region.
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws, local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; E. D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue because the incident involved a minor.
Nine months later on December 1, 1955, a similar incident occurred when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus. The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by Nixon and led by King. King was in his twenties, and had just taken up his clerical role. The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role simply because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant about taking the role, but decided to do so if no one else wanted it.
The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested and jailed during this campaign, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. Blacks resumed riding the buses again, and were able to sit in the front with full legal authorization.
King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies Stanley Levison and Ella Baker. King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
The Common Society
Harry Wachtel joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in the libel case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; the case was litigated in reference to the newspaper advertisement "Heed Their Rising Voices". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights." King served as honorary president for the group. He was displeased with the pace that President Kennedy was using to address the issue of segregation. In 1962, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document that called on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. Kennedy did not execute the order.
The FBI was under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when it began tapping King's telephone line in the fall of 1963. Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in the SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this, the FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of his leadership position in the COINTELPRO program.
King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.
Survived knife attack, 1958
On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem when he narrowly escaped death. Izola Curry—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano. King underwent emergency surgery with three doctors: Aubre de Lambert Maynard, Emil Naclerio and John W. V. Cordice; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Atlanta sit-ins, prison sentence, and the 1960 elections
Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver expressed open hostility towards King's return to his hometown in late 1959. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King, Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance. On May 4, 1960, several months after his return, King drove writer Lillian Smith to Emory University when police stopped them. King was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license. King paid a fine but was apparently unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that also included a probationary sentence.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Student Movement had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces in the city, organizing the Atlanta sit-ins from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how 1960's Presidential election campaign had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside Rich's, Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over the next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was taken from his county jail cell and transported to a maximum-security state prison.
The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism. Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at a time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship prior to the sit-in, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from Jackie Robinson requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent John F. Kennedy called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother Robert to exert more pressure on state authorities, and also, at the personal request of Sargent Shriver, made a phone call to King's wife to express his sympathy and offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won.
After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However, the negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed in full swing for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools. Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church, the audience was hostile and frustrated towards the elders and the compromise. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity," and helping to calm tensions.
Albany Movement, 1961
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town.
King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine (); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time.
After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.
Birmingham campaign, 1963
In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust.
King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations. Newsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade.
During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.
King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed the now-famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner". King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'." Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, arranged for $160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors.
March on Washington, 1963
King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Bayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary logistical and strategic organizer. For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of United States President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.
Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and Walter Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone. As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.
The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee. Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.
I (We) Have a Dream
King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passagein which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"King said:
"I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The original typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26 years old, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech, and he got it.
St. Augustine, Florida, 1964
In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. However, the pacifist SCLC accepted them. King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested. During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
Biddeford, Maine, 1964
On May 7, 1964, King spoke at Saint Francis College's "The Negro and the Quest for Identity," in Biddeford, Maine. This was a symposium that brought many civil rights leaders together such as Dorothy Day and Roy Wilkins. King spoke about how "We must get rid of the idea of superior and inferior races," through nonviolent tactics.
New York City, 1964
On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called "The American Race Crisis." In August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables. The original speech recording is part of a collection of audio tapes in the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections in 1989. Dr. King's speech had been rebroadcast on Amherst's student-run radio station, WAMF (now WAMH). The tape was digitized in the fall of 2015 and shared with The New School Archives. In his March 18, 1964 interview by Robert Penn Warren, King compared his activism to his father's, citing his training in non-violence as a key difference. He also discusses the next phase of the civil rights movement and integration.
Selma voting rights movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965
In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months. A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of three or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965. During the 1965 march to Montgomery, Alabama, violence by state police and others against the peaceful marchers resulted in much publicity, which made racism in Alabama visible nationwide.
Acting on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Bevel and other SCLC members, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, at which King was not present, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the civil rights movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King and Bevel's nonviolence strategy.
On March 5, King met with officials in the Johnson Administration in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line." Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.
King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. Meanwhile, on March 11 King cried at the news of Johnson supporting a voting rights bill on television in Marie Foster's living room. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as "How Long, Not Long." In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" and "you shall reap what you sow".
Chicago open housing movement, 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations took the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue, in the slums of North Lawndale on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.
The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.
During that spring, several white couple/black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes. Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others.
King later stated and Abernathy wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible. King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result. King was hit by a brick during one march, but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.
When King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization. Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.
A 1967 CIA document declassified in 2017 downplayed King's role in the "black militant situation" in Chicago, with a source stating that King "sought at least constructive, positive projects."
Opposition to the Vietnam War
King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War, but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created. At the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of Muhammad Ali, King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.
During an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change:
King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands", and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children." King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.
King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham, union leaders and powerful publishers. "The press is being stacked against me", King said, complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children." Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi", and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated. King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice. He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for social democracy and democratic socialism.
In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said: "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ..." In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism." King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism."
King stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." King quoted a United States official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.
King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K. Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal on the grounds that he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited for his morally unambiguous role as an activist.
On April 15, 1967, King participated and spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. The march was organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King brought up issues of civil rights and the draft:
Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists, Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort. Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement. In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated:
On January 13, 1968 (the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address), King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars."
Correspondence with Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thích Nhất Hạnh was an influential Vietnamese Buddhist who taught at Princeton University and Columbia University. He had written a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 entitled: "In Search of the Enemy of Man". It was during his 1966 stay in the US that Nhất Hạnh met with King and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. In 1967, King gave a famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, his first to publicly question the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".
Poor People's Campaign, 1968
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.
The campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States.
King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity." He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness." His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."
The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.
Assassination and aftermath
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, who were represented by AFSCME Local 1733. The workers had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. In the prophetic peroration of the last speech of his life, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
King was booked in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel (owned by Walter Bailey) in Memphis. Ralph Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at Room 306 so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite." According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."
King was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m., Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor. Jackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had "reached out" for King.
After emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the civil rights movement. King was initially interred in South View Cemetery in South Atlanta, but in 1977 his remains were transferred to a tomb on the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
Aftermath
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short, improvised speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence. The following day, he delivered a prepared response in Cleveland. James Farmer Jr. and other civil rights leaders also called for non-violent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response. The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.
The plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered. Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and stayed for six weeks, establishing a camp they called "Resurrection City."
President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to quell the riots by making several telephone calls to civil rights leaders, mayors and governors across the United States and told politicians that they should warn the police against the unwarranted use of force. But his efforts didn't work out: "I'm not getting through," Johnson told his aides. "They're all holing up like generals in a dugout getting ready to watch a war." Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence. At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral, a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity." His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral. The assassination helped to spur the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Two months after King's death, James Earl Ray—who was on the loose from a previous prison escape—was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave England on a false Canadian passport. He was using the alias Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had. Ray died in 1998 at age 70.
Allegations of conspiracy
Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists. Supporters of this assertion said that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty. They admitted that Ray was a thief and burglar, but claimed that he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon. However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery. In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."
Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle. Witnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window. However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from. An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.
Two years later, King's widow Coretta Scott King and the couple's children won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators." Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.
William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.
In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented. A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.
In 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.
King researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. In 2003, Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts. King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:
Legacy
South Africa
King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights movement in South Africa. King's work was cited by, and served as, an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country during apartheid and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
United Kingdom
King influenced Irish politician and activist John Hume. Hume, the former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, cited King's legacy as quintessential to the Northern Irish civil rights movement and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, calling him "one of my great heroes of the century."
In the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee exists to honor King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967. The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US civil rights movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to "build cultures of peace."
In 2017, Newcastle University unveiled a bronze statue of King to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his honorary doctorate ceremony. The Students Union also voted to rename their bar Luthers.
United States
King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S. The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community.
King's wife Coretta Scott King followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide. Their son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman. Daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.
Even within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta publicly said that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.
On February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated:
Martin Luther King Jr. was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Beginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King. At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday. On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states. Arizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognize the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day.
Veneration
Martin Luther King Jr. was canonized by Archbishop Timothy Paul of the Holy Christian Orthodox Church (not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church) on September 9, 2016 in the Christian Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, his feast day is April 4, the date of his assassination. King is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on April 4 or January 15. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15.
Ideas, influences, and political stances
Christianity
As a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:
King's private writings show that he rejected biblical literalism; he described the Bible as "mythological," doubted that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not believe that the story of Jonah and the whale was true.
The Measure of a Man
In 1959, King published a short book called The Measure of a Man, which contained his sermons "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization.
Nonviolence
Veteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence. King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley. Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s, and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s.
King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term "nonviolence" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms.
In the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting.
King was inspired by Gandhi and his success with nonviolent activism, and as a theology student, King described Gandhi as being one of the "individuals who greatly reveal the working of the Spirit of God". King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India." With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity."
King's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the "successful precedent" of using nonviolence "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
Another influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience and its theme of refusing to cooperate with an evil system. He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and said that Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis left an "indelible imprint" on his thinking by giving him a theological grounding for his social concerns. King was moved by Rauschenbusch's vision of Christians spreading social unrest in "perpetual but friendly conflict" with the state, simultaneously critiquing it and calling it to act as an instrument of justice. However, he was apparently unaware of the American tradition of Christian pacifism exemplified by Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison. King frequently referred to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as central for his work. King also sometimes used the concept of "agape" (brotherly Christian love). However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings.
Even after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
Criticism within the movement
King was criticized by other black leaders during the course of his participation in the civil rights movement. This included opposition by more militant thinkers such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founder Ella Baker regarded King as a charismatic media figure who lost touch with the grassroots of the movement as he became close to elite figures like Nelson Rockefeller. Stokely Carmichael, a protege of Baker's, became a black separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.
Activism and involvement with Native Americans
King was an avid supporter of Native American rights. Native Americans were also active supporters of King's civil rights movement which included the active participation of Native Americans. In fact, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was especially supportive in King's campaigns especially the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. In King's book Why We Can't Wait he writes:
Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.
King assisted Native American people in south Alabama in the late 1950s. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. The South had many egregious racial problems: In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and through his intervention the problem was quickly resolved.
In September 1959, King flew from Los Angeles, California, to Tucson, Arizona. After giving a speech at the University of Arizona on the ideals of using nonviolent methods in creating social change. He put into words his belief that one must not use force in this struggle "but match the violence of his opponents with his suffering." King then went to Southside Presbyterian, a predominantly Native American church, and was fascinated by their photos. On the spur of the moment, King wanted to go to an Indian Reservation to meet the people so Casper Glenn took King to the Papago Indian Reservation. At the reservation King met with all the tribal leaders, and others on the reservation then ate with them. King then visited another Presbyterian church near the reservation, and preached there attracting a Native American crowd. He later returned to Old Pueblo in March 1962 where he preached again to a Native American congregation, and then went on to give another speech at the University of Arizona. King would continue to attract the attention of Native Americans throughout the civil rights movement. During the 1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the Navajo nation. Native Americans were also active participants in the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
King was a major inspiration along with the civil rights movement which inspired the Native American rights movement of the 1960s and many of its leaders. John Echohawk a member of the Pawnee tribe and the executive director and one of the founders of the Native American Rights Fund stated:
Inspired by Dr. King, who was advancing the civil rights agenda of equality under the laws of this country, we thought that we could also use the laws to advance our Indianship, to live as tribes in our territories governed by our own laws under the principles of tribal sovereignty that had been with us ever since 1831. We believed that we could fight for a policy of self-determination that was consistent with U.S. law and that we could govern our own affairs, define our own ways and continue to survive in this society.
Politics
As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either." In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party." King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.
King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he had not decided whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson II or Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1956 presidential election, but that "In the past, I always voted the Democratic ticket." In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."
In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."
King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout the United States at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the necessities of many American people, particularly the African-American community.
Compensation
King stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.
He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils." He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
Television
Actress Nichelle Nichols planned to leave the science-fiction television series Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, wanting to return to musical theater. She changed her mind after talking to King who was a fan of the show. King explained that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation. King told Nichols, "You are our image of where we're going, you're 300 years from now, and that means that's where we are and it takes place now. Keep doing what you're doing, you are our inspiration." As Nichols recounted, "Star Trek was one of the only shows that [King] and his wife Coretta would allow their little children to watch. And I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face. And he said, 'Don't you understand for the first time we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.' For his part, the series' creator, Gene Roddenberry, was deeply moved upon learning of King's support.
State surveillance and coercion
FBI surveillance and wiretapping
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader. The Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, found that "From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader."
In the fall of 1963, the FBI received authorization from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to proceed with wiretapping of King's phone lines, purportedly due to his association with Stanley Levison. The Bureau informed President John F. Kennedy. He and his brother unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA. Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's telephone lines "on a trial basis, for a month or so", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.
The Bureau placed wiretaps on the home and office phone lines of both Levison and King, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country. In 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: "No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure [sic] the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited."
NSA monitoring of King's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who were critical of the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
Allegations of communism
For years, Hoover had been suspicious of potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights. Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC when it was established.
Due to the relationship between King and Stanley Levison, the FBI feared Levison was working as an "agent of influence" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them. Another King lieutenant, Jack O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Despite the extensive surveillance conducted, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.
For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism. In a 1965 Playboy interview, he stated that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida." He argued that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the civil rights movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements." Hoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country." After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country." It alleged that he was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists."
The attempts to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were content with the status quo, but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators." As context, the civil rights movement in 1950s and '60s arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."
CIA surveillance
CIA files declassified in 2017 revealed that the agency was investigating possible links between King and Communism after a Washington Post article dated November 4, 1964, claimed he was invited to the Soviet Union and that Ralph Abernathy, as spokesman for King, refused to comment on the source of the invitation. Mail belonging to King and other civil rights activists was intercepted by the CIA program HTLINGUAL.
Allegations of adultery
The FBI having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, attempts to discredit King began through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also had numerous extramarital affairs. Lyndon B. Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".
In his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy stated that King had a "weakness for women", although they "all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation." In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term "womanizing", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual.
Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs, such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated. In his original wording, Abernathy had stated that he saw King coming out of his room with a woman when he awoke the next morning and later said that "he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know...the Sanitation Worker's Strike."
In his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels." He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt." King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that "all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high-level relationship we enjoyed." Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were "sensational" and stated that Garrow was "amassing facts rather than analyzing them."
The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family. The bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work. The FBI–King suicide letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:
The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant ). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.
The letter was accompanied by a tape recording—excerpted from FBI wiretaps—of several of King's extramarital liaisons. King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide, although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC." King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.
In 1977, Judge John Lewis Smith Jr. ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.
In May 2019, an FBI file emerged on which a handwritten note alleged that King "looked on, laughed and offered advice" as one of his friends raped a woman. Expert professional historians of the period who have examined this notional evidence have dismissed it as highly unreliable. David Garrow, author of an earlier biography of King, wrote that "the suggestion... that he either actively tolerated or personally employed violence against any woman, even while drunk, poses so fundamental a challenge to his historical stature as to require the most complete and extensive historical review possible". Garrow's reliance on a handwritten note addended to a typed report is considered poor scholarship by several other authorities. The Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham, Peter Ling, pointed out that Garrow was excessively credulous, if not naive, in accepting the accuracy of FBI reports during a period when the FBI was undertaking a massive operation to attempt to discredit King as part of its COINTELPRO activities. Garrow had earlier referred to Ling's work on King, widely considered authoritative, as "thoughtful, perceptive, and thoroughly well-informed". Experts in 20th-century American history, including Distinguished Professor of Political Science Jeanne Theoharis, the professors Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Nathan Connolly of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Emeritus of History Glenda Gilmore of Yale University have expressed reservations about Garrow's scholarship. Theoharis commented "Most scholars I know would penalize graduate students for doing this." It is not the first time the care and rigor of Garrow's work has been called into serious question. Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King biographer and overseer of the Dr. King records at Stanford University states that he came to the opposite conclusion of Garrow saying "None of this is new. Garrow is talking about a recently added summary of a transcript of a 1964 recording from the Willard Hotel that others, including Mrs. King, have said they did not hear Martin's voice on it. The added summary was four layers removed from the actual recording. This supposedly new information comes from an anonymous source in a single paragraph in an FBI report. You have to ask how could anyone conclude King looked at a rape from an audio recording in a room where he was not present." Carson bases his position of Coretta Scott King's memoirs where she states "I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened. I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin's voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading." The tapes that could confirm or refute the allegation are scheduled to be declassified in 2027.
Police observation during the assassination
A fire station was located across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which James Earl Ray was staying. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance. Agents were watching King at the time he was shot. Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King. The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.
Awards and recognition
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the (at the time) youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free."
In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity." Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In November 1967, he made a 24-hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honored by Newcastle. In a moving impromptu acceptance speech, he said
There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.
In addition to being nominated for three Grammy Awards, the civil-rights leader posthumously won for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1971 for "Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam".
In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read:
Martin Luther King Jr. was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet.
King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
King was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. In 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and, in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online "Person of the Century" poll by the same magazine. King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.
Five-dollar bill
On April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that the $5, $10, and $20 bills would all undergo redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that while Lincoln would remain on the front of the $5 bill, the reverse would be redesigned to depict various historical events that had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the planned designs are images from King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the 1939 concert by opera singer Marian Anderson.
Works
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
The Measure of a Man (1959)
Strength to Love (1963)
Why We Can't Wait (1964)
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
The Trumpet of Conscience (1968)
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson
"All Labor Has Dignity" (2011) ed. Michael Honey
"Thou, Dear God": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits. Collection of King's prayers. (2011), ed. Lewis Baldwin
MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image (2011). Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson
See also
Civil rights movement in popular culture
Equality before the law
List of civil rights leaders
List of peace activists
List of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr.
Post–civil rights era in African-American history
Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
United States labor law
Violence begets violence
Portrait made by Columbus P. Knox
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Garrow, David. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1989). Pulitzer Prize.
"James L. Bevel, The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement", a 1984 paper by Randall Kryn, published with a 1988 addendum by Kryn in Prof. David Garrow's We Shall Overcome, Volume II (Carlson Publishing Company, 1989).
Further reading
King, Martin Luther Jr. (1986), Testament of Hope. The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper & Row), edited by J. M. Washington; reissued by Harper in 1992 as I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World.
Kirk, John A., ed. (2007). Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. pp. 224.
Schulke, Flip; McPhee, Penelope (1986). King Remembered, Foreword by Jesse Jackson. .
Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta (2012). Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and the Struggle for Black Equality. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. .
External links
The King Center
FBI file on Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize, Civil Rights Digital Library
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Buffalo, digital collection of King's visit and speech in Buffalo, New York on November 9, 1967, from the University at Buffalo Libraries
BBC Face to Face interview with Martin Luther King and John Freeman, broadcast October 29, 1961.
including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964 The quest for peace and justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. Collected Papers held by the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
1929 births
1968 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Baptist ministers
1968 murders in the United States
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Atlanta
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
African-American Baptist ministers
African-American theologians
African-American writers
American anti-racism activists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American Christian pacifists
American Christian socialists
American Christian Zionists
American clergy of Irish descent
American democratic socialists
American dissidents
American human rights activists
American humanitarians
American male non-fiction writers
American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
American Nobel laureates
American prisoners and detainees
American saints
American social democrats
Anglican saints
Articles containing video clips
Assassinated American civil rights activists
Assassinated religious leaders
Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptist writers
Baptists from Alabama
Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Boston University School of Theology alumni
Burials in Georgia (U.S. state)
Civil rights movement
Clergy from Atlanta
COINTELPRO targets
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Crozer Theological Seminary alumni
Critics of Marxism
Deaths by firearm in Tennessee
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Gandhians
Grammy Award winners
Male murder victims
Martyrdom
Montgomery bus boycott
Morehouse College alumni
Murdered African-American people
Native Americans' rights activists
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
Liberalism in the United States
Nonviolence advocates
People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
People from Atlanta
People involved in plagiarism controversies
People murdered in Tennessee
Political prisoners
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Prisoners and detainees of Alabama
Prisoners and detainees of Florida
Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state)
Selma to Montgomery marches
Spingarn Medal winners
Stabbing attacks in the United States
Stabbing survivors
Time Person of the Year
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Writers from Montgomery, Alabama
Google Doodles
Non-Indian Gandhians | true | [
"SOARA (Situation, Objective, Action, Results, Aftermath) is a job interview technique developed by Hagymas Laszlo, Professor of Language at the University of Munich, and Alexander Botos, Chief Curator at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It is similar to the Situation, Task, Action, Result technique. In many interviews, SOARA is used as a structure for clarifying information relating to a recent challenge.\n\nDetails\n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation you found yourself in.\n Objective: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives.\n Aftermath: What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?\n\nJob interview",
"The twelfth season of the Syfy reality television series Face Off (Styled as Face Off: Divide & Conquer) premiered on June 13, 2017. This season divides contestants into two competing FX shops. Each week the teams designate one competitor the foreperson, who designates group tasks, coordinates the project, and represents the team to the judges. At the end of each challenge, the most successful artist from the winning team is declared the challenge winner, and the least successful artist from the losing team is eliminated.\n\nContestants\nSource:\n\nContestant progress\n\n The contestant was a member of Twisted Six Effects Shop.\n The contestant was a member of Ethereal Effects Shop.\n The contestant competed individually.\n\n The contestant won Face Off.\n The contestant was a runner-up.\n The contestant won a Spotlight Challenge.\n The contestant was part of a team that won a Spotlight Challenge.\n The contestant was in the top in the Spotlight Challenge.\n The contestant was declared one of the best in the Spotlight Challenge but was not in the running for the win.\n The contestant was in the bottom in the Spotlight Challenge.\n The contestant was a teammate of the eliminated contestant in the Spotlight Challenge.\n The contestant was eliminated.\n‡ The contestant was the Foreperson for their shop this challenge.\n\nRecurring people\n McKenzie Westmore - Host\n Michael Westmore - Mentor\n\nJudges\n Ve Neill\n Glenn Hetrick\n Neville Page\n\nEpisodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Face Off at Syfy.com\n\nFace Off (TV series)\n2017 American television seasons"
]
|
[
"Gil Hodges",
"Managerial career"
]
| C_2587d879b8e24f3880c1dff9753ed7e7_1 | Where was he a manager? | 1 | Where was Gil Hodges a manager? | Gil Hodges | After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren - reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism - walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra. In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle. Ralph Kiner retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character. CANNOTANSWER | New York | Gilbert Ray Hodges (né Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges was widely regarded as the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. He held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, with his final total of 370 briefly ranking tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history. A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history, before his death from a sudden heart attack at age 47. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for induction in .
Early years
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and his wife Irene, (nee Horstmeyer). He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven. He was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. Hodges declined a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years (1941–1942 and 1942–1943) at St Joseph's, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football.
He was signed by his agent, Gabriel Levi, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Saint Joseph's. He served in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner in the 16th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, participating in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa, and received a Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism under fire.
Following the war, Hodges also spent time completing course work at Oakland City University, near his hometown, playing basketball for the Mighty Oaks, joining the 1947–48 team after four games (1–3 record); they finished at 9–10. One of his teammates, Bob Lochmueller, would go on to star at the University of Louisville and play in the NBA.
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hodges was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and returned to the Dodgers organization as a catcher with the Newport News Dodgers of the Piedmont League, batting .278 in 129 games as they won the league championship; his teammates included first baseman and future film and television star Chuck Connors.
Hodges was called up to Brooklyn in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He played as a catcher, joining the team's nucleus of Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo. With the emergence of Roy Campanella behind the plate, manager Leo Durocher shifted Hodges to first base. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game Seven, but he struck out. As a rookie in , he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
On June 25, , Hodges hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 runs batted in ranked fourth in the NL, and he tied Hack Wilson's club record for right-handed hitters with 23 home runs. Defensively, he led the NL in putouts (1,336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995). Facing the Yankees again in the Series, he batted only .235 but drove in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1–0 triumph in Game
Two. In game five, he hit a two out, three-run homer in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10–6, but struck out to end the game and the Series.
On August 31, against the Boston Braves, Hodges joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also had seventeen total bases in the game, tied for third in MLB history.
That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and runs batted in (113), and came in eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting. In 1951 he became the first member of the Dodgers to ever hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges recaptured the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the three-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10–0 win; New York won the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in home runs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging percentage (.527), and sixth in runs batted in (103).
Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949 to 1955 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, surpassing him in 1953; Snider moved ahead of Hodges in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in the 1952 campaign and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in runs batted in (102) and slugging (.500).
A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, Hodges was perhaps the only Dodgers regular never booed at their home park Ebbets Field. Fans were supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history: after going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, he also went hitless in all seven games of the 1952 World Series against the Yankees (finishing the Series 0-for-21 at the plate), with Brooklyn losing to the Yankees in the seven games. When Hodges' slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges." Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series. Teammate Carl Erskine, who described himself as a good Baptist, kidded him by saying, "Gil, you just about made a believer out of me."
Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. Johnny Sain was batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning of Game 5 and grounded out, as ruled by first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, is reaching for the ball that is about a foot shy of entering his glove. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.
Hodges ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, finishing fifth in the NL in runs batted in (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit .364; he had three hits, including a homer in the 9–5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under their new manager Walter Alston in 1954, Hodges set the team home run record with 42, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1,381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and runs batted in (130), fifth in total bases (335), and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the Most Valuable Player vote.
The Boys of Summer
In the 1955 season, Hodges' regular-season production declined to a .289 average, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4, Hodges hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead, 4–3, and later had a single that drove in a run as they held off the Yankees, 8–5; he also scored the first run in the Dodgers' 5–3 win in Game 5. In Game 7, he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth inning for a 1–0 lead and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth inning. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2–0 win and their first World Series title in franchise history and their only championship in Brooklyn.
In 1956, Hodges had 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1, he hit a three-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead, 5–2, as they went on to a 6–3 win; he had three hits and four runs batted in during the 13–8 slugfest in Game 2, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7–6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11–7 lead. In Don Larsen's perfect game Hodges struck out, flied to center, and lined to third base, as Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.
In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He finished seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 runs batted in, and leading the league with 1,317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in home runs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September, he drove in the last Dodgers run ever at Ebbets Field, and the last run in Brooklyn history. Hodges was named to his last All-Star team and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting, the highest position in his career.
After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958, Hodges became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling Frank McCormick and Ted Kluszewski; Donn Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. Hodges' totals were 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. He also broke Dolph Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts in 1958.
In 1959, the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 home runs, 80 runs batted in, and a batting average of .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a team other than the Yankees), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5–4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship.
In 1960, Hodges broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career runs batted in leader with 1,254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, from 1957 to 1959.
Return to New York
After being chosen in the 1961 MLB Expansion Draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets and despite knee problems was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, hitting the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in MLB history with 370 home runs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters. He also held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, and held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
Managerial career
After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record.
In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73–89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point.
In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
That year, Hodges led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, the team came back for four straight victories, including two by 2–1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra.
Death and impact
On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Easter Sunday, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost, when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn across the street from Municipal Stadium, then the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, during a game in late September.
Jackie Robinson, himself ill with heart disease and diabetes, told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happened to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson died of a heart attack six months later on October 24 at age 53.
Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick," said Johnny Podres, "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died in Montreal of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."
The wake was held at Torregrossa Funeral Home, on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The funeral was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Midwood, Brooklyn, on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the service.
Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges Jr., Cosell brought him into the back seat of a car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Robinson then held Hodges Jr. and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."
Hodges was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi (b. 1926 in Brooklyn), whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and their children Gil Jr. (b. 1950), Irene, Cynthia and Barbara. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on Opening Day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On June 9, 1973, the Mets again honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.
Accomplishments
Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging percentage, 1,921 hits, 1,274 runs batted in, 1,105 runs, 370 home runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2,071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1,614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed fielding first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1,281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1,363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1,292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1,137 career strikeouts in 1964. When he retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter up to that point in time (surpassed by Willie Mays) and the most career grand slams (14) by a National League player (eclipsed by Willie McCovey). He shares the major league record of having hit four home runs in a single game (only 18 players have ever done so in MLB history).
Legacy
Hodges received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion, in 1969. On April 4, 1978 (what would have been Hodges' 54th birthday), the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting Marine Park, Brooklyn with Rockaway, Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on Shell Road in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, is named Gil Hodges Way. A bowling alley in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, was formerly named Gil Hodges Lanes in his honor.
In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on State Road 57 bear his name. In addition, a Petersburg Little League baseball team is named in his honor, the Hodges Dodgers. In 2009, a mural was dedicated in Petersburg featuring pictures of Hodges as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the New York Mets, and batting at Ebbets Field.
Hodges became an inaugural member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted in the New York State Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Hodges was featured in the documentary Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man, based on the book of the same name by author Marino Amoruso. In November 2021, a 30-minute documentary—The Gil Hodges Story: Soul Of A Champion—was released and features interviews with Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges Jr., and members of the 1969 New York Mets.
Hall of Fame consideration
Background
For decades, there was controversy over Hodges not being selected for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s, and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. However, critics of his candidacy pointed out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the National League in any offensive category such as home runs, runs batted in, or slugging percentage, and never came close to winning a Most Valuable Player award. Additionally, until the election of Tony Pérez in 2000, every first baseman in the Hall had either 500 career home runs or a batting average over .295; at the time of Hodges' death, the BBWAA had only elected two position players (Rabbit Maranville and Roy Campanella) with batting averages below .285. Hodges' not having been voted an MVP may have resulted in part from his having had some of his best seasons (1950, 1954 and 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.
BBWAA candidate
After last playing in the major leagues during the 1963 season, Hodges first appeared on the 1969 ballot, receiving 24.1% of ballots cast by BBWAA electors, with 75% the threshold for election. He was considered annually through the 1983 ballot, his 15th and final ballot appearance under BBWAA rules at the time. He appeared on 63.4% of ballots in 1983 voting, the highest percentage of his candidacy. Hodges collected 3,010 votes cast by the BBWAA from 1969 to 1983, the most votes for an unselected player until surpassed by Jim Rice in 2008, prior to Rice's election the following year.
Veterans Committee candidate
Hodges was considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee starting in 1987. Voting by the committee was held in closed sessions for many years, but results are known for Hodges in voting (61%), (65%), (61%), and (43.8%). Each time, Hodges fell short of the 75% minimum required for election.
Golden Era / Golden Days candidate
In 2011, Hodges became a Golden Era candidate (1947–1972 era) for consideration to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee in 2010. In December 2011, voting by the committee took place during the Hall of Fame's two-day winter meeting in Dallas, Texas. Induction to the Hall requires at least 12 votes (75%) from the 16-member committee. Of 10 candidates, Ron Santo was the only one elected, having received 15 votes; Jim Kaat had 10 votes, and Hodges and Minnie Miñoso were tied with nine votes.
Hodges' next opportunity under the Golden Era Committee was in December 2014, when the committee voted at the MLB winter meeting. Hodges received only three votes, and none of the other eight player candidates on the ballot were elected to the Hall of Fame, including Dick Allen and Tony Oliva, who each fell one vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. In July 2016, the Golden Era committee was succeeded by the Golden Days committee (1950–1969 era).
Hodges was one of 10 nominees named on November 5, 2021 to the Golden Days Era ballot for Hall of Fame consideration. On December 5, the Hall of Fame announced Hodges' election, having received 12 of 16 votes to meet the 75% threshold.
See also
List of lifetime home run leaders through history
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Gold Glove Award winners at first base
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
References
Further reading
Books
Articles
External links
Gil Hodges at the Baseball Hall of Fame
1924 births
1972 deaths
Major League Baseball first basemen
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Mets players
National League All-Stars
Gold Glove Award winners
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Baseball players from Indiana
Newport News Dodgers players
New York Mets managers
Washington Senators (1961–1971) managers
Hod
Major League Baseball managers with retired numbers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Saint Joseph's Pumas baseball players
Saint Joseph's Pumas football players
Saint Joseph's Pumas men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
People from Princeton, Indiana
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn
People from Petersburg, Indiana
People from Midwood, Brooklyn
United States Marines | true | [
"Nils Drube (born 26 February 1978) is a German football manager, who last managed Sportfreunde Lotte.\n\nCareer\n\nPreußen Münster\nAs active player, Drube played for Westfalia Kinderhaus and afterwards worked as a youth coach at the club. Drube joined SC Preußen Münster in 2006 as a youth coach. In 2008, he was appointed as manager for the club's U17 squad. In the summer 2011, he was promoted as U19 manager. In January 2012, Pavel Dochev was appointed as first team manager for Münster, and it was announced, that Drube would be supporting the first team coach alongside his position as U19 manager. Drube enjoyed great success at Münster and led the U19 squad to the seventh place in the table and thus the best finish of the club's history in the junior Bundesliga.\n\nBayer Leverkusen\nHe left Münster at the end of the 2011/12 season, to become U19 manager at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He was the manager until the end of the 2014/15 season, where he got a new role. Peter Hyballa, who was the assistant manager of Drube on the U19 squad, was promoted to manager instead of Drube and Drube was going to assist him from now on. Drube took also over another task, where he was going to be responsible for helping the youth players taking the step up to the first team. From February 2015, Drube was hired as a scout for the first team.\n\nSportfreunde Lotte\nDrube left Leverkusen in August 2018 to become the manager of Sportfreunde Lotte on a two-year contract. He was fired in April 2019 due to continued failure.\n\nReferences\n\n1978 births\nLiving people\nGerman football managers\n3. Liga managers\nSportfreunde Lotte managers",
"Laurent Hatton (born 28 September 1962) is a French football manager who is last known to have managed Poissy.\n\nCareer\n\nIn 1988, Hatton was appointed manager of French sixth division side Pacy Ménilless, helping them earn promotion to the French third division. In 2004, he was appointed youth manager of Al-Rayyan in Qatar. In 2007, he returned to French fourth division club Pacy Ménilless, helping them earn promotion to the French third division. In 2012, Hatton was appointed manager of Quevilly-Rouen in the French third division. In 2015, he was appointed assistant manager of Guinea, where he said, ¨The selection is made by the federation but not by the coaches.¨ In 2017, Hatton was appointed manager of Indonesian team Persikabo 1973. In 2017, he was appointed manager of Poissy in France.\n\nReferences\n\n1962 births\nLiving people\nFrench football managers"
]
|
[
"Gil Hodges",
"Managerial career",
"Where was he a manager?",
"New York"
]
| C_2587d879b8e24f3880c1dff9753ed7e7_1 | When was he a manager? | 2 | When was Gil Hodges a manager? | Gil Hodges | After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren - reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism - walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra. In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle. Ralph Kiner retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character. CANNOTANSWER | In 1968 | Gilbert Ray Hodges (né Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges was widely regarded as the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. He held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, with his final total of 370 briefly ranking tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history. A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history, before his death from a sudden heart attack at age 47. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for induction in .
Early years
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and his wife Irene, (nee Horstmeyer). He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven. He was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. Hodges declined a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years (1941–1942 and 1942–1943) at St Joseph's, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football.
He was signed by his agent, Gabriel Levi, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Saint Joseph's. He served in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner in the 16th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, participating in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa, and received a Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism under fire.
Following the war, Hodges also spent time completing course work at Oakland City University, near his hometown, playing basketball for the Mighty Oaks, joining the 1947–48 team after four games (1–3 record); they finished at 9–10. One of his teammates, Bob Lochmueller, would go on to star at the University of Louisville and play in the NBA.
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hodges was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and returned to the Dodgers organization as a catcher with the Newport News Dodgers of the Piedmont League, batting .278 in 129 games as they won the league championship; his teammates included first baseman and future film and television star Chuck Connors.
Hodges was called up to Brooklyn in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He played as a catcher, joining the team's nucleus of Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo. With the emergence of Roy Campanella behind the plate, manager Leo Durocher shifted Hodges to first base. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game Seven, but he struck out. As a rookie in , he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
On June 25, , Hodges hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 runs batted in ranked fourth in the NL, and he tied Hack Wilson's club record for right-handed hitters with 23 home runs. Defensively, he led the NL in putouts (1,336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995). Facing the Yankees again in the Series, he batted only .235 but drove in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1–0 triumph in Game
Two. In game five, he hit a two out, three-run homer in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10–6, but struck out to end the game and the Series.
On August 31, against the Boston Braves, Hodges joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also had seventeen total bases in the game, tied for third in MLB history.
That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and runs batted in (113), and came in eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting. In 1951 he became the first member of the Dodgers to ever hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges recaptured the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the three-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10–0 win; New York won the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in home runs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging percentage (.527), and sixth in runs batted in (103).
Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949 to 1955 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, surpassing him in 1953; Snider moved ahead of Hodges in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in the 1952 campaign and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in runs batted in (102) and slugging (.500).
A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, Hodges was perhaps the only Dodgers regular never booed at their home park Ebbets Field. Fans were supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history: after going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, he also went hitless in all seven games of the 1952 World Series against the Yankees (finishing the Series 0-for-21 at the plate), with Brooklyn losing to the Yankees in the seven games. When Hodges' slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges." Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series. Teammate Carl Erskine, who described himself as a good Baptist, kidded him by saying, "Gil, you just about made a believer out of me."
Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. Johnny Sain was batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning of Game 5 and grounded out, as ruled by first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, is reaching for the ball that is about a foot shy of entering his glove. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.
Hodges ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, finishing fifth in the NL in runs batted in (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit .364; he had three hits, including a homer in the 9–5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under their new manager Walter Alston in 1954, Hodges set the team home run record with 42, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1,381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and runs batted in (130), fifth in total bases (335), and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the Most Valuable Player vote.
The Boys of Summer
In the 1955 season, Hodges' regular-season production declined to a .289 average, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4, Hodges hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead, 4–3, and later had a single that drove in a run as they held off the Yankees, 8–5; he also scored the first run in the Dodgers' 5–3 win in Game 5. In Game 7, he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth inning for a 1–0 lead and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth inning. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2–0 win and their first World Series title in franchise history and their only championship in Brooklyn.
In 1956, Hodges had 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1, he hit a three-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead, 5–2, as they went on to a 6–3 win; he had three hits and four runs batted in during the 13–8 slugfest in Game 2, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7–6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11–7 lead. In Don Larsen's perfect game Hodges struck out, flied to center, and lined to third base, as Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.
In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He finished seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 runs batted in, and leading the league with 1,317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in home runs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September, he drove in the last Dodgers run ever at Ebbets Field, and the last run in Brooklyn history. Hodges was named to his last All-Star team and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting, the highest position in his career.
After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958, Hodges became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling Frank McCormick and Ted Kluszewski; Donn Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. Hodges' totals were 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. He also broke Dolph Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts in 1958.
In 1959, the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 home runs, 80 runs batted in, and a batting average of .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a team other than the Yankees), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5–4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship.
In 1960, Hodges broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career runs batted in leader with 1,254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, from 1957 to 1959.
Return to New York
After being chosen in the 1961 MLB Expansion Draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets and despite knee problems was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, hitting the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in MLB history with 370 home runs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters. He also held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, and held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
Managerial career
After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record.
In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73–89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point.
In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
That year, Hodges led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, the team came back for four straight victories, including two by 2–1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra.
Death and impact
On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Easter Sunday, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost, when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn across the street from Municipal Stadium, then the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, during a game in late September.
Jackie Robinson, himself ill with heart disease and diabetes, told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happened to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson died of a heart attack six months later on October 24 at age 53.
Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick," said Johnny Podres, "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died in Montreal of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."
The wake was held at Torregrossa Funeral Home, on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The funeral was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Midwood, Brooklyn, on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the service.
Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges Jr., Cosell brought him into the back seat of a car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Robinson then held Hodges Jr. and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."
Hodges was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi (b. 1926 in Brooklyn), whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and their children Gil Jr. (b. 1950), Irene, Cynthia and Barbara. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on Opening Day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On June 9, 1973, the Mets again honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.
Accomplishments
Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging percentage, 1,921 hits, 1,274 runs batted in, 1,105 runs, 370 home runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2,071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1,614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed fielding first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1,281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1,363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1,292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1,137 career strikeouts in 1964. When he retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter up to that point in time (surpassed by Willie Mays) and the most career grand slams (14) by a National League player (eclipsed by Willie McCovey). He shares the major league record of having hit four home runs in a single game (only 18 players have ever done so in MLB history).
Legacy
Hodges received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion, in 1969. On April 4, 1978 (what would have been Hodges' 54th birthday), the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting Marine Park, Brooklyn with Rockaway, Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on Shell Road in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, is named Gil Hodges Way. A bowling alley in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, was formerly named Gil Hodges Lanes in his honor.
In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on State Road 57 bear his name. In addition, a Petersburg Little League baseball team is named in his honor, the Hodges Dodgers. In 2009, a mural was dedicated in Petersburg featuring pictures of Hodges as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the New York Mets, and batting at Ebbets Field.
Hodges became an inaugural member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted in the New York State Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Hodges was featured in the documentary Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man, based on the book of the same name by author Marino Amoruso. In November 2021, a 30-minute documentary—The Gil Hodges Story: Soul Of A Champion—was released and features interviews with Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges Jr., and members of the 1969 New York Mets.
Hall of Fame consideration
Background
For decades, there was controversy over Hodges not being selected for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s, and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. However, critics of his candidacy pointed out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the National League in any offensive category such as home runs, runs batted in, or slugging percentage, and never came close to winning a Most Valuable Player award. Additionally, until the election of Tony Pérez in 2000, every first baseman in the Hall had either 500 career home runs or a batting average over .295; at the time of Hodges' death, the BBWAA had only elected two position players (Rabbit Maranville and Roy Campanella) with batting averages below .285. Hodges' not having been voted an MVP may have resulted in part from his having had some of his best seasons (1950, 1954 and 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.
BBWAA candidate
After last playing in the major leagues during the 1963 season, Hodges first appeared on the 1969 ballot, receiving 24.1% of ballots cast by BBWAA electors, with 75% the threshold for election. He was considered annually through the 1983 ballot, his 15th and final ballot appearance under BBWAA rules at the time. He appeared on 63.4% of ballots in 1983 voting, the highest percentage of his candidacy. Hodges collected 3,010 votes cast by the BBWAA from 1969 to 1983, the most votes for an unselected player until surpassed by Jim Rice in 2008, prior to Rice's election the following year.
Veterans Committee candidate
Hodges was considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee starting in 1987. Voting by the committee was held in closed sessions for many years, but results are known for Hodges in voting (61%), (65%), (61%), and (43.8%). Each time, Hodges fell short of the 75% minimum required for election.
Golden Era / Golden Days candidate
In 2011, Hodges became a Golden Era candidate (1947–1972 era) for consideration to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee in 2010. In December 2011, voting by the committee took place during the Hall of Fame's two-day winter meeting in Dallas, Texas. Induction to the Hall requires at least 12 votes (75%) from the 16-member committee. Of 10 candidates, Ron Santo was the only one elected, having received 15 votes; Jim Kaat had 10 votes, and Hodges and Minnie Miñoso were tied with nine votes.
Hodges' next opportunity under the Golden Era Committee was in December 2014, when the committee voted at the MLB winter meeting. Hodges received only three votes, and none of the other eight player candidates on the ballot were elected to the Hall of Fame, including Dick Allen and Tony Oliva, who each fell one vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. In July 2016, the Golden Era committee was succeeded by the Golden Days committee (1950–1969 era).
Hodges was one of 10 nominees named on November 5, 2021 to the Golden Days Era ballot for Hall of Fame consideration. On December 5, the Hall of Fame announced Hodges' election, having received 12 of 16 votes to meet the 75% threshold.
See also
List of lifetime home run leaders through history
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Gold Glove Award winners at first base
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
References
Further reading
Books
Articles
External links
Gil Hodges at the Baseball Hall of Fame
1924 births
1972 deaths
Major League Baseball first basemen
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Mets players
National League All-Stars
Gold Glove Award winners
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Baseball players from Indiana
Newport News Dodgers players
New York Mets managers
Washington Senators (1961–1971) managers
Hod
Major League Baseball managers with retired numbers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Saint Joseph's Pumas baseball players
Saint Joseph's Pumas football players
Saint Joseph's Pumas men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
People from Princeton, Indiana
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn
People from Petersburg, Indiana
People from Midwood, Brooklyn
United States Marines | true | [
"Paweł Barylski (born 20 September 1975) is a Polish football coach. Usually an assistant manager, he was the interim manager of Śląsk Wrocław on three occasions. He most recently was in charge of I liga side Górnik Polkowice.\n\nFootball\n\nBarylski played for MKS Łodzianka, but retired at the age of 24 when he realised he was not good enough for a career in football. After retiring from football, Barylski held positions with the Lotnik Wrocław youth team and the Gawina Królewska Wola reserve side. In 2010 Barylski became interim manager in 2010, before becoming the assistant manager of Śląsk Wrocław when Orest Lenczyk was appointed. After Lenczyk was sacked in 2012, Barylski became the interim manager again. After being part of the coaching staff, Barylski once again became the assistant manager with the newly appointed Tadeusz Pawłowski and kept his position when Romuald Szukiełowicz was manager of Śląsk. In 2016 Barylski joined the coaching staff of Miedź Legnica for a season, becoming the assistant manager to Ryszard Tarasiewicz. After Tarasiewicz was sacked by Miedź, Barylski once again joined Śląsk Wrocław in 2018, teaming up with Tadeusz Pawłowski for the second time. After Pawłowski was sacked by Śląsk, Barylski became the interim manager for the third time.\n\nReferences\n\n1975 births\nLiving people\nPolish football managers\nŚląsk Wrocław managers\nSportspeople from Łódź",
"Konrad Fünfstück (born 7 October 1980) is a German football manager and former player. He manages Werder Bremen's reserves.\n\nHis first major role was the job as the first team manager of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He held this role from September 2015 when he replaced Kosta Runjaic until he was released in May 2016. He next managed Swiss Super League side FC Wil.\n\nManagerial career\n\nEarly career\nInitially, Fünfstück worked at VfB Pößneck having ended his playing career due to injury. At Pößneck, he was the kids team manager. In July 2002, he left VfB Pößneck to join SpVgg Greuther Fürth as the youth team manager. He stayed as the manager until 2006, when he became Fürth's youth director. Albeit taking charge of the youth team once more in 2010, Fünfstück remained in this post until June 2011, when he once again moved upstairs to become the new manager of SpVgg Greuther Fürth II.\n\nThis was the post he remained in until the end of 2012. During his time with Fürth II, they played in the Regionalliga Bayern.\n\n1. FC Kaiserslautern\nFünfstück left Greuther Fürth to join 1.FC Kaiserslautern, where he would become their reserve team manager and head of youth development. When Kosta Runjaic left the club in September 2015, Fünfstück was announced the new first team manager. His first game in charge was a 2-1 away win over VfL Bochum. By the end of the 2015–16 season Fünfstück was released from his contract.\n\nFC Wil\nIn June 2017 he was named new manager of Swiss club FC Wil.\n\nWerder Bremen\nIn May 2019, it was announced Fünfstück would manage Werder Bremen's reserves in the 2019–20 season.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nLiving people\n1980 births\nPeople from Bayreuth\nGerman football managers\n1. FC Kaiserslautern managers\nSV Werder Bremen II managers\n2. Bundesliga managers"
]
|
[
"Gil Hodges",
"Managerial career",
"Where was he a manager?",
"New York",
"When was he a manager?",
"In 1968"
]
| C_2587d879b8e24f3880c1dff9753ed7e7_1 | Did they win? | 3 | Did Gil Hodges win in 1968? | Gil Hodges | After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren - reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism - walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra. In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle. Ralph Kiner retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character. CANNOTANSWER | the team only posted a 73-89 record | Gilbert Ray Hodges (né Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges was widely regarded as the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. He held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, with his final total of 370 briefly ranking tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history. A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history, before his death from a sudden heart attack at age 47. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for induction in .
Early years
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and his wife Irene, (nee Horstmeyer). He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven. He was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. Hodges declined a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years (1941–1942 and 1942–1943) at St Joseph's, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football.
He was signed by his agent, Gabriel Levi, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Saint Joseph's. He served in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner in the 16th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, participating in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa, and received a Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism under fire.
Following the war, Hodges also spent time completing course work at Oakland City University, near his hometown, playing basketball for the Mighty Oaks, joining the 1947–48 team after four games (1–3 record); they finished at 9–10. One of his teammates, Bob Lochmueller, would go on to star at the University of Louisville and play in the NBA.
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hodges was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and returned to the Dodgers organization as a catcher with the Newport News Dodgers of the Piedmont League, batting .278 in 129 games as they won the league championship; his teammates included first baseman and future film and television star Chuck Connors.
Hodges was called up to Brooklyn in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He played as a catcher, joining the team's nucleus of Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo. With the emergence of Roy Campanella behind the plate, manager Leo Durocher shifted Hodges to first base. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game Seven, but he struck out. As a rookie in , he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
On June 25, , Hodges hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 runs batted in ranked fourth in the NL, and he tied Hack Wilson's club record for right-handed hitters with 23 home runs. Defensively, he led the NL in putouts (1,336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995). Facing the Yankees again in the Series, he batted only .235 but drove in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1–0 triumph in Game
Two. In game five, he hit a two out, three-run homer in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10–6, but struck out to end the game and the Series.
On August 31, against the Boston Braves, Hodges joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also had seventeen total bases in the game, tied for third in MLB history.
That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and runs batted in (113), and came in eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting. In 1951 he became the first member of the Dodgers to ever hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges recaptured the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the three-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10–0 win; New York won the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in home runs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging percentage (.527), and sixth in runs batted in (103).
Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949 to 1955 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, surpassing him in 1953; Snider moved ahead of Hodges in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in the 1952 campaign and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in runs batted in (102) and slugging (.500).
A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, Hodges was perhaps the only Dodgers regular never booed at their home park Ebbets Field. Fans were supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history: after going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, he also went hitless in all seven games of the 1952 World Series against the Yankees (finishing the Series 0-for-21 at the plate), with Brooklyn losing to the Yankees in the seven games. When Hodges' slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges." Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series. Teammate Carl Erskine, who described himself as a good Baptist, kidded him by saying, "Gil, you just about made a believer out of me."
Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. Johnny Sain was batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning of Game 5 and grounded out, as ruled by first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, is reaching for the ball that is about a foot shy of entering his glove. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.
Hodges ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, finishing fifth in the NL in runs batted in (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit .364; he had three hits, including a homer in the 9–5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under their new manager Walter Alston in 1954, Hodges set the team home run record with 42, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1,381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and runs batted in (130), fifth in total bases (335), and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the Most Valuable Player vote.
The Boys of Summer
In the 1955 season, Hodges' regular-season production declined to a .289 average, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4, Hodges hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead, 4–3, and later had a single that drove in a run as they held off the Yankees, 8–5; he also scored the first run in the Dodgers' 5–3 win in Game 5. In Game 7, he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth inning for a 1–0 lead and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth inning. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2–0 win and their first World Series title in franchise history and their only championship in Brooklyn.
In 1956, Hodges had 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1, he hit a three-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead, 5–2, as they went on to a 6–3 win; he had three hits and four runs batted in during the 13–8 slugfest in Game 2, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7–6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11–7 lead. In Don Larsen's perfect game Hodges struck out, flied to center, and lined to third base, as Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.
In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He finished seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 runs batted in, and leading the league with 1,317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in home runs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September, he drove in the last Dodgers run ever at Ebbets Field, and the last run in Brooklyn history. Hodges was named to his last All-Star team and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting, the highest position in his career.
After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958, Hodges became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling Frank McCormick and Ted Kluszewski; Donn Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. Hodges' totals were 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. He also broke Dolph Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts in 1958.
In 1959, the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 home runs, 80 runs batted in, and a batting average of .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a team other than the Yankees), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5–4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship.
In 1960, Hodges broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career runs batted in leader with 1,254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, from 1957 to 1959.
Return to New York
After being chosen in the 1961 MLB Expansion Draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets and despite knee problems was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, hitting the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in MLB history with 370 home runs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters. He also held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, and held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
Managerial career
After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record.
In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73–89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point.
In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
That year, Hodges led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, the team came back for four straight victories, including two by 2–1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra.
Death and impact
On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Easter Sunday, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost, when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn across the street from Municipal Stadium, then the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, during a game in late September.
Jackie Robinson, himself ill with heart disease and diabetes, told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happened to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson died of a heart attack six months later on October 24 at age 53.
Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick," said Johnny Podres, "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died in Montreal of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."
The wake was held at Torregrossa Funeral Home, on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The funeral was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Midwood, Brooklyn, on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the service.
Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges Jr., Cosell brought him into the back seat of a car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Robinson then held Hodges Jr. and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."
Hodges was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi (b. 1926 in Brooklyn), whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and their children Gil Jr. (b. 1950), Irene, Cynthia and Barbara. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on Opening Day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On June 9, 1973, the Mets again honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.
Accomplishments
Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging percentage, 1,921 hits, 1,274 runs batted in, 1,105 runs, 370 home runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2,071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1,614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed fielding first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1,281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1,363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1,292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1,137 career strikeouts in 1964. When he retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter up to that point in time (surpassed by Willie Mays) and the most career grand slams (14) by a National League player (eclipsed by Willie McCovey). He shares the major league record of having hit four home runs in a single game (only 18 players have ever done so in MLB history).
Legacy
Hodges received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion, in 1969. On April 4, 1978 (what would have been Hodges' 54th birthday), the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting Marine Park, Brooklyn with Rockaway, Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on Shell Road in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, is named Gil Hodges Way. A bowling alley in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, was formerly named Gil Hodges Lanes in his honor.
In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on State Road 57 bear his name. In addition, a Petersburg Little League baseball team is named in his honor, the Hodges Dodgers. In 2009, a mural was dedicated in Petersburg featuring pictures of Hodges as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the New York Mets, and batting at Ebbets Field.
Hodges became an inaugural member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted in the New York State Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Hodges was featured in the documentary Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man, based on the book of the same name by author Marino Amoruso. In November 2021, a 30-minute documentary—The Gil Hodges Story: Soul Of A Champion—was released and features interviews with Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges Jr., and members of the 1969 New York Mets.
Hall of Fame consideration
Background
For decades, there was controversy over Hodges not being selected for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s, and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. However, critics of his candidacy pointed out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the National League in any offensive category such as home runs, runs batted in, or slugging percentage, and never came close to winning a Most Valuable Player award. Additionally, until the election of Tony Pérez in 2000, every first baseman in the Hall had either 500 career home runs or a batting average over .295; at the time of Hodges' death, the BBWAA had only elected two position players (Rabbit Maranville and Roy Campanella) with batting averages below .285. Hodges' not having been voted an MVP may have resulted in part from his having had some of his best seasons (1950, 1954 and 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.
BBWAA candidate
After last playing in the major leagues during the 1963 season, Hodges first appeared on the 1969 ballot, receiving 24.1% of ballots cast by BBWAA electors, with 75% the threshold for election. He was considered annually through the 1983 ballot, his 15th and final ballot appearance under BBWAA rules at the time. He appeared on 63.4% of ballots in 1983 voting, the highest percentage of his candidacy. Hodges collected 3,010 votes cast by the BBWAA from 1969 to 1983, the most votes for an unselected player until surpassed by Jim Rice in 2008, prior to Rice's election the following year.
Veterans Committee candidate
Hodges was considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee starting in 1987. Voting by the committee was held in closed sessions for many years, but results are known for Hodges in voting (61%), (65%), (61%), and (43.8%). Each time, Hodges fell short of the 75% minimum required for election.
Golden Era / Golden Days candidate
In 2011, Hodges became a Golden Era candidate (1947–1972 era) for consideration to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee in 2010. In December 2011, voting by the committee took place during the Hall of Fame's two-day winter meeting in Dallas, Texas. Induction to the Hall requires at least 12 votes (75%) from the 16-member committee. Of 10 candidates, Ron Santo was the only one elected, having received 15 votes; Jim Kaat had 10 votes, and Hodges and Minnie Miñoso were tied with nine votes.
Hodges' next opportunity under the Golden Era Committee was in December 2014, when the committee voted at the MLB winter meeting. Hodges received only three votes, and none of the other eight player candidates on the ballot were elected to the Hall of Fame, including Dick Allen and Tony Oliva, who each fell one vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. In July 2016, the Golden Era committee was succeeded by the Golden Days committee (1950–1969 era).
Hodges was one of 10 nominees named on November 5, 2021 to the Golden Days Era ballot for Hall of Fame consideration. On December 5, the Hall of Fame announced Hodges' election, having received 12 of 16 votes to meet the 75% threshold.
See also
List of lifetime home run leaders through history
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Gold Glove Award winners at first base
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
References
Further reading
Books
Articles
External links
Gil Hodges at the Baseball Hall of Fame
1924 births
1972 deaths
Major League Baseball first basemen
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Mets players
National League All-Stars
Gold Glove Award winners
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Baseball players from Indiana
Newport News Dodgers players
New York Mets managers
Washington Senators (1961–1971) managers
Hod
Major League Baseball managers with retired numbers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Saint Joseph's Pumas baseball players
Saint Joseph's Pumas football players
Saint Joseph's Pumas men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
People from Princeton, Indiana
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn
People from Petersburg, Indiana
People from Midwood, Brooklyn
United States Marines | false | [
"The Gilleys Shield is a trophy symbolising the Open Women's Championship of the Softball Australia organisation (formerly known as the Australian Softball Federation). The competition's full name is the Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nHistory \nIn 1947, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria participated in the first interstate softball competition in the country. The competition was eventually called the Mack Gilley Shield. For the 2009–2010 season the Shield will for the first time admit the New Zealand White Sox team to the competition.\n\nWinners \nBetween 1947 and 1968, New South Wales did not win a single Mack Gilley Shield. They finally won in 1969, repeating their first-place finish again in 1973, 1981 when they shared the title with Victoria, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993. Between the start of the competition and 1995, New South Wales won a total of nine Gilley Shields. This total ranked them third amongst all states.\n\nQueensland won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1963, 1966 and 1968. They won again in 1975, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1992 and 1994. In 2012, Queensland finished third in the Gilley Shield. Between the start of the competition and 1995, Queensland won a total of ten Gilley Shields. This total ranked them second amongst all states.\n\nVictoria won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1951. They won it again in 1954, 1957 and 1958. They did not win in 1959 but won again in 1960, 1961 and 1962. Queensland won in 1963, but Victoria won again in 1964 and 1965 and 1967. Victoria went on to win again in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, and shared the title with New South Wales in 1981. They won again in 1982, and 1985. Between the start of the competition and 1995, Victoria won a total of twenty-two Gilley Shields if the 1981 tie with New South Wales is counted. This was twelve more than any other state.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1994, Tasmania did not win a single Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nSouth Australia won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1956. Between 1957 and 1994, they did not win another championship.\n\nWestern Australia won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1952 and 1953. They did not win in 1954 but won it again in 1955. They missed out in winning from 1956 to 1958, before winning again in 1959. They did not win another championship between 1960 and 1994.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1968, the Australian Capital Territory did not win the Mack Gilley Shield. They finally broke their losing streak by winning in 1978, 1979 and 1980. They did not win again between 1981 and 1994.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1968, the Northern Territory did not win the Mack Gilley Shield. They did not win between 1969 and 1994.\n\nHosting \nNew South Wales hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Sydney in 1950, 1955, 1961, and 1968. Queensland hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Brisbane in 1947, 1953, 1959 and 1966. Victoria hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Melbourne in 1949, 1954, 1960 and 1967. Tasmania hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Hobart in 1958, 1964 and 1985. South Australia hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Adelaide in 1951, 1956, and 1962. Western Australia hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Perth in 1952, 1957, and 1963. The Australian Capital Territory hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Canberra in 1965. Between 1947 and 1968, the Northern Territory did not host the Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nGilleys Shield Awards \nThere are several awards connected with the Shield including the Midge Nelson Medal for the competition's most valuable player, the Lorraine Woolley Medal for pitching and the Sybil turner Medal for the best batting. In 1985, the Nelson Medal was won by K. Dienelt of the Northern Territory and the Woolley Medal was won by L. Evans of Victoria. In 1986, the Nelson Medal was won by H. Strauss of Queensland and the Woolley Medal was won by C. Bruce of New South Wales. In 1987, the Nelson Medal was won by K. Dienelt of the Northern Territory and the Woolley Medal was won by C. Cunderson of Queensland. 1988 was the first year all three medals were awarded. They were won respectively by L. Ward of New South Wales, M. Roche of New South Wales and V. Grant of Western Australia. In 1989, they respectively went to L. Loughman of Victoria, M. Rouche of New South Wales and L. Martin of South Australia. In 1990, they went to K, McCracken of Victoria, M. Rouche of New South Wales, and G. Ledingham of New South Wales.\n\nAWARD NAMES\nMidge Nelson Medal – Most Valuable Player\nRosemary Adey Medal – Rookie of the Year\nLorraine Woolley Medal – Best Pitcher\nSybil Turner Medal – Best Batter\n\nPrevious Individual Award Winners \n2003\nMost Valuable Player – Tanya Harding (QLD)\nRookie of the Year – Melanie Dunne (QLD)\nBest Pitcher – Kelly Hardie (QLD)\nBest Batter – Kerrie Sheehan (NSW)\n2004\nMost Valuable Player – Tanya Harding (QLD\nRookie of the Year – Kylie Cronk (QLD)\nBest Pitcher – Brooke Wilkins (QLD)\nBest Batter – Natalie Titcume (VIC)\n2005\nMost Valuable Player – Natalie Titcume (VIC)\nRookie of the Year – Krystle Rivers (WA)\nBest Pitcher – Jocelyn McCallum (QLD)\nBest Batter – Amanda Doman (QLD)\n2006\nMost Valuable Player – Amanda Doman (QLD)\nRookie of the Year – Nicole Smith (ACT)\nBest Pitcher – Kelly Hardie (QLD)\nBest Batter – Stacey Porter (NSW)\n\nSee also \nSoftball Australia\nASF National Championships\n\nReferences \n\nSoftball competitions in Australia",
"The African National Congress was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party first contested national elections in 1961, when it received just 0.5% of the vote and failed to win a seat. They did not put forward any candidates for the 1966 elections, but returned for the 1971 elections, in which they received 2.4% of the vote, but again failed to win a seat as the People's National Movement won all 36. The party did not contest any further elections.\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct political parties in Trinidad and Tobago"
]
|
[
"Gil Hodges",
"Managerial career",
"Where was he a manager?",
"New York",
"When was he a manager?",
"In 1968",
"Did they win?",
"the team only posted a 73-89 record"
]
| C_2587d879b8e24f3880c1dff9753ed7e7_1 | Did anything notable happen while he was a manager? | 4 | Other than Gil Hodges' 73-89 record in 1968, Did anything notable happen while he was a manager? | Gil Hodges | After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren - reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism - walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra. In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle. Ralph Kiner retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character. CANNOTANSWER | In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, | Gilbert Ray Hodges (né Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges was widely regarded as the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. He held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, with his final total of 370 briefly ranking tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history. A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history, before his death from a sudden heart attack at age 47. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for induction in .
Early years
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and his wife Irene, (nee Horstmeyer). He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven. He was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. Hodges declined a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years (1941–1942 and 1942–1943) at St Joseph's, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football.
He was signed by his agent, Gabriel Levi, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Saint Joseph's. He served in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner in the 16th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, participating in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa, and received a Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism under fire.
Following the war, Hodges also spent time completing course work at Oakland City University, near his hometown, playing basketball for the Mighty Oaks, joining the 1947–48 team after four games (1–3 record); they finished at 9–10. One of his teammates, Bob Lochmueller, would go on to star at the University of Louisville and play in the NBA.
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hodges was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and returned to the Dodgers organization as a catcher with the Newport News Dodgers of the Piedmont League, batting .278 in 129 games as they won the league championship; his teammates included first baseman and future film and television star Chuck Connors.
Hodges was called up to Brooklyn in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He played as a catcher, joining the team's nucleus of Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo. With the emergence of Roy Campanella behind the plate, manager Leo Durocher shifted Hodges to first base. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game Seven, but he struck out. As a rookie in , he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
On June 25, , Hodges hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 runs batted in ranked fourth in the NL, and he tied Hack Wilson's club record for right-handed hitters with 23 home runs. Defensively, he led the NL in putouts (1,336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995). Facing the Yankees again in the Series, he batted only .235 but drove in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1–0 triumph in Game
Two. In game five, he hit a two out, three-run homer in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10–6, but struck out to end the game and the Series.
On August 31, against the Boston Braves, Hodges joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also had seventeen total bases in the game, tied for third in MLB history.
That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and runs batted in (113), and came in eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting. In 1951 he became the first member of the Dodgers to ever hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges recaptured the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the three-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10–0 win; New York won the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in home runs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging percentage (.527), and sixth in runs batted in (103).
Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949 to 1955 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, surpassing him in 1953; Snider moved ahead of Hodges in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in the 1952 campaign and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in runs batted in (102) and slugging (.500).
A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, Hodges was perhaps the only Dodgers regular never booed at their home park Ebbets Field. Fans were supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history: after going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, he also went hitless in all seven games of the 1952 World Series against the Yankees (finishing the Series 0-for-21 at the plate), with Brooklyn losing to the Yankees in the seven games. When Hodges' slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges." Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series. Teammate Carl Erskine, who described himself as a good Baptist, kidded him by saying, "Gil, you just about made a believer out of me."
Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. Johnny Sain was batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning of Game 5 and grounded out, as ruled by first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, is reaching for the ball that is about a foot shy of entering his glove. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.
Hodges ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, finishing fifth in the NL in runs batted in (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit .364; he had three hits, including a homer in the 9–5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under their new manager Walter Alston in 1954, Hodges set the team home run record with 42, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1,381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and runs batted in (130), fifth in total bases (335), and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the Most Valuable Player vote.
The Boys of Summer
In the 1955 season, Hodges' regular-season production declined to a .289 average, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4, Hodges hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead, 4–3, and later had a single that drove in a run as they held off the Yankees, 8–5; he also scored the first run in the Dodgers' 5–3 win in Game 5. In Game 7, he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth inning for a 1–0 lead and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth inning. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2–0 win and their first World Series title in franchise history and their only championship in Brooklyn.
In 1956, Hodges had 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1, he hit a three-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead, 5–2, as they went on to a 6–3 win; he had three hits and four runs batted in during the 13–8 slugfest in Game 2, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7–6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11–7 lead. In Don Larsen's perfect game Hodges struck out, flied to center, and lined to third base, as Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.
In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He finished seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 runs batted in, and leading the league with 1,317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in home runs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September, he drove in the last Dodgers run ever at Ebbets Field, and the last run in Brooklyn history. Hodges was named to his last All-Star team and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting, the highest position in his career.
After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958, Hodges became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling Frank McCormick and Ted Kluszewski; Donn Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. Hodges' totals were 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. He also broke Dolph Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts in 1958.
In 1959, the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 home runs, 80 runs batted in, and a batting average of .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a team other than the Yankees), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5–4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship.
In 1960, Hodges broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career runs batted in leader with 1,254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, from 1957 to 1959.
Return to New York
After being chosen in the 1961 MLB Expansion Draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets and despite knee problems was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, hitting the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in MLB history with 370 home runs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters. He also held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, and held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
Managerial career
After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record.
In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73–89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point.
In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
That year, Hodges led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, the team came back for four straight victories, including two by 2–1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra.
Death and impact
On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Easter Sunday, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost, when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn across the street from Municipal Stadium, then the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, during a game in late September.
Jackie Robinson, himself ill with heart disease and diabetes, told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happened to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson died of a heart attack six months later on October 24 at age 53.
Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick," said Johnny Podres, "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died in Montreal of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."
The wake was held at Torregrossa Funeral Home, on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The funeral was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Midwood, Brooklyn, on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the service.
Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges Jr., Cosell brought him into the back seat of a car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Robinson then held Hodges Jr. and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."
Hodges was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi (b. 1926 in Brooklyn), whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and their children Gil Jr. (b. 1950), Irene, Cynthia and Barbara. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on Opening Day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On June 9, 1973, the Mets again honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.
Accomplishments
Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging percentage, 1,921 hits, 1,274 runs batted in, 1,105 runs, 370 home runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2,071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1,614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed fielding first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1,281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1,363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1,292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1,137 career strikeouts in 1964. When he retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter up to that point in time (surpassed by Willie Mays) and the most career grand slams (14) by a National League player (eclipsed by Willie McCovey). He shares the major league record of having hit four home runs in a single game (only 18 players have ever done so in MLB history).
Legacy
Hodges received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion, in 1969. On April 4, 1978 (what would have been Hodges' 54th birthday), the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting Marine Park, Brooklyn with Rockaway, Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on Shell Road in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, is named Gil Hodges Way. A bowling alley in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, was formerly named Gil Hodges Lanes in his honor.
In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on State Road 57 bear his name. In addition, a Petersburg Little League baseball team is named in his honor, the Hodges Dodgers. In 2009, a mural was dedicated in Petersburg featuring pictures of Hodges as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the New York Mets, and batting at Ebbets Field.
Hodges became an inaugural member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted in the New York State Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Hodges was featured in the documentary Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man, based on the book of the same name by author Marino Amoruso. In November 2021, a 30-minute documentary—The Gil Hodges Story: Soul Of A Champion—was released and features interviews with Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges Jr., and members of the 1969 New York Mets.
Hall of Fame consideration
Background
For decades, there was controversy over Hodges not being selected for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s, and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. However, critics of his candidacy pointed out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the National League in any offensive category such as home runs, runs batted in, or slugging percentage, and never came close to winning a Most Valuable Player award. Additionally, until the election of Tony Pérez in 2000, every first baseman in the Hall had either 500 career home runs or a batting average over .295; at the time of Hodges' death, the BBWAA had only elected two position players (Rabbit Maranville and Roy Campanella) with batting averages below .285. Hodges' not having been voted an MVP may have resulted in part from his having had some of his best seasons (1950, 1954 and 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.
BBWAA candidate
After last playing in the major leagues during the 1963 season, Hodges first appeared on the 1969 ballot, receiving 24.1% of ballots cast by BBWAA electors, with 75% the threshold for election. He was considered annually through the 1983 ballot, his 15th and final ballot appearance under BBWAA rules at the time. He appeared on 63.4% of ballots in 1983 voting, the highest percentage of his candidacy. Hodges collected 3,010 votes cast by the BBWAA from 1969 to 1983, the most votes for an unselected player until surpassed by Jim Rice in 2008, prior to Rice's election the following year.
Veterans Committee candidate
Hodges was considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee starting in 1987. Voting by the committee was held in closed sessions for many years, but results are known for Hodges in voting (61%), (65%), (61%), and (43.8%). Each time, Hodges fell short of the 75% minimum required for election.
Golden Era / Golden Days candidate
In 2011, Hodges became a Golden Era candidate (1947–1972 era) for consideration to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee in 2010. In December 2011, voting by the committee took place during the Hall of Fame's two-day winter meeting in Dallas, Texas. Induction to the Hall requires at least 12 votes (75%) from the 16-member committee. Of 10 candidates, Ron Santo was the only one elected, having received 15 votes; Jim Kaat had 10 votes, and Hodges and Minnie Miñoso were tied with nine votes.
Hodges' next opportunity under the Golden Era Committee was in December 2014, when the committee voted at the MLB winter meeting. Hodges received only three votes, and none of the other eight player candidates on the ballot were elected to the Hall of Fame, including Dick Allen and Tony Oliva, who each fell one vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. In July 2016, the Golden Era committee was succeeded by the Golden Days committee (1950–1969 era).
Hodges was one of 10 nominees named on November 5, 2021 to the Golden Days Era ballot for Hall of Fame consideration. On December 5, the Hall of Fame announced Hodges' election, having received 12 of 16 votes to meet the 75% threshold.
See also
List of lifetime home run leaders through history
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Gold Glove Award winners at first base
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
References
Further reading
Books
Articles
External links
Gil Hodges at the Baseball Hall of Fame
1924 births
1972 deaths
Major League Baseball first basemen
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Mets players
National League All-Stars
Gold Glove Award winners
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Baseball players from Indiana
Newport News Dodgers players
New York Mets managers
Washington Senators (1961–1971) managers
Hod
Major League Baseball managers with retired numbers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Saint Joseph's Pumas baseball players
Saint Joseph's Pumas football players
Saint Joseph's Pumas men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
People from Princeton, Indiana
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn
People from Petersburg, Indiana
People from Midwood, Brooklyn
United States Marines | false | [
"\"Anything Could Happen\" is a song by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding from her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). It was released on 17 August 2012 as the album's lead single. Written and produced by Goulding and Jim Eliot of English electropop duo Kish Mauve, the song received positive reviews from music critics. \"Anything Could Happen\" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, \"Anything Could Happen\" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Poland, the top 20 of the charts in Australia, the Czech Republic Ireland and New Zealand and the top 50 of the charts in the United States.\n\nThe accompanying music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi and filmed in Malibu, California. The video depicts Goulding and her on-screen boyfriend getting into a car accident. \"Anything Could Happen\" was used in the Beats by Dre's #ShowYourColor campaign commercial and in the trailer for the second season of the HBO series Girls. The song has been covered by The Script, Fun and Fifth Harmony.\n\nBackground and composition\nGoulding appeared on Fearne Cotton's BBC Radio 1 show on 9 August 2012 for the premiere of the song. She told Cotton, \"I've been with this song a long time and I've had to listen to it a lot to get it just how I wanted it.\"\n\nDuring a behind-the-scenes featurette for the \"Anything Could Happen\" music video, Goulding told MTV News, \"I suppose it's one of those songs where I sort of talk about bits of my childhood, but also about my friendship with this person, and, um, I suppose it's a song of realization [...] And it's called 'Anything Could Happen,' [so] I'm hoping it will make people go out and propose to their girlfriends or go on that holiday they never ended up doing. I hope it will provoke positivity, as opposed to make people really sad.\"\n\nAccording to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, \"Anything Could Happen\" is written in the key of C major and has a moderate tempo of 103 beats per minute. Goulding's vocals span from G3 to E5 in the song.\n\nCritical reception\n\"Anything Could Happen\" received positive reviews from critics, with most praising the lyrical content and Goulding's vocals. Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave \"Anything Could Happen\" four out of five stars, stating, \"'After the war we said we'd fight together/ I guess we thought that's what humans do,' the electro-folk starlet serenades over a booming bass synth and choppy piano, before bursting into a sky-soaring chorus that manages to keep up with her haunting, high-pitched \"ooohs\". The result is a gothic love anthem that, truth be told, we'd happily see replace 'Puppy Love' at wedding receptions for years to come.\" Entertainment Weekly commented that with \"Anything Could Happen\", Goulding \"strikes shimmery synth-pop gold again.\" Erin Thompson of the Seattle Weekly called the song \"lovely\" and \"impactful\", while commending Goulding for \"writing songs that unfold like stories\". \"Anything Could Happen\" was ranked number 84 by the Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll.\n\nCommercial performance\n\"Anything Could Happen\" debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart, selling 49,680 copies in its first week. The single stayed at number five the following week, selling 37,895 copies. As of August 2013, it had sold 326,836 copies in the UK.\n\nIn the United States, \"Anything Could Happen\" debuted at number 17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart on the issue dated 8 September 2012, before rising to number three on 20 October upon its release to radio. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 75 for the week of 27 October 2012, peaking at number 47 in its tenth week on the chart. It also topped the Hot Dance Club Songs chart during the final week of 2012. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 17 January 2013, and platinum on 24 July 2013. As of January 2014, the song had sold 1,166,000 copies in the US.\n\nThe song performed moderately elsewhere, reaching number two in Poland, number 16 in the Czech Republic, Ireland and New Zealand, number 20 in Australia, number 37 in Canada and number 66 in Germany.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"Anything Could Happen\" was directed by Floria Sigismondi. In an interview with Carson Daly on his 97.1 AMP Radio show on 6 August 2012, Goulding stated that the video would be filmed the following day in Malibu, California. The video revolves around a couple's car crash near a Malibu beach. \"I find myself on a rock, with no idea how I've been there\", she told Fuse. \"I've been in a car crash. I end up being a mermaid-type thing.\" She added, \"I wanted to do a big video with big effects by the ocean [...] I wanted to do something really epic.\" Goulding declined offers of a stuntwoman to help her shoot the video, and instead performed her own stunts, such as being dropped onto a roof.\n\nOn 5 September, the \"Anything Could Happen\" video debuted via Goulding's YouTube channel. The video shows Goulding in a car with her on-screen boyfriend as they observe waves crashing on a beach. Goulding is then seen waking up on the beach, singing to the song, and walking around the beach finding silver floating spheres and triangled shaped mirrors. Goulding is also seen close up crying while singing and then bleeding out of her nose. The video continues to show Goulding and the on-screen boyfriend in a car crash, meeting up again in their \"after life\" on the beach. Later, Goulding is shown looking on to the car crash from above, while observing her blood-covered boyfriend, with a big fluffy pink ball holding her up by ropes. The video ends as Goulding floats away from the crash scene.\n\nLyric video\nIn late July 2012, Goulding invited fans via Facebook to contribute to a lyric video for \"Anything Could Happen\" by submitting photos related to the song's lyrics using Instagram. The lyric video premiered on Goulding's YouTube channel on 9 August 2012.\n\nBen & Ellie Edit\nA second music video, titled the Ben & Ellie Edit, was released on Goulding's YouTube channel on 9 October 2012. This version all shot close up and cross fading into different scenes. The video begins with the text \"Ellie Goulding\", and flashes of a car driving and Goulding in multiple shots of her body. Once the song begins, Goulding starts singing, multiple shots of her being shown, close-up, side view, and bright lights, singing along.\n\nUse in media and cover versions\nGoulding is featured performing \"Anything Could Happen\" in the Beats by Dre commercial as part of their #ShowYourColor campaign, which debuted in September 2012, alongside the likes of Miami Heat player LeBron James and fellow Universal Music artists Lil Wayne and MGK.\n\nThe track was also used in the trailer for the second season of the HBO comedy-drama series Girls and in an episode of the Fox sitcom New Girl. It was also used in the trailer for the fourth season of the Network Ten comedy-drama series Offspring in Australia. The track was also used by TBS during the intro for game one of the 2012 ALDS between the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers. The song is also featured as the background music for the HTC Vive commercial, with Emily Blunt, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Yeoh and Juliette Lewis.\n\nThe song was covered in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge by both Irish alternative rock band the Script and American indie pop band Fun on 27 November 2012 and 26 February 2013, respectively. In December 2012, the girl group Fifth Harmony performed \"Anything Could Happen\" in the semi-finals and finals on the second season of The X Factor (U.S.). Melissa Benoist, Jacob Artist and Kevin McHale covered the song in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the Fox series Glee, \"I Do\", aired 14 February 2013. Goulding joined Taylor Swift for a surprise performance of the song during Swift's Red Tour at Los Angeles' Staples Center on 23 August 2013. On 14 December 2013, Goulding performed \"Anything Could Happen\" on tenth series finale of The X Factor with finalist Luke Friend. The track has also been featured in the 2013 teen film, G.B.F. starring Michael J. Willett, Paul Iacono and Sasha Pieterse.\n\nNotable performances\nOn September 30, 2021 Goulding performed the song surrounded by floating cloud structures and white-clad dancers as part of the opening ceremony of Expo 2020 held under the fair's centerpiece, the Al Wasl Dome in Dubai, U.A.E.\n\nTrack listings\n\nCredits and personnel\nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Halcyon.\n\n Ellie Goulding – vocals, production\n Jim Eliot – production, drums, synths, piano, percussion, drum programming, sound effects\n London Community Gospel Choir – choir\n Sally Herbert – choir arrangement, choir conducting\n Graham Archer – choir recording engineering\n Joel M. Peters – choir recording engineering assistance\n Tom Elmhirst – mixing\n Ben Baptie – mixing assistance, additional engineering\n Naweed – mastering\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nSee also\n List of number-one dance singles of 2012 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Lyrics at elliegoulding.com\n\n2012 singles\n2012 songs\nEllie Goulding songs\nInterscope Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Floria Sigismondi\nPolydor Records singles\nSongs written by Ellie Goulding\nSongs written by Jim Eliot",
"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show"
]
|
[
"Gil Hodges",
"Managerial career",
"Where was he a manager?",
"New York",
"When was he a manager?",
"In 1968",
"Did they win?",
"the team only posted a 73-89 record",
"Did anything notable happen while he was a manager?",
"In 1969, he led the \"Miracle Mets\" to the World Series championship,"
]
| C_2587d879b8e24f3880c1dff9753ed7e7_1 | Any other achievements? | 5 | Other than the 1969 World Series Championship, Any other achievements of Gil Hodges? | Gil Hodges | After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren - reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism - walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra. In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle. Ralph Kiner retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character. CANNOTANSWER | Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. | Gilbert Ray Hodges (né Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hodges was widely regarded as the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. He held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, with his final total of 370 briefly ranking tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history. A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history, before his death from a sudden heart attack at age 47. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for induction in .
Early years
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and his wife Irene, (nee Horstmeyer). He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven. He was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. Hodges declined a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years (1941–1942 and 1942–1943) at St Joseph's, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football.
He was signed by his agent, Gabriel Levi, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Saint Joseph's. He served in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner in the 16th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, participating in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa, and received a Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism under fire.
Following the war, Hodges also spent time completing course work at Oakland City University, near his hometown, playing basketball for the Mighty Oaks, joining the 1947–48 team after four games (1–3 record); they finished at 9–10. One of his teammates, Bob Lochmueller, would go on to star at the University of Louisville and play in the NBA.
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hodges was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, and returned to the Dodgers organization as a catcher with the Newport News Dodgers of the Piedmont League, batting .278 in 129 games as they won the league championship; his teammates included first baseman and future film and television star Chuck Connors.
Hodges was called up to Brooklyn in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He played as a catcher, joining the team's nucleus of Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo. With the emergence of Roy Campanella behind the plate, manager Leo Durocher shifted Hodges to first base. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game Seven, but he struck out. As a rookie in , he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
On June 25, , Hodges hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 runs batted in ranked fourth in the NL, and he tied Hack Wilson's club record for right-handed hitters with 23 home runs. Defensively, he led the NL in putouts (1,336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995). Facing the Yankees again in the Series, he batted only .235 but drove in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1–0 triumph in Game
Two. In game five, he hit a two out, three-run homer in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10–6, but struck out to end the game and the Series.
On August 31, against the Boston Braves, Hodges joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also had seventeen total bases in the game, tied for third in MLB history.
That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and runs batted in (113), and came in eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting. In 1951 he became the first member of the Dodgers to ever hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges recaptured the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the three-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10–0 win; New York won the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in home runs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging percentage (.527), and sixth in runs batted in (103).
Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949 to 1955 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, surpassing him in 1953; Snider moved ahead of Hodges in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in the 1952 campaign and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in runs batted in (102) and slugging (.500).
A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, Hodges was perhaps the only Dodgers regular never booed at their home park Ebbets Field. Fans were supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history: after going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, he also went hitless in all seven games of the 1952 World Series against the Yankees (finishing the Series 0-for-21 at the plate), with Brooklyn losing to the Yankees in the seven games. When Hodges' slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges." Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series. Teammate Carl Erskine, who described himself as a good Baptist, kidded him by saying, "Gil, you just about made a believer out of me."
Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. Johnny Sain was batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning of Game 5 and grounded out, as ruled by first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, is reaching for the ball that is about a foot shy of entering his glove. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.
Hodges ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, finishing fifth in the NL in runs batted in (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit .364; he had three hits, including a homer in the 9–5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under their new manager Walter Alston in 1954, Hodges set the team home run record with 42, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1,381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and runs batted in (130), fifth in total bases (335), and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the Most Valuable Player vote.
The Boys of Summer
In the 1955 season, Hodges' regular-season production declined to a .289 average, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4, Hodges hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead, 4–3, and later had a single that drove in a run as they held off the Yankees, 8–5; he also scored the first run in the Dodgers' 5–3 win in Game 5. In Game 7, he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth inning for a 1–0 lead and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth inning. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2–0 win and their first World Series title in franchise history and their only championship in Brooklyn.
In 1956, Hodges had 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1, he hit a three-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead, 5–2, as they went on to a 6–3 win; he had three hits and four runs batted in during the 13–8 slugfest in Game 2, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7–6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11–7 lead. In Don Larsen's perfect game Hodges struck out, flied to center, and lined to third base, as Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.
In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He finished seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 runs batted in, and leading the league with 1,317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in home runs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September, he drove in the last Dodgers run ever at Ebbets Field, and the last run in Brooklyn history. Hodges was named to his last All-Star team and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting, the highest position in his career.
After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958, Hodges became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling Frank McCormick and Ted Kluszewski; Donn Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. Hodges' totals were 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. He also broke Dolph Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts in 1958.
In 1959, the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 home runs, 80 runs batted in, and a batting average of .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a team other than the Yankees), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5–4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship.
In 1960, Hodges broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career runs batted in leader with 1,254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, from 1957 to 1959.
Return to New York
After being chosen in the 1961 MLB Expansion Draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets and despite knee problems was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, hitting the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in MLB history with 370 home runs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters. He also held the National League (NL) record for career home runs by a right-handed hitter from 1960 to 1963, and held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
Managerial career
After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958). Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record.
In 1968 Hodges was brought back to New York to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73–89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven years of existence up to that point.
In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
That year, Hodges led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, the team came back for four straight victories, including two by 2–1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win a World Series, but also the first team ever to win the Fall Classic after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year, in skillfully platooning his players, utilizing everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh. Hodges continued as manager through the 1971 season. He died before the opening of the 1972 season and was succeeded by Yogi Berra.
Death and impact
On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Easter Sunday, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost, when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn across the street from Municipal Stadium, then the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack in 1968, during a game in late September.
Jackie Robinson, himself ill with heart disease and diabetes, told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happened to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson died of a heart attack six months later on October 24 at age 53.
Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick," said Johnny Podres, "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died in Montreal of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."
The wake was held at Torregrossa Funeral Home, on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The funeral was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Midwood, Brooklyn, on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the service.
Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges Jr., Cosell brought him into the back seat of a car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Robinson then held Hodges Jr. and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."
Hodges was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi (b. 1926 in Brooklyn), whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and their children Gil Jr. (b. 1950), Irene, Cynthia and Barbara. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on Opening Day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. On June 9, 1973, the Mets again honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.
Accomplishments
Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging percentage, 1,921 hits, 1,274 runs batted in, 1,105 runs, 370 home runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2,071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1,614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed fielding first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1,281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1,363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1,292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1,137 career strikeouts in 1964. When he retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter up to that point in time (surpassed by Willie Mays) and the most career grand slams (14) by a National League player (eclipsed by Willie McCovey). He shares the major league record of having hit four home runs in a single game (only 18 players have ever done so in MLB history).
Legacy
Hodges received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion, in 1969. On April 4, 1978 (what would have been Hodges' 54th birthday), the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting Marine Park, Brooklyn with Rockaway, Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on Shell Road in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, is named Gil Hodges Way. A bowling alley in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, was formerly named Gil Hodges Lanes in his honor.
In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on State Road 57 bear his name. In addition, a Petersburg Little League baseball team is named in his honor, the Hodges Dodgers. In 2009, a mural was dedicated in Petersburg featuring pictures of Hodges as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the New York Mets, and batting at Ebbets Field.
Hodges became an inaugural member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted in the New York State Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Hodges was featured in the documentary Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man, based on the book of the same name by author Marino Amoruso. In November 2021, a 30-minute documentary—The Gil Hodges Story: Soul Of A Champion—was released and features interviews with Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges Jr., and members of the 1969 New York Mets.
Hall of Fame consideration
Background
For decades, there was controversy over Hodges not being selected for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s, and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. However, critics of his candidacy pointed out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the National League in any offensive category such as home runs, runs batted in, or slugging percentage, and never came close to winning a Most Valuable Player award. Additionally, until the election of Tony Pérez in 2000, every first baseman in the Hall had either 500 career home runs or a batting average over .295; at the time of Hodges' death, the BBWAA had only elected two position players (Rabbit Maranville and Roy Campanella) with batting averages below .285. Hodges' not having been voted an MVP may have resulted in part from his having had some of his best seasons (1950, 1954 and 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.
BBWAA candidate
After last playing in the major leagues during the 1963 season, Hodges first appeared on the 1969 ballot, receiving 24.1% of ballots cast by BBWAA electors, with 75% the threshold for election. He was considered annually through the 1983 ballot, his 15th and final ballot appearance under BBWAA rules at the time. He appeared on 63.4% of ballots in 1983 voting, the highest percentage of his candidacy. Hodges collected 3,010 votes cast by the BBWAA from 1969 to 1983, the most votes for an unselected player until surpassed by Jim Rice in 2008, prior to Rice's election the following year.
Veterans Committee candidate
Hodges was considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee starting in 1987. Voting by the committee was held in closed sessions for many years, but results are known for Hodges in voting (61%), (65%), (61%), and (43.8%). Each time, Hodges fell short of the 75% minimum required for election.
Golden Era / Golden Days candidate
In 2011, Hodges became a Golden Era candidate (1947–1972 era) for consideration to be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veterans Committee in 2010. In December 2011, voting by the committee took place during the Hall of Fame's two-day winter meeting in Dallas, Texas. Induction to the Hall requires at least 12 votes (75%) from the 16-member committee. Of 10 candidates, Ron Santo was the only one elected, having received 15 votes; Jim Kaat had 10 votes, and Hodges and Minnie Miñoso were tied with nine votes.
Hodges' next opportunity under the Golden Era Committee was in December 2014, when the committee voted at the MLB winter meeting. Hodges received only three votes, and none of the other eight player candidates on the ballot were elected to the Hall of Fame, including Dick Allen and Tony Oliva, who each fell one vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. In July 2016, the Golden Era committee was succeeded by the Golden Days committee (1950–1969 era).
Hodges was one of 10 nominees named on November 5, 2021 to the Golden Days Era ballot for Hall of Fame consideration. On December 5, the Hall of Fame announced Hodges' election, having received 12 of 16 votes to meet the 75% threshold.
See also
List of lifetime home run leaders through history
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Gold Glove Award winners at first base
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
References
Further reading
Books
Articles
External links
Gil Hodges at the Baseball Hall of Fame
1924 births
1972 deaths
Major League Baseball first basemen
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Mets players
National League All-Stars
Gold Glove Award winners
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Baseball players from Indiana
Newport News Dodgers players
New York Mets managers
Washington Senators (1961–1971) managers
Hod
Major League Baseball managers with retired numbers
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Saint Joseph's Pumas baseball players
Saint Joseph's Pumas football players
Saint Joseph's Pumas men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
People from Princeton, Indiana
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn
People from Petersburg, Indiana
People from Midwood, Brooklyn
United States Marines | true | [
"In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy, badge, advancement, award, stamp, medal, challenge, cheevo or in game achievement, is a meta-goal defined outside a game's parameters. Unlike the in-game systems of quests, tasks, and/or levels that usually define the goals of a video game and have a direct effect on further gameplay, the management of achievements usually takes place outside the confines of the game environment and architecture. Meeting the fulfillment conditions, and receiving recognition of fulfillment by the game, is referred to as unlocking the achievement.\n\nPurpose and motivation\nAchievements are included within games to extend the title's longevity and provide players with the impetus to do more than simply complete the game but to also find all of its secrets and complete all of its challenges. They are effectively arbitrary challenges laid out by the developer to be met by the player. These achievements may coincide with the inherent goals of the game itself, when completing a standard milestone in the game (such as achievements for beating each level of a game), with secondary goals such as finding secret power-ups or hidden levels, or may also be independent of the game's primary or secondary goals and earned via completing a game in an especially difficult or non-standard fashion (such as speedrunning a game (e.g., Braid)) or playing without killing any enemies (e.g., Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dishonored), playing a certain number of times, viewing an in-game video, and/or beating a certain number of online opponents. Certain achievements may refer to other achievements—many games have one achievement that requires the player to have gained every other achievement.\n\nUnlike secrets, which traditionally provided some kind of direct benefit to the player in the form of easier gameplay (such as the warp pipe in Super Mario Bros.) or additional gameplay features (such as hidden weapons or levels in first-person shooters like Doom) even though they might have criteria similar to achievements in order to unlock, the narrative-independent nature of achievements allows them to be fulfilled without needing to provide the player with any direct, in-game benefit or additional feature. In addition, the achievements used in modern gaming are usually visible outside the game environment (on the Internet) and form part of the online profile for the player (Gamertag for Microsoft's Live Anywhere network, combining Xbox 360/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S titles, PC games using Games for Windows – Live and Xbox Live on Windows 8 and Windows 10, and Xbox Live-enabled games on other platforms; PSN ID for PlayStation Network (PSN); User Profile Achievement Showcases for Steam; Armory Profiles for World of Warcraft; and Lodestone Profiles for Final Fantasy XIV).\n\nThe motivation for the player to gain achievements lies in maximizing their own general cross-title score (known as Gamerscore on Live, Trophy Level on PSN, and the Achievement Showcase for Steam User Profiles) and obtaining recognition for their performance due to the publication of their achievement/trophy profiles. Some players pursue the unlocking of achievements as a goal in itself, without especially seeking to enjoy the game that awards them—this community of players typically refer to themselves as \"achievement hunters\".\n\nSome implementations use a system of achievements that provide direct, in-game benefits to the gameplay, although the award is usually not congruent with the achievement itself. One example of such an implementation are \"challenges\" found in the multiplayer portions of the later Call of Duty titles. Challenges here may include a certain number of headshots or kills and are rewarded not only with the completion of the achievement but also a bonus item that can be equipped. Team Fortress 2 features 3 milestones for each of the nine classes. When a milestone is reached by obtaining a specific number of achievements for each class, the player will be awarded a non-tradable weapon unique to that class.\n\nOrigins and implementations\n\nSingle-game achievements \nThe idea for game achievements can be traced back to 1982, with Activision's patches for high scores. This was a system by which game manuals instructed players to achieve a particular high score, take a photo of score display on the television, and send in the photo to receive a physical, iron-on style patch in a fashion somewhat similar to a Boy Scout earning a Scout badge. This system was set up across many Activision titles regardless of platform, and though most of their games were on the popular Atari 2600, games on the Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and at least one title on the Commodore 64 also included similar instructions with patches as a reward. Patches would be sent with a letter from the company, often written as if from a fictional character, like Pitfall Harry, congratulating the player on the achievement. By the end of 1983, Activision's new games no longer included these achievements, but the company would still honor the process for their older games.\n\nThe game E-Motion on the Amiga from 1990 was one of the earliest games that had some form of achievements programmed into the game itself. The game called these \"secret bonuses\". The game had five such bonuses, for achievements such as completing a level without rotating to the right, or completely failing certain levels.\nA number of individual games have included their own in-game achievements system, separate from any overall platform. Most modern massively multiplayer online role-playing games have implemented their own in-game system of achievements; in some cases such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV, these achievements are accessible outside the game when viewing user profiles on the game websites and the game may offer an API for achievement data to be pulled and used on other sites.\n\nPlatform (multi-game) achievement systems\n\nAlthough many other individual games would develop their own \"secret bonuses\" and internal achievements, the first implementation of an easily accessible and multi-game achievement system is widely considered to be Microsoft's Xbox 360 Gamerscore system, introduced at E3 in 2005. Microsoft extended Gamerscore support to the Games for Windows – Live scheme in 2007 by including support for Achievements in Halo 2.\n\nIn 2007, Valve became the second large publisher to release a platform-based, multi-game achievement system for their Steam platform, eventually capturing a wide number of Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and SteamOS based games.\n\nIn 2008, Sony followed suit by offering Trophies for the PlayStation 3. There was no Trophy support for the PlayStation Portable, even though the device does have PSN connection capability. By 2011, the successor to the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, and all PlayStation Vita games had universal support for the Trophy system, as well as the later PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and their games.\n\nApple added achievements to Game Center on October 12, 2011, with the release of the iOS 4, for mobile platform for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.\nAchievements are available on Android via Google Play Games.\n\nMicrosoft's mobile OSes, Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8, included Xbox Live support, including Achievements when first launched worldwide on October 21, 2010.\n\nAmazon Kindle provided the GameCircle service starting July 11, 2012, which tracks achievements and leaderboards for some games adapted to the Kindle platform.\n\nKongregate, a browser games hosting site, features Badges, which earn the user points, similar to Xbox Live's Gamerscore and PlayStation Network's Trophy system. Much like PSN's Trophies, points work towards increasing a player's level. The site FAQ explains, \"Your level will automatically rise as you earn points. We're still working out the details of what kind of privileges and potential prizes that points and levels could be used to unlock.\"\n\nRetroAchievements started in 2012 to retroactivily adding achievements to old game-systems for use in Emulation software like RetroArch. Users add indicatiors which trigger when a certain value changes in emulating the rom.\n\nGame achievements as satire\nThe advent of achievement-driven gaming was satirized in the Flash game Achievement Unlocked. The game is a simple platformer; it takes place on a single non-scrolling screen, and has only simple walking and jumping controls. It has no clearly defined victory condition aside from earning all 100 achievements, from the trivial (\"move left\", \"click the play field\") to the complex (\"touch every square\", \"find and travel to three particular locations in order\"). The game spawned two sequels.\n\nAchievements as part of gamification\nNSA information-gathering program XKeyscore uses achievements awarding \"skilz\" points to assist in training new analysts as a form of gamification of learning.\n\nSee also\n Xbox Live\n PlayStation Network\n Steam\n Game Center\n Google Play Games\n Unlockable (video games)\n New Game Plus\n\nReferences\n\nPlayer progress tracking in video games\nVideo game terminology",
"During World War II, 73 officers of the United States Army Medical Department were promoted to General Officer. All are listed below with their dates of rank, most notable duty assignment during the war, and their status as of late 1946. Notes also provide other notable achievements as well as any special commemorative actions taken by the United States Army to recognize their service.\n\nReferences"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | What was his first job? | 1 | What was Percy Sledge first job? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | false | [
"Bildad ( Bildaḏ), the Shuhite, was one of Job's three friends who visited the patriarch in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He was a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1 - 25:2), whose family lived in the deserts of Arabia, or a resident of the district. In speaking with Job, his intent was consolation, but he became an accuser, asking Job what he has done to deserve God's wrath.\n\nSpeeches\nThe three speeches of Bildad are contained in Job 8, Job 18 and Job 25. In substance, they were largely an echo of what had been maintained by Eliphaz the Temanite, the first of Job's friends to speak, but charged with somewhat increased vehemence because he deemed Job's words so impious and wrathful. Bildad was the first to attribute Job's calamity to actual wickedness, albeit indirectly, by accusing his children (who were destroyed, Job 1:19) of sin to warrant their punishment (Job 8:4). His brief third speech, just five verses in length, marked the silencing of the friends.\n\nSee also \nEliphaz\nZophar\n Elihu\n Bildad is also the name of one of the owners of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nHebrew Bible people\nBook of Job",
"Job Carr (July 2, 1813 - August 10, 1887) was the founder of Tacoma, Washington, United States.\n\nA Union veteran of the United States Civil War, Carr came west in 1864 to settle on a 168-acre claim in what is now Tacoma.\n\nCarr was the first permanent European American settler in the area. He built a cabin on his claim, which doubled as the United States Post Office when Carr was appointed Postmaster. He was an early promoter of Tacoma as a potential terminus for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and encouraged settlement in the new town.\n\nA replica of his original cabin stands near the original location, and serves as a museum of both Carr and of early Tacoma.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nJob Carr arrives at future site of Tacoma\nJob Carr Cabin Museum\n\n1813 births\n1887 deaths\nPeople from Tacoma, Washington"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | When did he get into music? | 2 | When did Percy Sledge get into music? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"This article lists the CDs and DVDs featuring the Doodlebops, a Canadian television children's television series show for children. \"Rock & Bop with The Doodlebops\", (Disney Records USA), was released in 2006. Other CDs and DVDs were released later.\n\nCDs\n\nGet On The Bus (2007) \n Tick Tock\n I Can Dance\n She's A Superstar\n You're The Best\n Hold Your Horses\n More Fun\n It's Up To You\n Different Things\n Get On Board\n Jump Up\n When You're Good at Something\n You Betcha\n My Hero\n My Ukulele\n Let's Get Loud\n What You've Got\n Your Favorite Color\n You Are My Friend\n Who Can It Be\n Rockin' the World\n Get On The Bus II\n\nRock & Bop with The Doodlebops (2006) \n We're The Doodlebops\n The Pledge\n Wobbly Whoopsy\n Look in a Book\n I Want to Be Bigger\n Get On The Bus\n Hey Moe\n The Bird Song\n Count to Ten\n Queen for a Day\n Getting Along\n Gibble Gobble\n My Friend\n Write A Letter\n Tap Tap Tap\n Faces\n When the Lights Go Out\n Cauliflower\n Keep Trying\n Together Forever\n Thank You\n\nPlayhouse Disney: Imagine & Learn With Music features two Doodlebop songs; \"Wobbly Whoopsy\" & \"Together Forever\".\n\nDVDs\n\nMusic and Fun (Vol. 1) \n Tap Tap Tap\n Queen For a day Deedee\n High and Low\n Bonus features: Musical instruments flash cards, \"We're the Doodlebops\" music video\n Includes a CD with:\n We're the Doodlebops\n The Pledge\n Get on the Bus\n High and Low\n Tap Tap Tap\n Queen For a Deedee\n\nLet's Move! (Vol. 2) \n Wobbly Whoopsy\n The Move Groove\n Jumpin' Judy\n Bonus features: \"Wobbly Whoopsy\" music video, 2 Bus dance scenes\n Includes a CD with:\n We're the Doodlebops\n The Pledge\n Get on the Bus\n Wobbly Whoopsy\n Jumpin' Judy\n On The Move\n\nLet's Have Some Fun! (Vol. 3) \n Gibble Gobble Nabber Gabber\n Cauliflower Power\n Junk Funk\n Roar Like A Dinosaur (Bonus Episode)\n Bonus feature: Knock knock jokes\n\nAbracadeedee It's Magic (Vol. 4) \n Glad Sad Bumpy Grumpy\n Fast And Slow Moe\n Abracadeedee\n What Did You See Today? (Bonus Episode)\n Bonus feature: \"Abracadeedee\" music video\n\nTwist, Turn, Dance and Learn (Vol. 5) \n Look In a Book\n What When Why\n Strudel Doodle\n All Together Now (Bonus Episode)\n Bonus feature: \"All Together Now\" music video\n\nRock And Bop with the Doodlebops (Released: August 1, 2006) \n All Together Now\n High and Low\n What Did You See Today?\n Junk Funk\n Bonus features\n \"We're the Doodlebops\" music video\n \"Wobbly Whoopsy\" music video\n \"Abracadeedee\" music video\n 4 Sing-alongs\n 4 Knock knock jokes\n\nDance & Hop with the Doodlebops (Released: August 1, 2006) \n Tap Tap Tap\n Jumpin' Judy\n The Move Groove\n Wobbly Whoopsy\n Bonus features\n \"We're the Doodlebops\" music video\n \"Wobbly Whoopsy\" music video\n \"Abracadeedee\" music video\n 4 Sing-alongs\n Knock knock jokes\n\nSuperstars (Released: Jan 23, 2007 ) \n Doodlebops Photo Op\n Count On Me\n Cauliflower Power\n What, When, Why?\n\nGet Up & Groove (Releases April 24, 2007) \n Fast And Slow Moe\n Step By Step\n Flat Sitis\n The Bad Day\n\nDiscographies of Canadian artists\nFilm and television discographies\nPop music group discographies",
"\"Pray / Get into a Groove\" is a song by the J-pop group Every Little Thing, released as their fourteenth single on January 1, 2000. The single was released with Avex Music Creative, Inc.\n\nTrack listing\n Pray (Words & music - Mitsuru Igarashi) \n Get into a Groove (Words & music - Mitsuru Igarashi) \n Pray (Ramdoubler's remix)\n Get into a Groove (HAL's remix)\n Pray (instrumental)\n Get into a Groove (instrumental)\n\nChart positions\n\nExternal links\n \"Pray / Get into a Groove\" information at Avex Network.\n \"Pray / Get into a Groove\" information at Oricon.\n\n2000 singles\nEvery Little Thing (band) songs\nSongs written by Mitsuru Igarashi\nAvex Trax singles"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | Did he go to college? | 3 | Did Percy Sledge go to college? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | false | [
"California Concordia College existed in Oakland, California, United States from 1906 until 1973.\n\nAmong the presidents of California Concordia College was Johann Theodore Gotthold Brohm Jr.\n\nCalifornia Concordia College and the Academy of California College were located at 2365 Camden Street, Oakland, California. Some of the school buildings still exist at this location, but older buildings that housed the earlier classrooms and later the dormitories are gone. The site is now the location of the Spectrum Center Camden Campus, a provider of special education services.\n\nThe \"Academy\" was the official name for the high school. California Concordia was a six-year institution patterned after the German gymnasium. This provided four years of high school, plus two years of junior college. Years in the school took their names from Latin numbers and referred to the years to go before graduation. The classes were named:\n\n Sexta - 6 years to go; high school freshman\n Qunita - 5 years to go; high school sophomore\n Quarta - 4 years to go; high school junior\n Tertia - 3 years to go; high school senior\n Secunda - 2 years to go; college freshman\n Prima - 1 year to go; college sophomore\n\nThose in Sexta were usually hazed in a mild way by upperclassmen. In addition, those in Sexta were required to do a certain amount of clean-up work around the school, such as picking up trash.\n\nMost students, even high school freshmen, lived in dormitories. High school students were supervised by \"proctors\" (selected high school seniors in Tertia). High school students were required to study for two hours each night in their study rooms from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Students could not leave their rooms for any reason without permission. This requirement came as quite a shock to those in Sexta (freshmen) on their first night, when they were caught and scolded by a proctor when they left their study room to go to the bathroom without permission. Seniors (those in Tertia) were allowed one night off where they did not need to be in their study hall.\n\nFrom 9:00 to 9:30 pm all students gathered for a chapel service. From 9:30 to 10 pm, high school students were free to roam, and sometimes went to the local Lucky Supermarket to purchase snacks. All high school students were required to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 pm. There were generally five students in each dormitory room. The room had two sections: a bedroom area and (across the hallway) another room for studying. Four beds, including at least one bunk bed, were in the bedroom, and four or five desks were in the study room\n\nA few interesting words used by Concordia students were \"fink\" and \"rack.\" To \"fink\" meant to \"sing like a canary\" or \"squeal.\" A student who finked told everything he knew about a misbehavior committed by another student. \"Rack\" was actually an official term used by proctors and administrators who lived on campus in the dormitories with students. When students misbehaved they were racked (punished). Proctors held a meeting once a week and decided which students, if any, deserved to be racked. If a student were racked, he might be forbidden from leaving the campus grounds, even during normal free time School hours were from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. After 3:30 pm and until 7:00 pm, students could normally explore the local area surrounding the school, for example, to go to a local store to buy a snack. However, if a student were racked for the week, he could not do so.\n\nProctors made their rounds in the morning to make sure beds were made and inspected rooms in the evening to ensure that students were in bed by 10:00 pm. Often after the proctors left a room at night, the room lights would go back on and students enjoyed studying their National Geographic magazines. Student might be racked if they failed to make their beds or did not make them neatly enough.\n\nAlthough California Concordia College no longer exists, it does receive some recognition by Concordia University Irvine. This is also the location of its old academic records.\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n Photos of old campus\n\nEducational institutions disestablished in 1973\nDefunct private universities and colleges in California\nEducational institutions established in 1906\n1906 establishments in California\n1973 disestablishments in California\nUniversities and colleges affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod",
"Kyree Walker (born November 20, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. At the high school level, he played for Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California before transferring to Hillcrest Prep Academy. A former MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year, Walker was a five-star recruit.\n\nEarly life and high school career\nIn eighth grade, Walker drew national attention for his slam dunks in highlight videos. He often faced older competition, including high school seniors, in middle school with his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team Oakland Soldiers. As a high school freshman, Walker played basketball for Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California, averaging 21.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and four assists per game. After leading his team to a California Interscholastic Federation Division II runner-up finish, he was named MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year. Entering his sophomore season, Walker transferred to Hillcrest Prep, a basketball program in Phoenix, Arizona, with his father, Khari, joining the coaching staff. On October 25, 2019, during his senior year, he left Hillcrest Prep, intending to move to the college or professional level. In December 2019, Walker graduated from high school but did not play high school basketball while weighing his options.\n\nRecruiting\nOn June 30, 2017, Walker committed to play college basketball for Arizona State over several other NCAA Division I offers. At the time, he was considered a five-star recruit and a top five player in the 2020 class by major recruiting services. On October 21, 2018, Walker decommitted from Arizona State. On April 20, 2020, as a four-star recruit, he announced that he would forego college basketball.\n\nProfessional career\n\nCapital City Go-Go (2021–present)\nWalker joined Chameleon BX to prepare for the 2021 NBA draft. For the 2021-22 season, he signed with the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League, joining the team after a successful tryout.\n\nPersonal life\nIn 2018, Walker's mother, Barrissa Gardner, was diagnosed with breast cancer but achieved remission in the following months.\n\nReferences\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\n21st-century African-American sportspeople\nAfrican-American basketball players\nAmerican men's basketball players\nBasketball players from Oakland, California\nCapital City Go-Go players\nSmall forwards\nTwitch (service) streamers"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | How did he get discovered? | 4 | How did Percy Sledge get discovered for his music? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"How Did This Get Made? is a comedy podcast on the Earwolf network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas.\n\nGenerally, How Did This Get Made? is released every two weeks. During the show's off-week, a \".5\" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie, as well as challenges for the fans. In addition to the shows and mini-shows, the How Did This Get Made? stream hosted the first three episodes of Bitch Sesh, the podcast of previous guests Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider, in December 2015. It has also hosted episodes of its own spin-off podcast, the How Did This Get Made? Origin Stories, in which Blake Harris interviews people involved with the films covered by the main show. In December 2017, an episode was recorded for the Pee Cast Blast event, and released exclusively on Stitcher Premium.\n\nEvery episode has featured Paul Scheer as the host of the podcast. The only episode to date in which Scheer hosted remotely was The Smurfs, in which he Skyped in. Raphael has taken extended breaks from the podcast for both filming commitments and maternity leave. Mantzoukas has also missed episodes due to work, but has also Skyped in for various episodes. On the occasions that neither Raphael nor Mantzoukas are available for live appearances, Scheer calls in previous fan-favorite guests for what is known as a How Did This Get Made? All-Stars episode.\n\nList of episodes\n\nMini episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n List of How Did This Get Made? episodes\n\nHow Did This Get Made\nHow Did This Get Made",
"How Did This Get Made? (HDTGM) is a podcast on the Earwolf network. It is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas. Each episode, which typically has a different guest, features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.\n\nFormat\nThe hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads \"second opinions\" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by Amazon.com users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks.\n\nDuring the show's off week a \".5\" episode (also known as a \"minisode\") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's \"explanation hopeline\" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying.\n\nSome full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original \"second opinion\" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.\n\nHistory\nHow Did This Get Made? began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has never been covered on the podcast.\n\nAwards\nIn 2019, How Did This Get Made? won a Webby Award in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film.\n\nIn 2020, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nIn 2022, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nSpinoffs\n\nHow Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories\nBetween February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories, author Blake J. Harris would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director Mel Brooks, who served as executive producer on Solarbabies, and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote Surf Ninjas.\n\nUnspooled\nIn May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled Unspooled that is also devoted to movies. Unlike HDTGM?, however, Unspooled looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in How Did This Get Made? by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that HDTGM covers.\n\nHow Did This Get Played?\nIn June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast How Did This Get Played?, hosted by Doughboys host Nick Wiger and former Saturday Night Live writer Heather Anne Campbell. The podcast is positioned as the video game equivalent of HDTGM?, where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games.\n\nEpisodes\n\nAdaptation\nThe program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title 2 heures de perdues (http://www.2hdp.fr/ and available on Spotify and iTunes), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style (mainly American, French, and British films). The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné (biggest French-speaking cinema website) or Amazon.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n How Did This Get Made on Earwolf\n\nAudio podcasts\nEarwolf\nFilm and television podcasts\nComedy and humor podcasts\n2010 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two."
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | Was he a doctor? | 5 | Was Percy Sledge a doctor? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Many actors have been considered for the part of The Doctor in Doctor Who. The following is a list of actors who have been linked to the role.\n\nFirst Doctor \nGeoffrey Bayldon declined the role of the Doctor because it was scheduled for 52 weeks and required him to play an old man. He told his agent, \"Tell them: Too long, too old\". He later played an alternative version of the Doctor in two plays for the Doctor Who Unbound series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions: Auld Mortality (2003) and A Storm of Angels (2005). In addition, he played Organon in the Fourth Doctor serial The Creature from the Pit (1979).\n\nHugh David was the choice of Rex Tucker, who was the series' \"caretaker producer\" before the arrival of Verity Lambert. Lambert rejected this idea on the grounds that at 38, Hugh was too young. David later became a director and, in that capacity, worked on the Second Doctor serials The Highlanders (1966–7) and Fury from the Deep.\n\nAlan Webb was then offered the role but declined, as did Cyril Cusack.\n\nLeslie French was considered for the role. He later appeared in the Seventh Doctor serial Silver Nemesis (1988) as Lady Peinforte's mathematician.\nThe role of the First Doctor went to William Hartnell.\n\nSecond Doctor \nBrian Blessed was offered the role, but declined because of scheduling conflicts; he later played King Yrcanos in the Sixth Doctor serial The Trial of a Time Lord. Rupert Davies, Valentine Dyall and Sir Michael Hordern were all approached for the role but none wanted to commit to a long-running series. Dyall later played the Black Guardian in the television stories The Armageddon Factor (1979), Mawdryn Undead (1983), Terminus (1983) and Enlightenment (1983) and Slarn in the audio drama Slipback (1985). Peter Cushing was also offered the role, but declined and later regretted his decision. He appeared in the big-screen versions of Doctor Who in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966).\nThe role of the Second Doctor went to Patrick Troughton.\n\nThird Doctor \nRon Moody was said to be the producers' first choice after his success in Oliver! but he turned down the role, which he later regretted.\nThe role of the Third Doctor went to the producers' second choice, Jon Pertwee.\n\nFourth Doctor \nGraham Crowden, who played Soldeed in The Horns of Nimon (1979–1980), turned down the role as he would only commit to one year instead of the three years asked by producer Barry Letts, while Michael Bentine turned down the role when the production team felt he wanted too much influence over the series' scripts. Other actors considered included Bernard Cribbins, who played Wilfred Mott in the Modern Series, and Fulton Mackay, who had previously played Dr. Quinn in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970).\nRichard Hearne was offered the role but his insistence that he play the part in the style of his 'Mr Pastry' character was not acceptable to the series' producer, Barry Letts. Also considered was Carry On actor Jim Dale.\nThe role of the Fourth Doctor went to Tom Baker.\n\nFifth Doctor \nRichard Griffiths was considered by producers for the role when Tom Baker left. The role of the Fifth Doctor went to Peter Davison.\n\nSixth Doctor \n\nThe role of the Sixth Doctor was offered to Colin Baker without an audition. No auditions were held for the role, as Baker was the first choice.\n\nSylvester McCoy did express interest.\n\nSeventh Doctor \nIn 1986, the then Controller of BBC One, Michael Grade, unhappy with the current state of Doctor Who, wrote to Sydney Newman to enquire whether he had any ideas for reformatting the series. On 6 October 1986, Newman wrote back to Grade with a suggestion that Patrick Troughton should return to the role of the Doctor for a season, and then regenerate into a female, with Newman suggesting either Joanna Lumley, Dawn French or Frances de la Tour to succeed Troughton. Grade then suggested that Newman meet the current Head of Drama, Jonathan Powell, for lunch to discuss the ideas. Newman and Powell did not get on well, however, and nothing came of their meeting.\n\nThe final three actors considered for the role were Sylvester McCoy, Ken Campbell and Chris Jury. While Campbell's portrayal was considered too dark for the series, Jury was remembered by the production team and cast as Kingpin in 1988's The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, though many years later he disclosed that he had never known that he had been on the shortlist for the role.\n\nMcCoy's audition process included a read-through in costume of a sample scene, playing against Janet Fielding. The actors Dermot Crowley and David Fielder also auditioned for the role in the same manner. Andrew Sachs was offered the role of the Seventh Doctor but he turned it down later regretted it saying \"it was one of his sad tales of failure in life\" and hoped the offer came around again\n\nThe role of the Seventh Doctor went to Sylvester McCoy.\n\nEighth Doctor \nHad the show continued past 1989, the producers were again considering Richard Griffiths for the role of the Eighth Doctor.\n\nIn the early 1990s, the BBC approached Verity Lambert to revive the show. Lambert wanted Peter Cook to play the new Doctor at the time, but he eventually declined involvement.\n\nActors who auditioned for the role in the 1996 film included Michael Crawford, Rowan Atkinson (who played a spoof version of the Doctor in Curse of Fatal Death), Liam Cunningham (who appeared in the 2013 Doctor Who episode \"Cold War\"), Mark McGann (whose brother Paul McGann eventually got the role), Trevor Eve, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, Eric Idle, Tim McInnerny (who appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who episode \"Planet of the Ood\"), Nathaniel Parker, Peter Woodward, John Sessions (who later played Tannis in the audio drama Death Comes to Time, and voiced Gus in the 2014 Doctor Who episode Mummy on the Orient Express), Anthony Head (who appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who episode \"School Reunion\", narrated episodes of the Doctor Who Confidential behind-the-scenes series, and provided voice-acting work for both the televised The Infinite Quest and the Excelis story arc from Big Finish Productions), Rik Mayall, and Tony Slattery. Billy Connolly has stated that he was also considered for the part. Peter Capaldi was invited to audition, but declined, as he \"didn't think [he] would get it, and... didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors.\" Capaldi was eventually cast as the Twelfth Doctor. Harry Van Gorkum was cast as the role for the Eighth Doctor but the BBC, unlike Fox and Universal did not find him a fitting choice.\nRoger Rees was approached and showed interest.\n\nThe role of the Eighth Doctor went to Paul McGann.\n\nNinth Doctor \nIn 2003, Bill Baggs was set to make a 40th-anniversary special for BBC South with Alan Cumming as the Doctor. Baggs had directed numerous unofficial Doctor Who-related productions since the show's cancellation, including The Airzone Solution, which featured Cumming in another role. The special was cancelled when the BBC instead commissioned Russell T Davies to revive the series.\n\nHugh Grant (who also played an incarnation of the Doctor in Curse of Fatal Death) has stated that he turned down the role and expressed his regret once he saw how the show turned out. According to Russell T Davies, Martin Clunes (whose television debut had been in the serial \"Snakedance\" in 1983) was considered at an early stage of development.\n\nProducer Jane Tranter also considered casting Judi Dench as the Ninth Doctor.\n\nThe role of the Ninth Doctor went to Christopher Eccleston.\n\nEleventh Doctor \nRussell Tovey auditioned and screen-tested for the part of the Doctor, having been recommended to Steven Moffat's new production team by outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies. Moffat briefly considered casting Peter Capaldi. On November 27, 2008 an Australian Newspaper reported a story hinting that Dutch/Australian actor David Knijnenburg was under consideration for the part. Despite the highly speculative nature of the report, it was neither confirmed nor denied by the BBC or the actor himself and the story was picked up by other sources. Comparatively unknown outside Australia, his appointment seemed unlikely although he was favourably recommended by previous Doctor Sylvester McCoy. The role was reportedly offered to Chiwetel Ejiofor, who turned it down. The role of the Eleventh Doctor went to Matt Smith.\n\nTwelfth Doctor \nBen Daniels revealed to Digital Spy that he had been included on a shortlist of actors in the running for the role, but was not the production team's first choice. The role of the Twelfth Doctor went to Peter Capaldi.\n\nThirteenth Doctor \nWhen referring to if the new Doctor would be a woman, incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall originally was quoted in February 2017, as saying \"Nothing is ruled out but I don’t want the casting to be a gimmick and that’s all I can say\". \nThe role of the Thirteenth Doctor went to Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the Doctor in the television series. She had previously worked with Chibnall in Broadchurch. Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice. Whittaker has said that other actresses auditioned for the part.\n\nRadio plays \nBoris Karloff was approached to play the Doctor for a proposed radio series by Stanmark Productions in the late 1960s. Karloff declined, and Peter Cushing was hired to reprise his film version of \"Dr. Who\" for a pilot episode titled \"Journey into Time\" that was recorded, but the BBC passed on the series. As of 2014, the location of the recording is unknown.\n\nUnspecified\nIn 2013, Bill Nighy said that the BBC had approached him about the possibility of him playing the Doctor, but that he had declined, feeling that the role came with \"too much baggage\". Nighy did not specify when this occurred out of respect to the actor who was eventually cast.\n\nIn 2017, Alan Cumming said that he had been approached about playing the character on two occasions, once by Russell T Davies and once by Mark Gatiss, but that the deal-breaker both times had been his reluctance to relocate to Cardiff. Cumming later appeared in the 2018 Doctor Who episode \"The Witchfinders\" portraying King James I.\n\nReferences\n\nActors who have played the Doctor\n\nDoctor, Considered",
"John Robert Evans (1 October 1929 – 13 February 2015) was a Canadian cardiologist, academic, businessperson, and civic leader.\n\nHe was the founding dean of the McMaster University Medical School and then vice-president of Health Services at McMaster University from 1965 to 1972. From 1972 to 1978 he was President of the University of Toronto. From 1979 to 1983, he served as founding Director of the Population, Health and Nutrition Department of the World Bank in Washington, DC.\n\nEvans was a key player in the sale of the Canadian Connaught Laboratories to the French Sanofi-Aventis.\n\nHe was elected as the ninth Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation, a position that he held from 1987 to 1995. Evans was the first Canadian to hold the position.\n\nHe was chairman of Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Torstar Corporation, Alcan Aluminum Ltd. (1995–2002), the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Charitable Foundation. He was the chairman of and helped create the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. He died at the age of 85 from Parkinson's disease in 2015.\n\nEarly life and education\nEvans was born in Toronto, and was the youngest of seven children. His parents were Mary and William Watson Evans. Evans was orphaned at the age of nine and was subsequently raised by his older siblings. He went to the University of Toronto Schools for high school, and after graduating from UTS, studied medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T). He was a varsity football player at U of T and would later become a member of U of T's Sports Hall of Fame. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1952 and was a Rhodes Scholar at University College, Oxford. He received his Doctoral degree specializing in internal medicine and cardiology at Oxford University in 1955.\n\nAcademic career\nEvans was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School from 1960–61, he then returned to Toronto as an associate professor at U of T's faculty of medicine. He also worked as a cardiologist at Toronto General Hospital during this period, apparently the only time that he practised medicine.\n\nAt the relatively young age of 35, Evans was selected as the founding Dean of McMaster University's new Medical School.\n\nPolitics\nIn a 1978 federal by-election, Evans ran for a seat in the House of Commons as a Liberal in the Toronto riding of Rosedale, but was defeated by former Toronto Mayor David Crombie.\n\nHonours and awards\n 2007 – He was awarded the Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research\n 2005 – He was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame\n 2000 – He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame\n 1992 – He was awarded the Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award\n 1991 – He was made an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford\n 1991 – He was made a member of the Order of Ontario\n 1978 – He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada\n\nHonorary degrees \nEvans received 15 Honorary Doctorates, including:\n\n 1972: Dalhousie University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1972: McMaster University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1972: York University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1973: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Doctor of Science, (DSc)\n 1974: Queen's University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1975: Wilfrid Laurier University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1978: Yale University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 1978: Johns Hopkins University, Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD)\n 1980: University of Toronto, Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoured for \"Service to the University\"\n 1981: Maastricht University, honored for \"Education innovation\"\n 1996: University of Calgary, Doctor of Laws (LLD)\n 2005: University of Alberta, Doctor of Science, (DSc)\n 2009: Lakehead University, Doctor of Science, (DSc)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry\n Archives of Hamilton Health Sciences\nJohn Robert Evans archival papers held at the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services\n\n1929 births\n2015 deaths\nAlumni of University College, Oxford\nBusinesspeople from Toronto\nCanadian corporate directors\nCanadian cardiologists\nCanadian Rhodes Scholars\nCanadian university and college faculty deans\n20th-century Canadian businesspeople\nCompanions of the Order of Canada\nLiberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons\nMembers of the Order of Ontario\nPresidents of the University of Toronto\nUniversity of Toronto alumni"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama."
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | How long was he there? | 6 | How long was Percy Sledge at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"\"How Long, How Long Blues\" (also known as \"How Long Blues\" or \"How Long How Long\") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It became an early blues standard and its melody inspired many later songs.\n\nOriginal song\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" is based on \"How Long Daddy\", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. On June 19, 1928, Leroy Carr, who sang and played piano, and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:\n\nCarr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were \"expressive and evocative\", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction.\n\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as \"How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2\", \"Part 3\", \"How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone\", \"The New How Long, How Long Blues\", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the lyric \"How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?\"\n\nLegacy\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" became an early blues standard and \"its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions\", including the Mississippi Sheiks' \"Sitting on Top of the World\" and Robert Johnson's \"Come On in My Kitchen\". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play \"off the Leroy Carr record\".\n\nIn 1988, Carr's \"How Long, How Long Blues\" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category \"Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks\". Blues historian Jim O'Neal commented in the induction statement, \"'How Long, How Long Blues' was a massive hit in the prewar blues era, a song that every blues singer and piano player had to know, and one that has continued to inspire dozens of cover versions.\" In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which \"honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance\".\n\nSee also\nList of train songs\n\nReferences\n\nBlues songs\n1928 songs\nGrammy Hall of Fame Award recipients\nVocalion Records singles\nSongs about trains",
"F & R Shanks was a coachbuilding business which flourished in 19th century central London. It began as a partnership of Robert Shanks and Robert How (How's sister married Robert Shanks). Sons of Anne How and Robert Shanks, Frederick Shanks and Robert How Shanks, took over the business in the 1850s.\n\nThe coachbuilding business was first established, where operations remained until 1905, at Great Queen Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Shortly before the end of the 19th century most activities were moved to Parker Street in neighbouring Long Acre where F & R Shanks manufactured motor car bodies.\n\nThere was a showroom at 30 New Bond Street.\n\nThe business closed in 1917.\n\nSee also Shanks & Bolin, Magasin Anglais\n\nReferences\n\nShanks\nVehicle manufacture in London\nManufacturing companies established in 1815\nManufacturing companies disestablished in 1917\n1815 establishments in England\nBritish companies established in 1815\n1917 disestablishments in England\nBritish companies disestablished in 1917"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.",
"How long was he there?",
"he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | What did he do after that? | 7 | What did Percy Sledge do after being laid off from a construction job in late 1965? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"Follow Me! is a series of television programmes produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk and the BBC in the late 1970s to provide a crash course in the English language. It became popular in many overseas countries as a first introduction to English; in 1983, one hundred million people watched the show in China alone, featuring Kathy Flower.\n\nThe British actor Francis Matthews hosted and narrated the series.\n\nThe course consists of sixty lessons. Each lesson lasts from 12 to 15 minutes and covers a specific lexis. The lessons follow a consistent group of actors, with the relationships between their characters developing during the course.\n\nFollow Me! actors\n Francis Matthews\n Raymond Mason\n David Savile\n Ian Bamforth\n Keith Alexander\n Diane Mercer\n Jane Argyle\n Diana King\n Veronica Leigh\n Elaine Wells\n Danielle Cohn\n Lashawnda Bell\n\nEpisodes \n \"What's your name\"\n \"How are you\"\n \"Can you help me\"\n \"Left, right, straight ahead\"\n \"Where are they\"\n \"What's the time\"\n \"What's this What's that\"\n \"I like it very much\"\n \"Have you got any wine\"\n \"What are they doing\"\n \"Can I have your name, please\"\n \"What does she look like\"\n \"No smoking\"\n \"It's on the first floor\"\n \"Where's he gone\"\n \"Going away\"\n \"Buying things\"\n \"Why do you like it\"\n \"What do you need\"\n \"I sometimes work late\"\n \"Welcome to Britain\"\n \"Who's that\"\n \"What would you like to do\"\n \"How can I get there?\"\n \"Where is it\"\n \"What's the date\"\n \"Whose is it\"\n \"I enjoy it\"\n \"How many and how much\"\n \"What have you done\"\n \"Haven't we met before\"\n \"What did you say\"\n \"Please stop\"\n \"How can I get to Brightly\"\n \"Where can I get it\"\n \"There's a concert on Wednesday\"\n \"What's it like\"\n \"What do you think of him\"\n \"I need someone\"\n \"What were you doing\"\n \"What do you do\"\n \"What do you know about him\"\n \"You shouldn't do that\"\n \"I hope you enjoy your holiday\"\n \"Where can I see a football match\"\n \"When will it be ready\"\n \"Where did you go\"\n \"I think it's awful\"\n \"A room with a view\"\n \"You'll be ill\"\n \"I don't believe in strikes\"\n \"They look tired\"\n \"Would you like to\"\n \"Holiday plans\"\n \"The second shelf on the left\"\n \"When you are ready\"\n \"Tell them about Britain\"\n \"I liked everything\"\n \"Classical or modern\"\n \"Finale\"\n\nReferences \n\n BBC article about the series in China\n\nExternal links \n Follow Me – Beginner level \n Follow Me – Elementary level\n Follow Me – Intermediate level\n Follow Me – Advanced level\n\nAdult education television series\nEnglish-language education television programming"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.",
"How long was he there?",
"he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,",
"What did he do after that?",
"When a Man Loves a Woman\" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966."
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | What job did he have as a teenager? | 8 | What job did Percy Sledge have as a teenager? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | a series of agricultural jobs | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Eliphaz ( ’Ělīp̄āz, \"El is pure gold\") is called a Temanite (). He is one of the friends or comforters of Job in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible.\n\nThe first of the three visitors to Job (), he was said to have come from Teman, an important city of Edom (; ; ). Thus Eliphaz appears as the representative of the wisdom of the Edomites, which, according to , , and , was famous in antiquity.\n\nAs an alternative to the interpretation \"El is pure gold\", or \"My God is pure gold\", it has also been suggested that the name might mean something along the lines of \"My God is separate\" or \"My God is remote\".\n\nName\nThe name \"Eliphaz\" for the spokesman of Edomite wisdom may have been suggested to the author of Job by the tradition which gave the name Eliphaz to Esau's eldest son, the father of Teman (; ).\n\nBook of Job\nIn the arguments that pass between Job and his friends, it is Eliphaz who opens each of the three series of discussions:\nChapters 4-5, with Job's reply in chapters 6-7\nChapter 15, with Job's reply in chapters 16-17\nChapter 22, with Job's reply in chapters 23-24.\n\nAmerican theologian Albert Barnes suggests that, because he spoke first each time, Eliphaz may have been the eldest of the friends. Eliphaz appears mild and modest. In his first reply to Job's complaints, he argues that those who are truly good are never entirely forsaken by Providence, but that punishment may justly be inflicted for secret sins. He denies that any man is innocent and censures Job for asserting his freedom from guilt. Eliphaz exhorts Job to confess any concealed iniquities to alleviate his punishment. His arguments are well supported but God declares at the end of the book that Eliphaz has made a serious error in his speaking. Job offers a sacrifice to God for Eliphaz's error.\n\nHis primary belief was that the righteous do not perish; the wicked alone suffer, and in measure as they have sinned ().\n\nEliphaz' dream\nEliphaz' argument is, in part, rooted in what he believes to have been a personal revelation which he received through a dream (Job 4:12-16): \"an elusive word [stealed] past, quiet like a whisper\", and after a silence he heard a voice saying: Eliphaz feels empowered to confront Job because of his dream. Crenshaw notes that he missed \"the irony of this reference to God's lack of trust in his servants\".Some authors consider that Job's words in are a response to this \"revelation\" of Eliphaz: Albert Barnes refers to one of the Rosenmüllers as taking this approach. However, the words are different and form part of Job's reply to Bildad, the second friend: Barnes notes that \"it seems more probable that it is [a reply] to the general position which had been laid down and defended, that God was just and holy, and that his proceedings were marked with equity\".\n\nEliphaz refers to the content of his dream again for emphasis in :\n\nBildad also refers to Eliphaz' revelation in chapter 25, although he presents the concept as his own. Job rebukes him for it: \"What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm without strength! What counsel you have given to one without wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly provided! To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?\" Job pokes fun at Bildad asking him what spirit revealed it to him because he recognizes the argument as Eliphaz's spiritual revelation.\n\nEliphaz' final speech\nAlthough quick-witted, and quick to respond, Eliphaz loses his composure in chapter 22, in the third and final round of speeches, accusing Job of specific faults, \"sins against justice and charity towards others\": oppressing widows and orphans, refusing bread to the hungry: a far cry from how he had originally described Job in his first address to him:\n\nEliphaz also misconstrues Job's message as he scrambles to summarize Job's thoughts from chapter 21:\n\nJob did not argue that God could not prevent evil. Job was observing that in this life God often chooses not to prevent evil. Conventional wisdom told Eliphaz that God should immediately punish the wicked as that would be the just thing to do. Job, however, saw it differently, and in 24:1, Job laments\n\nJob yearns for the justice Eliphaz claims exists – an immediate punishment of the wicked. However, that simply did not hold true according to Job's observations. Nevertheless, Job does not question God's ultimate justice. He knows justice will eventually be served. Job asks, \"For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life? Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?\"\n\nSee also \nBildad\nElihu\nZophar\n\nReferences \n\nHebrew Bible people\nBook of Job",
"SOARA (Situation, Objective, Action, Results, Aftermath) is a job interview technique developed by Hagymas Laszlo, Professor of Language at the University of Munich, and Alexander Botos, Chief Curator at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It is similar to the Situation, Task, Action, Result technique. In many interviews, SOARA is used as a structure for clarifying information relating to a recent challenge.\n\nDetails\n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation you found yourself in.\n Objective: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives.\n Aftermath: What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?\n\nJob interview"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.",
"How long was he there?",
"he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,",
"What did he do after that?",
"When a Man Loves a Woman\" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966.",
"What job did he have as a teenager?",
"a series of agricultural jobs"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | Was getting into music a dream of his? | 9 | Was getting into music a dream of Percy Sledge? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"\"It's Getting Better\" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil that was a sunshine pop hit single in 1969 for Mama Cass.\n\nOverview\nThe song describes the singer's satisfaction with a love relationship that is down-to-earth rather than extravagantly romantic, a subgenre of love song exemplified by the Jerome Kern/ P. G. Wodehouse composition \"Bill\". Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil had previously written the similarly themed \"He's Sure the Boy I Love\", a hit for the Crystals in 1963.\n\nThe earliest evident recording of \"It's Getting Better\" was by the Vogues for their August 1968 album release Turn Around, Look at Me (Reprise Records). Also in 1968, the song was featured on the Leonard Nimoy album The Way I Feel (Dot Records) released that October. The first evident single release of \"It's Getting Better\" was by Pierre Lalonde on the Montréalais label Disco Prestige in September 1968 with the track's parent album: Introducing Peter Martin, being released that November.\n\nIn March 1969, the Will-O-Bees, a New York City-based trio (Janet Blossom, Steven Porter, and Robert Merchanthouse) who recorded a number of Mann-Weil compositions, had a single release of \"It's Getting Better\" on the SGC label (Screen Gems Columbia). Overall 1969 saw the release of several single versions of \"It's Getting Better\" but only Cass Elliot's was by an established artist at that time, the other versions being by Ronnie Buskirk, Freddie Gelfand, and P. K. Limited. The song has since been recorded and covered by many well-known artists around the world including UK singer and ex-cruise star Jane McDonald.\n\n\"It's Getting Better\" has also been recorded by Richard Barnes, the Günter Kallmann (de) Chorus, Louise Morrissey, the Popinjays, Kevin Rowland and John & Anne Ryder. Bobby Rydell recorded the song for his 1976 album release Born With a Smile, his sole album released after 1964, and his version was issued as a single in 1977. Jane McDonald's rendition of \"It's Getting Better\" can be heard on her 2010 concert album Live at the London Palladium. A Swedish rendering of \"It's Getting Better\" by lyricist Stig Anderson entitled \"Det Känns Bara Bättre\" was cut by Anna-Lena Löfgren in 1970.\n\nCass Elliot version\n\nBackground\n\"It's Getting Better\" had been recorded by Cass Elliot for inclusion on her June 1969 album release Bubblegum, Lemonade, and... Something for Mama, which was produced by Steve Barri and arranged by Jimmie Haskell. The Wrecking Crew (James Burton on guitar, Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, and Joe Osborn on bass) — who'd regularly backed the Mamas & the Papas — were among the instrumentalists on the album.\n\n\"It's Getting Better\" was issued as the second advance single in May 1969 following the release that March of \"Move in a Little Closer, Baby\", a single reminiscent of the Mamas & the Papas sound which reached a Billboard Hot 100 peak of #58 (#30 Canada). Steve Barri would recall that \"Move in a Little Closer, Baby\" was \"one [album track] [Elliot] wasn't too thrilled about...but she loved 'It's Getting Better'\".\n\nElliot herself did convey reservations about \"It's Getting Better\", stating in a September 1969 Melody Maker interview that while pleased with the single was rising toward the UK Top Ten - \"It shows I am being accepted on my own and that is something I've worried about ever since I left the Mamas & Papas\" - \"musically, though, it's not quite what I want to be doing. It doesn't satisfy me, It's a good recording for what it is, but you wouldn't exactly call it social commentary and musically it's not very complicated.\" Elliot further told Melody Maker - regarding \"It's Getting Better\" or perhaps the overall focus of its parent album - \"Bubblegum music is very pleasant to listen to...but it's like they say about Chinese food: half an hour after tasting it you are hungry again\", although she did concede \"maybe [bubblegum] is what I am supposed to be doing [since] my voice is very light...I just can't sing heavy material\". Elliot would be less easygoing in her 1971 summation of her 1968-1970 tenure with Dunhill Records, saying she had been \"forced to be so bubblegum that I'd stick to the floor when I walked.\" \n\nA #13 Easy Listening hit, \"It's Getting Better\" peaked at #30 in August 1969 during what was then considered an unusually lengthy 19-week run on [[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard'''s Hot 100]]. Only five other 1969 releases had longer chart runs on the Hot 100. The single's regional success was staggered, and it reached the Top Ten in several markets, ranking as high as #2 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul and San Diego. Its estimated U.S. sales were 500,000 copies.\n\nCass Elliot made her first solo appearance on American Bandstand belatedly promoting \"It's Getting Better\" on its broadcast of November 8, 1969.\n\nElliot's \"It's Getting Better\" had a more pronounced chart impact in the UK, reaching #8 in October 1969 and selling almost 100,000 copies. The single bested the UK chart performance of Elliot's signature song, \"Dream a Little Dream of Me\" (#11), which had lost some popularity to a rival version by Anita Harris. In Ireland, where \"Dream a Little Dream of Me\" had reached #13, \"It's Getting Better\" reached #3.\n\n\"Dream a Little Dream of Me\" and \"It's Getting Better\" would be Elliot's only charting singles in the British Isles. In the U.S., \"It's Getting Better\" was the fourth of Elliot's seven solo Billboard Hot 100 appearances and her second Top 40 hit after \"Dream a Little Dream of Me\".\n\nIn Australia, Cass Elliott's \"It's Getting Better\" charted concurrently with a version by Paul Jones, these singles peaking at respectively #53 and #52. Produced by Jones himself and arranged by Tony Visconti, the Paul Jones version was featured on his album Inside My Music Box and was released concurrently as a single with the Cass Elliott version in both the UK and Ireland without reaching the chart in either territory.\n\nIn the wake of the success of \"It's Getting Better\", Elliot's next two singles were recordings of Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil compositions: \"Make Your Own Kind of Music\" — which like \"It's Getting Better\" had been recorded by the Will-O-Bees in 1968 — and a new song, \"New World Coming\". Although both songs are now considered soft rock classics, their original chart success was fairly mild: \"Make Your Own Kind of Music\" peaked at #36 (Elliot's third and final solo Top 40 appearance) (#20 Canada), and \"New World Coming\" peaked at #42 (#22 Canada).\n\nIn 2011 Cass Elliot's \"It's Getting Better\" was employed in a television advertisement for Nestea.\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\"\n|-\n!align=\"left\"|Chart (1969)\n!align=\"left\"|Peakposition\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|Canada Top Singles\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|31\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|Canada Adult Contemporary\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|7\n|-\n|Ireland \n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|3\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|UK\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|8\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100<ref>Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - </ref>\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|30\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|13\n|-\n|align=\"left\"|U.S. Cash Box Top 100 \n| style=\"text-align:center;\"|35\n|}\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCover versions\nBobby Rydell covered \"It's Getting Better\" on his 1976 LP Born with a Smile.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1969 songs\n1969 singles\nSongs written by Barry Mann\nSongs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil\nCass Elliot songs\nRichard Barnes (musician) songs\nDunhill Records singles",
"\"Now We're Getting Somewhere\" is a 1986 song by rock group, Crowded House. It was the third single from the group's debut album Crowded House. It is the only single from that album to not appear on any of the band's greatest hits albums; Recurring Dream & The Very Very Best of Crowded House. It was the first single to feature the song, \"Recurring Dream\", as a B-Side. \"Now We're Getting Somewhere\" peaked at No. 63 on the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart, and No. 33 in New Zealand.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs by Neil Finn. Released as 7\" vinyl single in Australia by Capitol (Catalogue CP 1822). \"Now we're getting somewhere\" is from the album \"Crowded House\". Recurring dream is the original Version later released on the \"Rikki and Pete\"-soundtrack and on the 2016 Deluxe edition of the album \"Crowded House\"\n \"Now We're Getting Somewhere\" - 4:09\n \"Recurring Dream\" - 2:59\n\nCharts\n\nNotes\n\nCrowded House songs\n1986 singles\nSongs written by Neil Finn\nSong recordings produced by Mitchell Froom"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.",
"How long was he there?",
"he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,",
"What did he do after that?",
"When a Man Loves a Woman\" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966.",
"What job did he have as a teenager?",
"a series of agricultural jobs",
"Was getting into music a dream of his?",
"Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene,"
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | Did he ever get into any trouble? | 10 | Did Percy Sledge ever get into any trouble? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | false | [
"Bubble Trouble is a 1994 action-adventure scrolling shooter video game developed by Lore Design Limited and published by Telegames in North America and Europe exclusively for the Atari Lynx. In the game, the players assume the role of Travis, a scientist whose experiments go wrong as he becomes trapped in a bubble world.\n\nGameplay \n\nBubble Trouble is an action-adventure shooter game.\n\nReception \n\nIGN gave the game a 7/10, writing \"Behind Bubble Trouble'''s screwball premise is a challenging game with a good dose of originality. Though some may find it a bit tough, there's enough appeal to pull most players in for 'one more try'. Complimentary graphics and sound help round out Bubble Trouble into a charming package.\"Ultimate Console Database'' wrote \"The shooter/exploration hybrid gameplay takes a bit of work to get into, but once you learn the controls and figure out exactly what it is you need to do it becomes surprisingly addictive. This is one of those games where each time you strive to get just a little bit farther, although lack of any replay value limits the appeal.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Bubble Trouble at AtariAge\n Bubble Trouble at GameFAQs\n Bubble Trouble at MobyGames\n\n1994 video games\nAtari Lynx games\nAtari Lynx-only games\nLore Design Limited games\nSingle-player video games\nScrolling shooters\nTelegames games\nVideo games developed in the United Kingdom",
"Hey Spinner! is an album by New Zealand band Able Tasmans. It was released in 1990.\n\nReception\nTrouser Press called the album \"one of the finest records ever to emerge from New Zealand.\" Marc Horton, in Perfect Sound Forever, wrote that it \"combines chamber pop with Fairport-style pastoral underpinnings and just enough of the Dunedin jangle to get them through customs without any trouble.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\"Dileen\"\n\"Angry Martyr\"\n\"Hold Me I\"\n\"Michael Fay\"\n\"Hold Me II\"\n\"Wednesday (she's coming round)\"\n\"Patience\"\n\"The theory of continual disappointment\"\n\"Grey Lynn\"\n\"Hey, Spinner!\"\n\"Amelia\"\n\nReferences\n\nAble Tasmans albums\n1990 albums\nFlying Nun Records albums"
]
|
[
"Percy Sledge",
"Early career",
"What was his first job?",
"He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before",
"When did he get into music?",
"Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends,",
"Did he go to college?",
"I don't know.",
"How did he get discovered?",
"A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two.",
"Was he a doctor?",
"an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama.",
"How long was he there?",
"he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965,",
"What did he do after that?",
"When a Man Loves a Woman\" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966.",
"What job did he have as a teenager?",
"a series of agricultural jobs",
"Was getting into music a dream of his?",
"Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene,",
"Did he ever get into any trouble?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_333d5dc782734647a44a69600616fccd_1 | Did he ever have any money troubles? | 11 | Did Percy Sledge ever have any money troubles? | Percy Sledge | Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract. Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me". Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa. CANNOTANSWER | When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. | Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Biography
Early career
Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.
Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in South Africa.
Later career
Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s when "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in his home city of Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some were simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".
Personal life
Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980. He had 12 children, three of whom became singers.
Death
Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.
Accolades
Sledge was:
An inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989.
Inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
The recipient of the Blues Music Award in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night.
Inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame in November 2004.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions by the State of Louisiana in May 2007.
Inducted into the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Selected discography
Albums
Singles
1994
"I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden)
duet with Mikael Rickfors
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson)
(Sky Ranch / Virgin, France)
produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg
Compilation albums
In popular culture
Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".
References
External links
1940 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
Capricorn Records artists
Deaths from liver cancer
Monument Records artists
Singers from Alabama
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul singers
People from Colbert County, Alabama
Virgin Records artists
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Commonwealth v. Mitchneck, 130 Pa. Super. 433, 198 A. 463 (1938), is a criminal case involving the meaning of theft and ownership. Mitchneck operated a coal mine. Mitchneck's employees signed orders directing Mitchneck to deduct amounts from their wages to pay their bills at a store. Mitchneck did not pay their bills. Mitchneck was convicted of fraudulent conversion of the employee's money.\n\nThe Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed the conviction and ordered acquittal. The court found that although Mitchneck owed money to the employees, any money held by Mitchneck (if it ever existed) did not yet belong to the employees, since it never entered into their hands in order to transfer ownership. The court held that criminal court cannot be used as a substitute for civil court to collect a debt.\n\nThe court wrote,\n\n\"The defendant...had not received, nor did he have in his possession, any money belonging to his employees. True, he owed them money, but that did not transfer to them the title and ownership of the money... The money, if Mitchneck actually had it, of which there was no proof, was still his own, but, after he accepted the assignments, he owed the money to [the store] instead of to [the employees]... Failure to pay the amount due to the new creditor was not fraudulent conversion... Defendant's liability for the unpaid wages due to his employees was, and remained, civil, not criminal. His liability for the amounat due [to the store] after his agreement... was likewise civil and not criminal...\"\n\nReferences\n\n1938 in Pennsylvania\n1938 in law\nPennsylvania law",
"William Bulkeley (4 November 1691 – 28 October 1760) was a minor Welsh landowner, remembered chiefly as a diarist. He was born in Brynddu in the parish of Llanfechell, Anglesey, the son of William Bulkeley of Brynddu and of Lettice, daughter of Captain Henry Jones of Llangoed. He was sheriff of Anglesey in 1715. \n\nFor many years he kept a meticulous diary. It was celebrated in 2014 with a dramatic performance at Brynddu house, still owned by one of his descendants. \n\nTwo volumes survive, the first from 30 March 1734 to 8 June 1743, the second 1 August 1747 to 28 September 1760. Every day he recorded his impression of the weather, but he also gives many details of estate management, local politics and religious upheaval, his patronage of harpists, cattle-dealing in the local fairs, his legal duties as justice of the peace, and his visit to Dublin. He seldom alludes to his business dealings, but in 1736 he refers to a debt and to money paid in London:\n\nFamily troubles\nHe also refers to the marital troubles of his daughter Mary, who in 1738 married Fortunatus Wright, merchant and privateer of Liverpool. \n\n \n\nMary's troubles did not end with Fortunatus's death in 1756:\n\nReferences\n\n1691 births\n1760 deaths\nPeople from Anglesey\nHigh Sheriffs of Anglesey"
]
|
[
"David Vitter",
"Immigration"
]
| C_96f5ade176e148ef9a8dc157ab24ae9a_0 | How was David Vitter relevant? | 1 | How was David Vitter relevant to immigration generally? | David Vitter | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering. In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated. In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee. In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007. In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee. CANNOTANSWER | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. | David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. He then represented Louisiana's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.
Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.
Early life and education
David Bruce Vitter was born on May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Audrey Malvina (née St. Raymond) and Albert Leopold Vitter. Vitter graduated in 1979 from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. While a student at De La Salle, Vitter participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1983; a second B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He was a practicing lawyer, and adjunct law professor at Tulane and Loyola University New Orleans.
Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack. Vitter's brother Jeffrey is a notable computer scientist who has served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from January 2016 to January 2019.
Early political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. As a freshman representative, he filed two complaints against Governor Edwin W. Edwards before the Louisiana Ethics Board. One questioned the financing of a trip Edwards took to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended an Evander Holyfield fight and gambled at Caesars Palace. The other questioned the involvement of Edwards' children in riverboat casinos.<ref>"Vitter's complaint filed against Edwards", Minden Press-Herald, November 8, 1993, p. 1</ref>
Vitter has argued for ethics reform and term limits since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s. As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature. The first election legislators affected by the reform occurred in 2007. In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a Political Action Committee with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority. While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.
Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.
United States House of Representatives
Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican U.S. Representative Bob Livingston, who resigned after disclosure that he had committed adultery. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David C. Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent. In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.
In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.
In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe RU-486, a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.
In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values."
2003 gubernatorial election
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.
Bruno said on a New Orleans-based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.
United States Senate
2004 election
In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."
On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.
State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter's state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.
2010 election
Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him.
He faced the Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, an Independent, also ran. On Nov 4, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The Independent candidate Wooton finished with 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.
Tenure
Vitter has identified himself as a political conservative throughout his political career. His legislative agenda includes positions ranging from anti-abortion to pro-gun rights while legislating against gambling, same-sex marriage, civil unions, federal funding for abortion providers, increases in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the United Nations, and amnesty for America's illegal immigrants. Vitter's stated positions include a balanced budget constitutional amendment, abolishing the federal and state estate tax, increasing local police forces, and an assortment of health care, tax and national defense reforms.
After conceding defeat to John Bel Edwards in the 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term.
Abortion
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment barring all federal public funds to health care providers and Planned Parenthood that provide services that include abortion. Federal law bars any funding to directly finance elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde amendment. Vitter argued that the funds are used for overhead costs that benefit the abortion services. The amendment failed to pass. Following the rejection, Vitter and others urged
the Senate to pass a similar bill introduced by Vitter in
January 2007. The bill failed to pass.
In January 2008, Vitter proposed an amendment to prohibit the funding of abortions with Indian Health Service funds except in the case of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. The amendment would have held future presidential administrations to an executive principle first crafted in 1982 by the Ronald Reagan White House. Vitter's amendment passed the Senate but later was stalled in the House.
Later that year, Vitter co-sponsored the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act which – along with other oversight regulations – required doctors performing abortions to have the authority granted by a nearby hospital to admit patients. The bill was never reported to committee.
Abstinence education
Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence over sex education that includes information about birth control, drawing criticism from Planned Parenthood. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
Automotive industry bailout
Vitter was one of 35 Senators to vote against the Big 3 Bailout bill. The financial bailout package was for GM, Chrysler, and Ford, but failed to pass on December 11, 2008. During the Senate debate Vitter referred to the approach of giving the automotive industry a financial package before they restructured as "ass-backwards". He soon apologized for the phrasing of the comment, which did not appear in the Congressional Record.
BP Horizon oil spill
In response to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coast of Louisiana, Vitter introduced legislation along with Jeff Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from $75 million to its most recent annual profits (or $150 million if greater). In the case of BP, the owner of the oil lease, its liability would be $20 billion. Vitter later introduced an amendment that would remove the cap entirely for this particular spill. Competing Democratic proposals would have raised the liability to $10 billion regardless of profits or removed the cap altogether. Sessions argued that large caps unrelated to company profits would harm smaller companies.
Chemical safety
In May 2013, Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would have regulated the introduction of new or already existing chemicals. The bill would have given additional authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate chemicals and streamline the patchwork of state laws on chemicals under federal authority.
Child protection
In April 2008, Vitter introduced an amendment to continue funding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was excluded from the 2008/2009 budget. The federal program maintains a national sex offender registry, provides resources for tracking down unregistered sex offenders and increases penalties for the sexual assault of children. His amendment received bipartisan support.
Children's health insurance program
In September 2007, Vitter opposed an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. He said he preferred that private health insurance provide the needed care and deemed the bill as "Hillarycare", a reference to the 1993 Clinton health care plan created by Hillary Clinton which proposed universal health care.
Ethics and term limits
Vitter refused to pledge to a voluntary term limit when running for the U.S. Congress in 1999. His opponent characterized this stance as hypocritical, and Vitter countered that unless it were universally applied, the loss of seniority would disadvantage his district. As a Senator, he has proposed term limit constitutional amendments for members of Congress three times. Vitter eventually decided to retire from the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms.
In 2007, in response to lobbying scandals involving, among others, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, Congress passed a lobbying and ethics reform package to which Vitter proposed a package of five amendments. The Senate approved three that limited which legislators' spouses could lobby the Senate, created criminal penalties for legislators and executive branch officials who falsify financial reports, and doubled the penalties for lobbyists who failed to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate rejected prohibiting legislators from paying their families with campaign funds with some saying it was unrelated to the current legislation and others that the payments were not a problem. Additionally, they tabled his proposal to define Indian tribes as corporations and its members as shareholders so that they are required to contribute to candidates through political action committees instead of their tribal treasury. Senators objected saying that they are already subjected to campaign laws for unincorporated entities and individuals and that the proposal was singling them out unfairly. The reform package became law in September 2007.
In 2009, Vitter and Democratic former Senator Russ Feingold announced an effort to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
Franken Amendment
In October 2009, the Senate passed Democratic Senator Al Franken's amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would forbid federal contractors from forcing victims of sexual assault, battery and discrimination to submit to binding arbitration (where a third-party typically chosen by the contractor adjudicates) and thereby prohibiting them from going to court. The impetus for the amendment came from the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by employees of Halliburton/KBR, a federal contractor.
The amendment passed 68 to 30 with all opposition coming from Republicans including Vitter (all four female Republicans, six other Republicans and all present Democrats voted for passage). Vitter's 2010 Democratic Senatorial opponent Charlie Melancon criticized Vitter for his vote saying, "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were." However, The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker argued that the 30 senators were being "unfairly smeared for doing the harder thing, maybe even for the right reasons."
Republican senators said they voted against it because it was unenforceable, a position also taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Obama administration. However, the DOD and the White House stated they agreed with the intent of the legislation and suggested it would be better if it was broadened to prohibit the use of arbitration in cases of sexual assault for any business contract, not just federal contractors. Senators explained their vote against the legislation by saying it was a political attack on Halliburton and that the Senate shouldn't regulate contracts. The latter argument is countered with many examples of similar restrictions on contractors such as discrimination, bonuses and health care. Others felt it was unconstitutional and that arbitration is useful in resolving disputes, often faster, privately and cheaper.
Later, a Baton Rouge rape survivor confronted Vitter at a town hall meeting saying, "[it] meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me behind bars ... How can you support a law that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?" Vitter replied, "The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form."
Gambling
Vitter opposed a bid by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana, arguing that the build site was not historically part of their tribal lands. He lobbied the Interior Department and included language in an appropriations bill to stop the casino. Although the Interior Department gave its approval, the casino has not yet been approved by the state. The Jena chief accused Vitter of ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who simultaneously lobbied against the casino. The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the lobbyist said, "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." In 2007 and 2008, Vitter introduced a bill to prohibit Indian casinos such as Jena's. Neither bill became law.
Gun rights
Rated "A" by the National Rifle Association, Vitter has been a consistent defender of gun rights. In April, 2006, in response to firearm confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster. Later, Vitter included the provisions of the act in an amendment to an appropriation bill for the Department Of Homeland Security. The bill became law in September 2006, with the amendment modified to allow for the temporary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entering a rescue or evacuation vehicle.
On April 17, 2013, Vitter voted against the Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment. The amendment failed to reach the sixty senatorial votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment is a bipartisan deal on gun background checks. Under the proposal, federal background checks would be expanded to include gun shows and online sales. All such sales would be channeled through licensed firearm dealers who would be charged for keeping record of transactions. The proposal does not require background checks for private sales between individuals.
In February 2008, Vitter – along with Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho – blocked the confirmation of Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) saying Sullivan supports "burdensome regulations" on gun owners and dealers and is "overly aggressive" enforcing gun laws. An editorial writer for The Boston Globe wrote that Vitter's position was "unreasonable" because the guns Sullivan sought to control are those commonly used in crimes: those stolen or purchased on the black market. On the other hand, gun rights advocates say that many gun dealers have lost their licenses for harmless bureaucratic errors. Sullivan stayed on as acting head of the ATF until January 2009 to make way for President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.
Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter and the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation worked to bring aid to the Gulf Coast region to rebuild broken levees, schools and hospitals, restore coastal wetlands, and provide assistance for its many victims.
In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.
In September 2007, Vitter announced that he got "a critical concession" from the White House that decreased Louisiana's obligations for hurricane recovery by $1 billion. However, the White House said that was false.
Immigration
Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, a piece of federal legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering.
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated.
In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee.
In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007.
In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee.
Louisiana Family Forum earmark
In September, 2007, Vitter earmarked $100,000 in federal money for a Christian group, the Louisiana Family Forum, known for challenging evolution by means of "teaching the controversy" which promotes intelligent design. According to Vitter, the earmark was "to develop a plan to promote better science education". The Times-Picayune alleged the group had close ties with Vitter. However, they have criticized Vitter for his support of Rudy Giuliani.
On October 17, 2007, the liberal organization People For the American Way, along with several other groups asked the Senate to remove the earmark. Vitter later withdrew it.
Military
In May 2008, Vitter voted with the majority, despite the opposition of Bush and other Republicans, for the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits for veterans similar to the level provided for returning World War II veterans in the G.I. Bill.
Network neutrality
Vitter was one of six senate Republicans to propose an amendment to a bill which would stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing network neutrality which they allege is a violation of the First Amendment.
New Orleans public housing
In September 2007, The Times-Picayune reported that Vitter and the Bush administration opposed a provision of The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery bill which required that every public housing apartment torn down be replaced with another form of low-income housing on a one-for-one basis. The administration testified that there was not sufficient demand for public housing units, a position contested by several senators. Vitter stated it would recreate "housing projects exactly as they were", isolated and riddled with crime. However, Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democratic Senator, said the intent was to make certain there were affordable places for working-class people who returned. The bill requires that demolished housing projects be replaced with mixed income communities which local housing advocates say is different from the massive public housing developments that Vitter is referring to. However, the bill does not include a ban on large-scale projects. The city housing authority is planning on replacing 4,000 low-income units with mixed-income projects providing a smaller inventory of low-income units. In December 2007, Vitter prevented the bill from leaving the committee.
Obama nominations
Vitter and Jim DeMint were the only two Senators that voted against Hillary Clinton's confirmation for the position of Secretary of State under the new Obama administration, on January 21, 2009.
He blocked President Obama's nominee for the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator until he received a written commitment on flood control issues from the nominee and FEMA. The New York Times, along with some Republican Senators, criticized Vitter for what it characterized as political posturing, given that the hurricane season was quickly approaching. He lifted his hold on May 12, 2009.
Obamacare
Vitter opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Same-sex marriage
Vitter opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history."
In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."
School board prayer
In 2005 Vitter introduced a resolution supporting prayer at school board meetings in response to an earlier district court decision that the Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers was unconstitutional. The bill died in committee after receiving little support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Alt URL Vitter later reintroduced the resolution in January 2007 after a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court concluded that Christian prayers were unconstitutional but was undecided whether nonsectarian prayers were allowed. In July 2007, the full Fifth Circuit dismissed the case because of a lack of standing. The school board subsequently resumed prayer evocations but opened it to diverse community religions. Vitter's bill died in committee. Alt URL
Tea Party movement
In recognition of the Tea Party protests opposing President Barack Obama's policies, Vitter proposed Senate Resolution 98, which would designate April 15 in years both 2009 and 2010 as "National TEA Party Day". As of April 2009, the bill has no cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with no scheduled action.
In September 2010, Vitter signed a candidate pledge from the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots. It included a promise to "Conduct myself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner."
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
In September 2007, during hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vitter expressed serious doubts about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty concerning issues of U.S. sovereignty echoing an array of conservative groups against the treaty including the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. The treaty, which sets up countries' jurisdiction over their coasts and ocean including exploration and navigation rights, was supported by the Bush administration, a majority of the United States Senate, the Pentagon, the State Department and Navy as do a coalition of business and environmental groups. The committee approved the treaty 17–4, with Vitter voting no.
Water Resources and Development Act
Vitter helped write the Water Resources and Development Act for flood-control, hurricane-protection and coastal-restoration projects including $3.6 billion for Louisiana. He called it the "single most important" legislation for assisting Louisiana with its recovery from hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush vetoed the act, objecting to its cost. Congress overrode his veto, enacting the bill.
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee on the Constitution
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairman)
2007 prostitution scandal
In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions. In 2004, Vitter had denied allegations that he had patronized prostitutes.
While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation'' predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.
On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and won by more than 12%.
2015 gubernatorial election
Vitter announced on January 21, 2014, that he would run for governor of Louisiana in the 2015 election. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. Vitter was the first sitting or ex-U.S. Senator to launch a gubernatorial bid in Louisiana since 1904, when Democrat Newton Blanchard was elected. Vitter's major opponents were Republicans Scott Angelle, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and former lieutenant governor, and Jay Dardenne, the current lieutenant governor; and Democrat John Bel Edwards, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
On November 5, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, endorsed Democrat Edwards in the general election race against his intraparty rival Vitter. Dardenne made the announcement at "Free Speech Alley" in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. After the primary, polls showed Edwards with a commanding lead over Vitter. Verne Kennedy of Market Research Insight placed Edwards ahead, 54 to 38 percent or 51 to 40 percent, depending on the level of turnout among African-American voters, either 25 or 20 percent, accordingly.
In the November 21 runoff election, Edwards defeated Vitter by 56% to 44%.
Other political involvement
Vitter became involved in the Louisiana State Senate District 22 special election held in January 2011, a vacancy created by the resignation of Troy Hebert, who accepted an appointment in the Jindal administration in Baton Rouge. Vitter endorsed and made telephone calls on behalf of a Democrat-turned-Republican state representative, Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. However, Champagne was soundly defeated by another Democrat-turned-Republican state lawmaker, Fred Mills, Jr., a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish.
In August 2014, Vitter endorsed the Common Core curriculum for Louisiana schools, a position shared by his Republican intraparty rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne. Vitter said that he regards Governor Bobby Jindal's attempt to withdraw from Common Core before the start of another school year to be "very disruptive". Vitter described Common Core as "very strong, significant, positive standards".
In 2016, Vitter succeeded after a five-year battle in passing through the Senate landmark legislation to reform the country's chemical safety laws. Vitter called the legislation a "big accomplishment. This is an area of federal law that everybody, every stakeholder, every group, whether it's some far-left environmental group or industry, said needed to be updated. The trick was getting agreement on doing that." Democratic colleague Richard Durbin of Illinois, a frequent critic of Vitter, said that if the bill is enacted with President Obama's signature "it's quite an accomplishment for him and for Congress to pass historic legislation."
Post-Senate career
After his Senate term ended, Vitter joined the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. As of October 2019, Vitter lobbies for sanctioned Chinese surveillance company Hikvision as well as for the Libyan Government of National Accord and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Also lobbied for sanctioned Russian bank Sovcombank. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
Electoral history
2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election
2010 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
2004 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
1999 Louisiana 1st District United States Congressional Election
1995 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
1991 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
See also
List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Footnotes
External links
United States Senator David Vitter official U.S. Senate website
Senator Vitter at BR Press Club
Vitter.org Vitter family website maintained by brother Jeffrey Vitter
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American lobbyists
American legal scholars
American Rhodes Scholars
De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni
Harvard College alumni
Lawyers from New Orleans
Living people
Louisiana Republicans
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party United States senators
Tea Party movement activists
Tulane University Law School alumni
Tulane University Law School faculty
United States senators from Louisiana | true | [
"{{Infobox election\n| election_name = 2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana\n| country = Louisiana\n| flag_year = 2006\n| type = presidential\n| ongoing = no\n| previous_election = 1998 United States Senate election in Louisiana\n| previous_year = 1998\n| next_election = 2010 United States Senate election in Louisiana\n| next_year = 2010\n| election_date = November 2, 2004\n| image_size = 125x136px\n| image1 = David_Vitter_official_portrait.jpg\n| nominee1 = David Vitter\n| party1 = Republican Party (United States)\n| popular_vote1 = 943,014 \n| percentage1 = 51.0%\n| image2 = Chrisjohn.jpg\n| nominee2 = Chris John\n| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)\n| popular_vote2 = 542,150\n| percentage2 = 29.3%\n| image3 = John Neely Kennedy official portrait.jpg\n| nominee3 = John Kennedy\n| party3 = Democratic Party (United States)\n| popular_vote3 = 275,821\n| percentage3 = 14.9%\n| map_image = 2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana results map by parish.svg\n| map_size = 300px\n| map_caption = Parish results Vitter: John: \n| title = U.S. Senator\n| before_election = John Breaux\n| before_party = Democratic Party (United States)\n| after_election = David Vitter\n| after_party = Republican Party (United States)\n}}\n\nThe 2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana' was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Breaux decided to retire after three terms in office. Republican U.S. Representative David Vitter won the jungle primary with 51% of the vote and avoided a runoff, becoming the first ever Republican to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana.\n\n Candidates \n Democratic Party \n Chris John, U.S. Representative\n John Neely Kennedy, State Treasurer\n Arthur A. Morrell\n Sam Houston Melton, Jr.\n\n Republican Party \n David Vitter, U.S. Representative\n\n Independents \n Richard M. Fontanesi\n R.A. \"Skip\" Galan\n\n Campaign \nBreaux, considered the most popular politician in Louisiana, endorsed Chris John prior to the jungle primary.\n\nDuring the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was \"absolutely and completely untrue\" and that it was \"just crass Louisiana politics.\" The allegation later turned out to be true.\n\nVitter won the Louisiana jungle primary with 51% of the vote, avoiding the need for a runoff. John received 29.2% of the vote and Kennedy (no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys), took 14.9%.\n\nVitter won at least a plurality in 56 of Louisiana's 64 parishes. John carried nine parishes, all but two of which (Iberville and Orleans) are part of the House district he represented.\n\nKennedy changed parties and unsuccessfully ran as Republican in 2008 against Louisiana's senior Senator, Democrat Mary Landrieu, but he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 upon Vitter's retirement.\n\nVitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.\n\n Predictions \n\n Results \n\n Aftermath \nVitter won reelection in 2010 in spite of allegations surrounding solicitations of prostitutes. He then ran for Governor of Louisiana in 2015, but lost to Democrat John Bel Edwards. After conceding defeat in the gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not run for a third term in 2016. However, the open seat was won by John Neely Kennedy, the second losing Democratic candidate from the 2004 race. In the interim, Kennedy had switched to the Republican Party and unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu in 2008.\n\n See also \n 2004 United States Senate elections\n\n References \n\n External links \n Elections Division from the Louisiana Secretary of State''\n\n2004 Louisiana elections\nLouisiana\n2004",
"The 2010 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 2, 2010. Republican incumbent U.S. Senator David Vitter won re-election to a second term, becoming the first Republican ever to be re-elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana.\n\nBackground \n Party primaries: Saturday, August 28, 2010\n Runoffs (if necessary): Saturday, October 2, 2010\n General Election: Tuesday, November 2, 2010\n\nVitter faced a potentially serious challenge in the Republican primary as well as the general election. Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré, who is best known for serving as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina responsible for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas across the Gulf Coast, was allegedly mulling over whether or not to challenge Vitter in the Republican Primary. Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state representative and current president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, acknowledged interest in running against Vitter because of the prostitution scandal. Nonetheless, Perkins decided not to run and endorsed Vitter for reelection.\n\nSome speculated that Vitter's reelection might have become complicated, by the prostitution scandal revealed in 2007, but he continued to lead in aggregate polling against potential opponents.\n\nFollowing a movement to draft him into the race, John Cooksey, a former U.S. Representative, appeared poised to put together a challenge, planning on spending $200,000 of his own money. Cooksey, however, pulled back and did not qualify.\n\nA campaign to draft porn actress Stormy Daniels began in early 2009. She considered whether to run but ultimately declined to qualify.\n\nOn June 14, 2009, Congressman Charlie Melançon announced his intentions to run for Senate in 2010. Melançon, who was representing Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District since 2005, released the announcement to his supporters, saying that \"Louisiana needs a different approach, more bi-partisan, more disciplined, more honest and with a whole lot more common sense.\" Melançon was a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats who aim to lower the deficit and reform the budget.\n\nIn the weeks before the election a major concern for Vitter's camp was possibly voter apathy about the race. For example, publisher Rolfe H. McCollister Jr., in his Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, endorsed fellow Republican Jay Dardenne over Democrat Caroline Fayard in the simultaneous race for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, but then explicitly made \"no endorsement\" for U.S. Senate:\nI have talked with a number of voters who are just not very excited about this race—the candidates or the tone. I'm not either. You're on your own here.\n\nDemocratic primary\n\nCandidates \n Charlie Melançon, U.S. Representative\n Neeson Chauvin\n Cary Deaton\n\nPolling\n\nResults\n\nRepublican primary\n\nCandidates \n David Vitter, incumbent U.S. Senator\n Nick Accardo, doctor\n Chet D. Traylor, former Louisiana Supreme Court justice\n\nPolling\n\nResults\n\nLibertarian primary\n\nCandidates \n Anthony Gentile\n Randall Todd Hayes\n\nResults\n\nGeneral election\n\nCandidates\n\nMajor \n Charlie Melançon (D), U.S. Congressman\n David Vitter (R), incumbent U.S. Senator\n\nMinor \n Michael Karlton Brown (I)\n Skip Galan (I)\n Milton Gordon (I)\n Randall Todd Hayes (L)\n Tommy LaFargue (I)\n Bob Lang (I)\n William McShan (Reform)\n Sam Houston Melton Jr. (I)\n Mike Spears (I)\n Ernest Wooton (I)\n\nCampaign \nMelançon heavily criticized Vitter for prostitution sex scandal. Vitter released television advertising criticizing Melançon for his support for Obama's stimulus package and his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants.\n\nDebates \nMelançon claimed \"In August, Melançon challenged Vitter to a series of five live, televised town hall-style debates across the state. In his 2004 campaign for Senate, Vitter committed to five live, televised debates. Since Melançon issued the challenge, Vitter and Melançon have been invited to a total of seven live, televised debates. Vitter only accepted invitations to debates hosted by WWL-TV and WDSU-TV, both in New Orleans.\"\n\n September 7: Sponsored by the Alliance for Good Government at Loyola University.\n October 27: Sponsored by League of Women Voters-New Orleans, National Council of Jewish Women-New Orleans Junior League-New Orleans, and the American Association of University Women-Louisiana. Televised on WDSU-TV in New Orleans.\n October 28: CBS News sponsored the debate. It was televised on WWL-TV and C-SPAN in New Orleans\n\nPredictions\n\nPolling\n\nFundraising\n\nResults\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Louisiana Secretary of State - Elections\n U.S. Congress candidates for Louisiana at Project Vote Smart\n Louisiana U.S. Senate 2010 from OurCampaigns.com\n Campaign contributions from Open Secrets\n 2010 Louisiana Senate General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com\n Election 2010: Louisiana Senate from Rasmussen Reports\n 2010 Louisiana Senate Race from Real Clear Politics\n 2010 Louisiana Senate Race from CQ Politics\n Race profile from The New York Times\n\nLouisiana\n2010\n2010 Louisiana elections"
]
|
[
"David Vitter",
"Immigration",
"How was David Vitter relevant?",
"Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants."
]
| C_96f5ade176e148ef9a8dc157ab24ae9a_0 | What was his stance on immigrants? | 2 | What was David Vitter stance on immigrants? | David Vitter | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering. In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated. In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee. In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007. In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee. CANNOTANSWER | he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants | David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. He then represented Louisiana's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.
Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.
Early life and education
David Bruce Vitter was born on May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Audrey Malvina (née St. Raymond) and Albert Leopold Vitter. Vitter graduated in 1979 from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. While a student at De La Salle, Vitter participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1983; a second B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He was a practicing lawyer, and adjunct law professor at Tulane and Loyola University New Orleans.
Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack. Vitter's brother Jeffrey is a notable computer scientist who has served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from January 2016 to January 2019.
Early political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. As a freshman representative, he filed two complaints against Governor Edwin W. Edwards before the Louisiana Ethics Board. One questioned the financing of a trip Edwards took to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended an Evander Holyfield fight and gambled at Caesars Palace. The other questioned the involvement of Edwards' children in riverboat casinos.<ref>"Vitter's complaint filed against Edwards", Minden Press-Herald, November 8, 1993, p. 1</ref>
Vitter has argued for ethics reform and term limits since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s. As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature. The first election legislators affected by the reform occurred in 2007. In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a Political Action Committee with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority. While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.
Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.
United States House of Representatives
Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican U.S. Representative Bob Livingston, who resigned after disclosure that he had committed adultery. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David C. Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent. In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.
In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.
In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe RU-486, a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.
In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values."
2003 gubernatorial election
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.
Bruno said on a New Orleans-based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.
United States Senate
2004 election
In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."
On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.
State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter's state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.
2010 election
Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him.
He faced the Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, an Independent, also ran. On Nov 4, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The Independent candidate Wooton finished with 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.
Tenure
Vitter has identified himself as a political conservative throughout his political career. His legislative agenda includes positions ranging from anti-abortion to pro-gun rights while legislating against gambling, same-sex marriage, civil unions, federal funding for abortion providers, increases in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the United Nations, and amnesty for America's illegal immigrants. Vitter's stated positions include a balanced budget constitutional amendment, abolishing the federal and state estate tax, increasing local police forces, and an assortment of health care, tax and national defense reforms.
After conceding defeat to John Bel Edwards in the 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term.
Abortion
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment barring all federal public funds to health care providers and Planned Parenthood that provide services that include abortion. Federal law bars any funding to directly finance elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde amendment. Vitter argued that the funds are used for overhead costs that benefit the abortion services. The amendment failed to pass. Following the rejection, Vitter and others urged
the Senate to pass a similar bill introduced by Vitter in
January 2007. The bill failed to pass.
In January 2008, Vitter proposed an amendment to prohibit the funding of abortions with Indian Health Service funds except in the case of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. The amendment would have held future presidential administrations to an executive principle first crafted in 1982 by the Ronald Reagan White House. Vitter's amendment passed the Senate but later was stalled in the House.
Later that year, Vitter co-sponsored the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act which – along with other oversight regulations – required doctors performing abortions to have the authority granted by a nearby hospital to admit patients. The bill was never reported to committee.
Abstinence education
Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence over sex education that includes information about birth control, drawing criticism from Planned Parenthood. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
Automotive industry bailout
Vitter was one of 35 Senators to vote against the Big 3 Bailout bill. The financial bailout package was for GM, Chrysler, and Ford, but failed to pass on December 11, 2008. During the Senate debate Vitter referred to the approach of giving the automotive industry a financial package before they restructured as "ass-backwards". He soon apologized for the phrasing of the comment, which did not appear in the Congressional Record.
BP Horizon oil spill
In response to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coast of Louisiana, Vitter introduced legislation along with Jeff Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from $75 million to its most recent annual profits (or $150 million if greater). In the case of BP, the owner of the oil lease, its liability would be $20 billion. Vitter later introduced an amendment that would remove the cap entirely for this particular spill. Competing Democratic proposals would have raised the liability to $10 billion regardless of profits or removed the cap altogether. Sessions argued that large caps unrelated to company profits would harm smaller companies.
Chemical safety
In May 2013, Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would have regulated the introduction of new or already existing chemicals. The bill would have given additional authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate chemicals and streamline the patchwork of state laws on chemicals under federal authority.
Child protection
In April 2008, Vitter introduced an amendment to continue funding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was excluded from the 2008/2009 budget. The federal program maintains a national sex offender registry, provides resources for tracking down unregistered sex offenders and increases penalties for the sexual assault of children. His amendment received bipartisan support.
Children's health insurance program
In September 2007, Vitter opposed an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. He said he preferred that private health insurance provide the needed care and deemed the bill as "Hillarycare", a reference to the 1993 Clinton health care plan created by Hillary Clinton which proposed universal health care.
Ethics and term limits
Vitter refused to pledge to a voluntary term limit when running for the U.S. Congress in 1999. His opponent characterized this stance as hypocritical, and Vitter countered that unless it were universally applied, the loss of seniority would disadvantage his district. As a Senator, he has proposed term limit constitutional amendments for members of Congress three times. Vitter eventually decided to retire from the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms.
In 2007, in response to lobbying scandals involving, among others, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, Congress passed a lobbying and ethics reform package to which Vitter proposed a package of five amendments. The Senate approved three that limited which legislators' spouses could lobby the Senate, created criminal penalties for legislators and executive branch officials who falsify financial reports, and doubled the penalties for lobbyists who failed to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate rejected prohibiting legislators from paying their families with campaign funds with some saying it was unrelated to the current legislation and others that the payments were not a problem. Additionally, they tabled his proposal to define Indian tribes as corporations and its members as shareholders so that they are required to contribute to candidates through political action committees instead of their tribal treasury. Senators objected saying that they are already subjected to campaign laws for unincorporated entities and individuals and that the proposal was singling them out unfairly. The reform package became law in September 2007.
In 2009, Vitter and Democratic former Senator Russ Feingold announced an effort to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
Franken Amendment
In October 2009, the Senate passed Democratic Senator Al Franken's amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would forbid federal contractors from forcing victims of sexual assault, battery and discrimination to submit to binding arbitration (where a third-party typically chosen by the contractor adjudicates) and thereby prohibiting them from going to court. The impetus for the amendment came from the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by employees of Halliburton/KBR, a federal contractor.
The amendment passed 68 to 30 with all opposition coming from Republicans including Vitter (all four female Republicans, six other Republicans and all present Democrats voted for passage). Vitter's 2010 Democratic Senatorial opponent Charlie Melancon criticized Vitter for his vote saying, "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were." However, The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker argued that the 30 senators were being "unfairly smeared for doing the harder thing, maybe even for the right reasons."
Republican senators said they voted against it because it was unenforceable, a position also taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Obama administration. However, the DOD and the White House stated they agreed with the intent of the legislation and suggested it would be better if it was broadened to prohibit the use of arbitration in cases of sexual assault for any business contract, not just federal contractors. Senators explained their vote against the legislation by saying it was a political attack on Halliburton and that the Senate shouldn't regulate contracts. The latter argument is countered with many examples of similar restrictions on contractors such as discrimination, bonuses and health care. Others felt it was unconstitutional and that arbitration is useful in resolving disputes, often faster, privately and cheaper.
Later, a Baton Rouge rape survivor confronted Vitter at a town hall meeting saying, "[it] meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me behind bars ... How can you support a law that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?" Vitter replied, "The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form."
Gambling
Vitter opposed a bid by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana, arguing that the build site was not historically part of their tribal lands. He lobbied the Interior Department and included language in an appropriations bill to stop the casino. Although the Interior Department gave its approval, the casino has not yet been approved by the state. The Jena chief accused Vitter of ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who simultaneously lobbied against the casino. The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the lobbyist said, "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." In 2007 and 2008, Vitter introduced a bill to prohibit Indian casinos such as Jena's. Neither bill became law.
Gun rights
Rated "A" by the National Rifle Association, Vitter has been a consistent defender of gun rights. In April, 2006, in response to firearm confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster. Later, Vitter included the provisions of the act in an amendment to an appropriation bill for the Department Of Homeland Security. The bill became law in September 2006, with the amendment modified to allow for the temporary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entering a rescue or evacuation vehicle.
On April 17, 2013, Vitter voted against the Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment. The amendment failed to reach the sixty senatorial votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment is a bipartisan deal on gun background checks. Under the proposal, federal background checks would be expanded to include gun shows and online sales. All such sales would be channeled through licensed firearm dealers who would be charged for keeping record of transactions. The proposal does not require background checks for private sales between individuals.
In February 2008, Vitter – along with Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho – blocked the confirmation of Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) saying Sullivan supports "burdensome regulations" on gun owners and dealers and is "overly aggressive" enforcing gun laws. An editorial writer for The Boston Globe wrote that Vitter's position was "unreasonable" because the guns Sullivan sought to control are those commonly used in crimes: those stolen or purchased on the black market. On the other hand, gun rights advocates say that many gun dealers have lost their licenses for harmless bureaucratic errors. Sullivan stayed on as acting head of the ATF until January 2009 to make way for President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.
Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter and the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation worked to bring aid to the Gulf Coast region to rebuild broken levees, schools and hospitals, restore coastal wetlands, and provide assistance for its many victims.
In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.
In September 2007, Vitter announced that he got "a critical concession" from the White House that decreased Louisiana's obligations for hurricane recovery by $1 billion. However, the White House said that was false.
Immigration
Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, a piece of federal legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering.
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated.
In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee.
In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007.
In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee.
Louisiana Family Forum earmark
In September, 2007, Vitter earmarked $100,000 in federal money for a Christian group, the Louisiana Family Forum, known for challenging evolution by means of "teaching the controversy" which promotes intelligent design. According to Vitter, the earmark was "to develop a plan to promote better science education". The Times-Picayune alleged the group had close ties with Vitter. However, they have criticized Vitter for his support of Rudy Giuliani.
On October 17, 2007, the liberal organization People For the American Way, along with several other groups asked the Senate to remove the earmark. Vitter later withdrew it.
Military
In May 2008, Vitter voted with the majority, despite the opposition of Bush and other Republicans, for the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits for veterans similar to the level provided for returning World War II veterans in the G.I. Bill.
Network neutrality
Vitter was one of six senate Republicans to propose an amendment to a bill which would stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing network neutrality which they allege is a violation of the First Amendment.
New Orleans public housing
In September 2007, The Times-Picayune reported that Vitter and the Bush administration opposed a provision of The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery bill which required that every public housing apartment torn down be replaced with another form of low-income housing on a one-for-one basis. The administration testified that there was not sufficient demand for public housing units, a position contested by several senators. Vitter stated it would recreate "housing projects exactly as they were", isolated and riddled with crime. However, Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democratic Senator, said the intent was to make certain there were affordable places for working-class people who returned. The bill requires that demolished housing projects be replaced with mixed income communities which local housing advocates say is different from the massive public housing developments that Vitter is referring to. However, the bill does not include a ban on large-scale projects. The city housing authority is planning on replacing 4,000 low-income units with mixed-income projects providing a smaller inventory of low-income units. In December 2007, Vitter prevented the bill from leaving the committee.
Obama nominations
Vitter and Jim DeMint were the only two Senators that voted against Hillary Clinton's confirmation for the position of Secretary of State under the new Obama administration, on January 21, 2009.
He blocked President Obama's nominee for the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator until he received a written commitment on flood control issues from the nominee and FEMA. The New York Times, along with some Republican Senators, criticized Vitter for what it characterized as political posturing, given that the hurricane season was quickly approaching. He lifted his hold on May 12, 2009.
Obamacare
Vitter opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Same-sex marriage
Vitter opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history."
In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."
School board prayer
In 2005 Vitter introduced a resolution supporting prayer at school board meetings in response to an earlier district court decision that the Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers was unconstitutional. The bill died in committee after receiving little support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Alt URL Vitter later reintroduced the resolution in January 2007 after a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court concluded that Christian prayers were unconstitutional but was undecided whether nonsectarian prayers were allowed. In July 2007, the full Fifth Circuit dismissed the case because of a lack of standing. The school board subsequently resumed prayer evocations but opened it to diverse community religions. Vitter's bill died in committee. Alt URL
Tea Party movement
In recognition of the Tea Party protests opposing President Barack Obama's policies, Vitter proposed Senate Resolution 98, which would designate April 15 in years both 2009 and 2010 as "National TEA Party Day". As of April 2009, the bill has no cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with no scheduled action.
In September 2010, Vitter signed a candidate pledge from the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots. It included a promise to "Conduct myself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner."
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
In September 2007, during hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vitter expressed serious doubts about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty concerning issues of U.S. sovereignty echoing an array of conservative groups against the treaty including the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. The treaty, which sets up countries' jurisdiction over their coasts and ocean including exploration and navigation rights, was supported by the Bush administration, a majority of the United States Senate, the Pentagon, the State Department and Navy as do a coalition of business and environmental groups. The committee approved the treaty 17–4, with Vitter voting no.
Water Resources and Development Act
Vitter helped write the Water Resources and Development Act for flood-control, hurricane-protection and coastal-restoration projects including $3.6 billion for Louisiana. He called it the "single most important" legislation for assisting Louisiana with its recovery from hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush vetoed the act, objecting to its cost. Congress overrode his veto, enacting the bill.
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee on the Constitution
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairman)
2007 prostitution scandal
In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions. In 2004, Vitter had denied allegations that he had patronized prostitutes.
While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation'' predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.
On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and won by more than 12%.
2015 gubernatorial election
Vitter announced on January 21, 2014, that he would run for governor of Louisiana in the 2015 election. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. Vitter was the first sitting or ex-U.S. Senator to launch a gubernatorial bid in Louisiana since 1904, when Democrat Newton Blanchard was elected. Vitter's major opponents were Republicans Scott Angelle, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and former lieutenant governor, and Jay Dardenne, the current lieutenant governor; and Democrat John Bel Edwards, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
On November 5, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, endorsed Democrat Edwards in the general election race against his intraparty rival Vitter. Dardenne made the announcement at "Free Speech Alley" in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. After the primary, polls showed Edwards with a commanding lead over Vitter. Verne Kennedy of Market Research Insight placed Edwards ahead, 54 to 38 percent or 51 to 40 percent, depending on the level of turnout among African-American voters, either 25 or 20 percent, accordingly.
In the November 21 runoff election, Edwards defeated Vitter by 56% to 44%.
Other political involvement
Vitter became involved in the Louisiana State Senate District 22 special election held in January 2011, a vacancy created by the resignation of Troy Hebert, who accepted an appointment in the Jindal administration in Baton Rouge. Vitter endorsed and made telephone calls on behalf of a Democrat-turned-Republican state representative, Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. However, Champagne was soundly defeated by another Democrat-turned-Republican state lawmaker, Fred Mills, Jr., a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish.
In August 2014, Vitter endorsed the Common Core curriculum for Louisiana schools, a position shared by his Republican intraparty rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne. Vitter said that he regards Governor Bobby Jindal's attempt to withdraw from Common Core before the start of another school year to be "very disruptive". Vitter described Common Core as "very strong, significant, positive standards".
In 2016, Vitter succeeded after a five-year battle in passing through the Senate landmark legislation to reform the country's chemical safety laws. Vitter called the legislation a "big accomplishment. This is an area of federal law that everybody, every stakeholder, every group, whether it's some far-left environmental group or industry, said needed to be updated. The trick was getting agreement on doing that." Democratic colleague Richard Durbin of Illinois, a frequent critic of Vitter, said that if the bill is enacted with President Obama's signature "it's quite an accomplishment for him and for Congress to pass historic legislation."
Post-Senate career
After his Senate term ended, Vitter joined the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. As of October 2019, Vitter lobbies for sanctioned Chinese surveillance company Hikvision as well as for the Libyan Government of National Accord and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Also lobbied for sanctioned Russian bank Sovcombank. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
Electoral history
2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election
2010 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
2004 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
1999 Louisiana 1st District United States Congressional Election
1995 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
1991 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
See also
List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Footnotes
External links
United States Senator David Vitter official U.S. Senate website
Senator Vitter at BR Press Club
Vitter.org Vitter family website maintained by brother Jeffrey Vitter
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American lobbyists
American legal scholars
American Rhodes Scholars
De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni
Harvard College alumni
Lawyers from New Orleans
Living people
Louisiana Republicans
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party United States senators
Tea Party movement activists
Tulane University Law School alumni
Tulane University Law School faculty
United States senators from Louisiana | false | [
"Emanuel Stance (1843 – December 25, 1887), also known as Edmund Stance, was a Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States.\n\nCareer\n\nStance joined the 9th Cavalry Regiment on October 2, 1866, less than two months after it was formed, and was promoted to Sergeant in March 1867. The initial commitment was to last five years. Farmer was the occupation noted on his oath of enlistment. It was also noted that Stance could read and write, making him a highly desirable recruit. He received a two-month leave at the end of March 1867 and so did not join the regiment on the Morgan line steamships to Indianola, Texas where troop frontier assignments were to be determined. This also meant he was not present during the violent altercation between officers and soldiers near San Antonio in April 1867, in which Sergeant Harrison Bradford and Lieutenant Seth E. Griffin died and 10 soldiers deserted from Lieutenant Edward Heyl's E Troop.\n\nUpon returning from leave in May 1867, Stance was stationed to Troop F at Fort Davis in Western Texas. For three months of 1868, Stance was in charge of soldiers on extra duty in the Quartermaster Department. While there, it is possible that Stance was responsible for constructing and maintaining the fort - operating a sawmill, a stone quarry, or an adobe brickyard - as this was also expected of soldiers in Texas forts. He led his first reconnaissance patrol in September 1868 with eight privates. Sometime in 1868 or 1869 he received a fine of $10 at a court martial hearing over threats made and punches thrown when a horse comb was misplaced.\n\nStance fought in two major Indian battles in the Fall of 1869. In September, a force of 100 troopers killed 25 natives from a group of 200 natives formed from the Kiowas and Comanches tribes near Middle Brazos River. In October, while on the same mission, the 9th Cavalry, the 4th Cavalry, and some native scouts fought 500 enemy natives near the Middle Brazos River. At this October battle, forty enemy natives were killed without any losses from the cavalry troops. Stance was stationed with Troop F to Fort McKavett at the end of 1869.\n\nMedal of Honor actions\nAt the time of his actions, Stance was serving in Troop F of the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Fort McKavett. On May 20, 1870, he was sent with a patrol to find the Apaches who had kidnapped Herman Lehmann and his younger brother, Willie, four days earlier. Stance and his men located the raiding party near Kickapoo Springs, about fourteen miles north of Fort McKavett, and charged at them and opened fire with their Spencer carbines. The Apaches abandoned their stolen horses and fled, enabling Willie Lehmann to escape during the chaos. On the return to the fort, Stance and his troopers charged natives at least two other times while the natives were attempting to steal horses and returned with 15 stolen horses. None of Stance's men were injured. For his bravery on this mission, Stance was cited for \"[g]allantry on scout after Indians\" and became the first African-American regular to receive the Medal of Honor a month later, on June 28, 1870.\n\nLater career\n\nStance was reduced to private sometime between July 1870 and April 1871, possibly due to fighting, drinking, or failing to report for duty. He completed his first enlistment on October 2, 1871, as a private under the name Edmund Stance. He reenlisted to Troop M under the Edmund Stance name shortly afterward. In December 1872, Stance got into a fight with First Sergeant Henry Green and bit off a portion of Green's lower lip after Green reported Stance as being drunk on duty. Stance was demoted and spent six months in the guardhouse.\n\nStance was among the troops that fought Apache chief Victorio in New Mexico. Stance was also among the troops that chased Sooners off native land in Oklahoma before the U.S. government gave approval to settle in those lands. Stance enlisted back to Troop F in 1880. Stance would reach the rank of Sergeant at least four more times, twice with Troop M and twice with Troop F. While First Sergeant with Troop F at Fort Robinson in 1886, the troop celebrated his 20 years of service with a dinner and a dance given in his honor.\n\nDeath\nIn the late 1880s, Stance was directly involved in four of ten disciplinary incidents with privates and non-commissioned officers. F Troops sergeants and privates frequently clashed. The sergeants used browbeating techniques they had possibly learned from Lieutenant Edward Heyl and other earlier leaders, and the newer recruits chaffed under that style of leadership. Stance was found shot on Christmas morning of 1887 on the road to Crawford, Nebraska. He was shot with a service revolver and all evidence pointed to Stance's privates. Private Miller Milds of F Troop was charged with murder, but was freed for lack of evidence. His obituary writer called Stance a strict disciplinarian, but also said that his style of leadership was necessary for his troops. Stance was buried at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Maxwell, Nebraska.\n\nMedal of Honor citation\nRank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Kickapoo Springs, Tex., 20 May 1870. Entered service at. ------. Birth: Carroll Parish, La. Date of issue: 28 June 1870.\n\nCitation.\n\nGallantry on scout after Indians.\n\nSee also\n\nList of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars\nBowmaster, Patrick A. “Buffalo Soldier Emanuel Stance Received the Medal of Honor and Became a Legend.” Wild West, February 1997, 32, 34, 82–87.\nBowmaster, Patrick A. ed. “A Medal of Honor for a Buffalo Soldier.” Journal of the Indian Wars 1, no. 4 (2000): 119–24.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1843 births\n1887 deaths\nBuffalo Soldiers\nAmerican people of the Indian Wars\nUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipients\nPeople from Louisiana\nUnited States Army soldiers\nDeaths by firearm in Nebraska\nBurials at Fort McPherson National Cemetery\nAmerican Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor",
"John Harold Weaver (November 1, 1928 – April 7, 2009) was a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff and the developer of the Weaver stance, a popular shooting stance for firing handguns.\n\nBiography\n\nWeaver was born on November 1, 1928, in South Gate, California. He was an only child. Weaver attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California, and briefly attended Glendale Community College, but left when he was drafted into the United States Army. It was around this time that he met Joy Moniot, whom he married on August 30, 1952, in Glendale. He joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1954.\n\nWeaver was a member of the Southwest Combat Pistol League, along with several other world-class shooters including Ray Chapman. In 1955, the team and individuals won the national championships at the Toledo, Ohio, combat range using both one-handed and two-handed stances. The team defended the trophy for most of the following decade at practice matches in preparation for the National Pistol Matches, held shortly thereafter at Camp Perry in northern Ohio.\n\nWeaver retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1979, and resided near Carson City, Nevada, until his death.\n\nWeaver stance\nThe Weaver stance was developed by Weaver in the late 1950s to compete in Jeff Cooper's \"Leatherslap\" matches, which Weaver won in 1959. The stance, which incorporates a two-handed grip, isometric tension to reduce muzzle flip, and aimed fire using the weapon's sights, was adopted in 1982 as the official shooting style of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.\n\nWeaver's approach to handgun technique is reflected in a 1994 letter he wrote to Handguns magazine: \"Practice, experiment, shoot in competition, stick to one gun, one style (no last-second decisions) and don't wait until you're in a shootout to find out what works and what doesn't.\"\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The REAL Weaver Shooting Stance via YouTube\n\n1928 births\n2009 deaths\nAmerican law enforcement officials\nPeople from South Gate, California"
]
|
[
"David Vitter",
"Immigration",
"How was David Vitter relevant?",
"Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants.",
"What was his stance on immigrants?",
"he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants"
]
| C_96f5ade176e148ef9a8dc157ab24ae9a_0 | What else did he do with immigrants? | 3 | Other than his stated stance, What else did David Vitter do with immigrants? | David Vitter | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering. In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated. In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee. In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007. In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee. CANNOTANSWER | Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. | David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. He then represented Louisiana's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.
Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.
Early life and education
David Bruce Vitter was born on May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Audrey Malvina (née St. Raymond) and Albert Leopold Vitter. Vitter graduated in 1979 from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. While a student at De La Salle, Vitter participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1983; a second B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He was a practicing lawyer, and adjunct law professor at Tulane and Loyola University New Orleans.
Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack. Vitter's brother Jeffrey is a notable computer scientist who has served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from January 2016 to January 2019.
Early political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. As a freshman representative, he filed two complaints against Governor Edwin W. Edwards before the Louisiana Ethics Board. One questioned the financing of a trip Edwards took to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended an Evander Holyfield fight and gambled at Caesars Palace. The other questioned the involvement of Edwards' children in riverboat casinos.<ref>"Vitter's complaint filed against Edwards", Minden Press-Herald, November 8, 1993, p. 1</ref>
Vitter has argued for ethics reform and term limits since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s. As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature. The first election legislators affected by the reform occurred in 2007. In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a Political Action Committee with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority. While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.
Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.
United States House of Representatives
Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican U.S. Representative Bob Livingston, who resigned after disclosure that he had committed adultery. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David C. Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent. In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.
In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.
In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe RU-486, a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.
In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values."
2003 gubernatorial election
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.
Bruno said on a New Orleans-based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.
United States Senate
2004 election
In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."
On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.
State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter's state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.
2010 election
Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him.
He faced the Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, an Independent, also ran. On Nov 4, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The Independent candidate Wooton finished with 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.
Tenure
Vitter has identified himself as a political conservative throughout his political career. His legislative agenda includes positions ranging from anti-abortion to pro-gun rights while legislating against gambling, same-sex marriage, civil unions, federal funding for abortion providers, increases in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the United Nations, and amnesty for America's illegal immigrants. Vitter's stated positions include a balanced budget constitutional amendment, abolishing the federal and state estate tax, increasing local police forces, and an assortment of health care, tax and national defense reforms.
After conceding defeat to John Bel Edwards in the 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term.
Abortion
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment barring all federal public funds to health care providers and Planned Parenthood that provide services that include abortion. Federal law bars any funding to directly finance elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde amendment. Vitter argued that the funds are used for overhead costs that benefit the abortion services. The amendment failed to pass. Following the rejection, Vitter and others urged
the Senate to pass a similar bill introduced by Vitter in
January 2007. The bill failed to pass.
In January 2008, Vitter proposed an amendment to prohibit the funding of abortions with Indian Health Service funds except in the case of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. The amendment would have held future presidential administrations to an executive principle first crafted in 1982 by the Ronald Reagan White House. Vitter's amendment passed the Senate but later was stalled in the House.
Later that year, Vitter co-sponsored the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act which – along with other oversight regulations – required doctors performing abortions to have the authority granted by a nearby hospital to admit patients. The bill was never reported to committee.
Abstinence education
Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence over sex education that includes information about birth control, drawing criticism from Planned Parenthood. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
Automotive industry bailout
Vitter was one of 35 Senators to vote against the Big 3 Bailout bill. The financial bailout package was for GM, Chrysler, and Ford, but failed to pass on December 11, 2008. During the Senate debate Vitter referred to the approach of giving the automotive industry a financial package before they restructured as "ass-backwards". He soon apologized for the phrasing of the comment, which did not appear in the Congressional Record.
BP Horizon oil spill
In response to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coast of Louisiana, Vitter introduced legislation along with Jeff Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from $75 million to its most recent annual profits (or $150 million if greater). In the case of BP, the owner of the oil lease, its liability would be $20 billion. Vitter later introduced an amendment that would remove the cap entirely for this particular spill. Competing Democratic proposals would have raised the liability to $10 billion regardless of profits or removed the cap altogether. Sessions argued that large caps unrelated to company profits would harm smaller companies.
Chemical safety
In May 2013, Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would have regulated the introduction of new or already existing chemicals. The bill would have given additional authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate chemicals and streamline the patchwork of state laws on chemicals under federal authority.
Child protection
In April 2008, Vitter introduced an amendment to continue funding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was excluded from the 2008/2009 budget. The federal program maintains a national sex offender registry, provides resources for tracking down unregistered sex offenders and increases penalties for the sexual assault of children. His amendment received bipartisan support.
Children's health insurance program
In September 2007, Vitter opposed an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. He said he preferred that private health insurance provide the needed care and deemed the bill as "Hillarycare", a reference to the 1993 Clinton health care plan created by Hillary Clinton which proposed universal health care.
Ethics and term limits
Vitter refused to pledge to a voluntary term limit when running for the U.S. Congress in 1999. His opponent characterized this stance as hypocritical, and Vitter countered that unless it were universally applied, the loss of seniority would disadvantage his district. As a Senator, he has proposed term limit constitutional amendments for members of Congress three times. Vitter eventually decided to retire from the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms.
In 2007, in response to lobbying scandals involving, among others, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, Congress passed a lobbying and ethics reform package to which Vitter proposed a package of five amendments. The Senate approved three that limited which legislators' spouses could lobby the Senate, created criminal penalties for legislators and executive branch officials who falsify financial reports, and doubled the penalties for lobbyists who failed to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate rejected prohibiting legislators from paying their families with campaign funds with some saying it was unrelated to the current legislation and others that the payments were not a problem. Additionally, they tabled his proposal to define Indian tribes as corporations and its members as shareholders so that they are required to contribute to candidates through political action committees instead of their tribal treasury. Senators objected saying that they are already subjected to campaign laws for unincorporated entities and individuals and that the proposal was singling them out unfairly. The reform package became law in September 2007.
In 2009, Vitter and Democratic former Senator Russ Feingold announced an effort to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
Franken Amendment
In October 2009, the Senate passed Democratic Senator Al Franken's amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would forbid federal contractors from forcing victims of sexual assault, battery and discrimination to submit to binding arbitration (where a third-party typically chosen by the contractor adjudicates) and thereby prohibiting them from going to court. The impetus for the amendment came from the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by employees of Halliburton/KBR, a federal contractor.
The amendment passed 68 to 30 with all opposition coming from Republicans including Vitter (all four female Republicans, six other Republicans and all present Democrats voted for passage). Vitter's 2010 Democratic Senatorial opponent Charlie Melancon criticized Vitter for his vote saying, "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were." However, The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker argued that the 30 senators were being "unfairly smeared for doing the harder thing, maybe even for the right reasons."
Republican senators said they voted against it because it was unenforceable, a position also taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Obama administration. However, the DOD and the White House stated they agreed with the intent of the legislation and suggested it would be better if it was broadened to prohibit the use of arbitration in cases of sexual assault for any business contract, not just federal contractors. Senators explained their vote against the legislation by saying it was a political attack on Halliburton and that the Senate shouldn't regulate contracts. The latter argument is countered with many examples of similar restrictions on contractors such as discrimination, bonuses and health care. Others felt it was unconstitutional and that arbitration is useful in resolving disputes, often faster, privately and cheaper.
Later, a Baton Rouge rape survivor confronted Vitter at a town hall meeting saying, "[it] meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me behind bars ... How can you support a law that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?" Vitter replied, "The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form."
Gambling
Vitter opposed a bid by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana, arguing that the build site was not historically part of their tribal lands. He lobbied the Interior Department and included language in an appropriations bill to stop the casino. Although the Interior Department gave its approval, the casino has not yet been approved by the state. The Jena chief accused Vitter of ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who simultaneously lobbied against the casino. The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the lobbyist said, "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." In 2007 and 2008, Vitter introduced a bill to prohibit Indian casinos such as Jena's. Neither bill became law.
Gun rights
Rated "A" by the National Rifle Association, Vitter has been a consistent defender of gun rights. In April, 2006, in response to firearm confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster. Later, Vitter included the provisions of the act in an amendment to an appropriation bill for the Department Of Homeland Security. The bill became law in September 2006, with the amendment modified to allow for the temporary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entering a rescue or evacuation vehicle.
On April 17, 2013, Vitter voted against the Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment. The amendment failed to reach the sixty senatorial votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment is a bipartisan deal on gun background checks. Under the proposal, federal background checks would be expanded to include gun shows and online sales. All such sales would be channeled through licensed firearm dealers who would be charged for keeping record of transactions. The proposal does not require background checks for private sales between individuals.
In February 2008, Vitter – along with Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho – blocked the confirmation of Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) saying Sullivan supports "burdensome regulations" on gun owners and dealers and is "overly aggressive" enforcing gun laws. An editorial writer for The Boston Globe wrote that Vitter's position was "unreasonable" because the guns Sullivan sought to control are those commonly used in crimes: those stolen or purchased on the black market. On the other hand, gun rights advocates say that many gun dealers have lost their licenses for harmless bureaucratic errors. Sullivan stayed on as acting head of the ATF until January 2009 to make way for President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.
Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter and the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation worked to bring aid to the Gulf Coast region to rebuild broken levees, schools and hospitals, restore coastal wetlands, and provide assistance for its many victims.
In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.
In September 2007, Vitter announced that he got "a critical concession" from the White House that decreased Louisiana's obligations for hurricane recovery by $1 billion. However, the White House said that was false.
Immigration
Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, a piece of federal legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering.
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated.
In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee.
In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007.
In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee.
Louisiana Family Forum earmark
In September, 2007, Vitter earmarked $100,000 in federal money for a Christian group, the Louisiana Family Forum, known for challenging evolution by means of "teaching the controversy" which promotes intelligent design. According to Vitter, the earmark was "to develop a plan to promote better science education". The Times-Picayune alleged the group had close ties with Vitter. However, they have criticized Vitter for his support of Rudy Giuliani.
On October 17, 2007, the liberal organization People For the American Way, along with several other groups asked the Senate to remove the earmark. Vitter later withdrew it.
Military
In May 2008, Vitter voted with the majority, despite the opposition of Bush and other Republicans, for the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits for veterans similar to the level provided for returning World War II veterans in the G.I. Bill.
Network neutrality
Vitter was one of six senate Republicans to propose an amendment to a bill which would stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing network neutrality which they allege is a violation of the First Amendment.
New Orleans public housing
In September 2007, The Times-Picayune reported that Vitter and the Bush administration opposed a provision of The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery bill which required that every public housing apartment torn down be replaced with another form of low-income housing on a one-for-one basis. The administration testified that there was not sufficient demand for public housing units, a position contested by several senators. Vitter stated it would recreate "housing projects exactly as they were", isolated and riddled with crime. However, Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democratic Senator, said the intent was to make certain there were affordable places for working-class people who returned. The bill requires that demolished housing projects be replaced with mixed income communities which local housing advocates say is different from the massive public housing developments that Vitter is referring to. However, the bill does not include a ban on large-scale projects. The city housing authority is planning on replacing 4,000 low-income units with mixed-income projects providing a smaller inventory of low-income units. In December 2007, Vitter prevented the bill from leaving the committee.
Obama nominations
Vitter and Jim DeMint were the only two Senators that voted against Hillary Clinton's confirmation for the position of Secretary of State under the new Obama administration, on January 21, 2009.
He blocked President Obama's nominee for the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator until he received a written commitment on flood control issues from the nominee and FEMA. The New York Times, along with some Republican Senators, criticized Vitter for what it characterized as political posturing, given that the hurricane season was quickly approaching. He lifted his hold on May 12, 2009.
Obamacare
Vitter opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Same-sex marriage
Vitter opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history."
In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."
School board prayer
In 2005 Vitter introduced a resolution supporting prayer at school board meetings in response to an earlier district court decision that the Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers was unconstitutional. The bill died in committee after receiving little support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Alt URL Vitter later reintroduced the resolution in January 2007 after a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court concluded that Christian prayers were unconstitutional but was undecided whether nonsectarian prayers were allowed. In July 2007, the full Fifth Circuit dismissed the case because of a lack of standing. The school board subsequently resumed prayer evocations but opened it to diverse community religions. Vitter's bill died in committee. Alt URL
Tea Party movement
In recognition of the Tea Party protests opposing President Barack Obama's policies, Vitter proposed Senate Resolution 98, which would designate April 15 in years both 2009 and 2010 as "National TEA Party Day". As of April 2009, the bill has no cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with no scheduled action.
In September 2010, Vitter signed a candidate pledge from the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots. It included a promise to "Conduct myself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner."
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
In September 2007, during hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vitter expressed serious doubts about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty concerning issues of U.S. sovereignty echoing an array of conservative groups against the treaty including the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. The treaty, which sets up countries' jurisdiction over their coasts and ocean including exploration and navigation rights, was supported by the Bush administration, a majority of the United States Senate, the Pentagon, the State Department and Navy as do a coalition of business and environmental groups. The committee approved the treaty 17–4, with Vitter voting no.
Water Resources and Development Act
Vitter helped write the Water Resources and Development Act for flood-control, hurricane-protection and coastal-restoration projects including $3.6 billion for Louisiana. He called it the "single most important" legislation for assisting Louisiana with its recovery from hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush vetoed the act, objecting to its cost. Congress overrode his veto, enacting the bill.
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee on the Constitution
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairman)
2007 prostitution scandal
In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions. In 2004, Vitter had denied allegations that he had patronized prostitutes.
While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation'' predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.
On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and won by more than 12%.
2015 gubernatorial election
Vitter announced on January 21, 2014, that he would run for governor of Louisiana in the 2015 election. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. Vitter was the first sitting or ex-U.S. Senator to launch a gubernatorial bid in Louisiana since 1904, when Democrat Newton Blanchard was elected. Vitter's major opponents were Republicans Scott Angelle, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and former lieutenant governor, and Jay Dardenne, the current lieutenant governor; and Democrat John Bel Edwards, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
On November 5, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, endorsed Democrat Edwards in the general election race against his intraparty rival Vitter. Dardenne made the announcement at "Free Speech Alley" in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. After the primary, polls showed Edwards with a commanding lead over Vitter. Verne Kennedy of Market Research Insight placed Edwards ahead, 54 to 38 percent or 51 to 40 percent, depending on the level of turnout among African-American voters, either 25 or 20 percent, accordingly.
In the November 21 runoff election, Edwards defeated Vitter by 56% to 44%.
Other political involvement
Vitter became involved in the Louisiana State Senate District 22 special election held in January 2011, a vacancy created by the resignation of Troy Hebert, who accepted an appointment in the Jindal administration in Baton Rouge. Vitter endorsed and made telephone calls on behalf of a Democrat-turned-Republican state representative, Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. However, Champagne was soundly defeated by another Democrat-turned-Republican state lawmaker, Fred Mills, Jr., a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish.
In August 2014, Vitter endorsed the Common Core curriculum for Louisiana schools, a position shared by his Republican intraparty rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne. Vitter said that he regards Governor Bobby Jindal's attempt to withdraw from Common Core before the start of another school year to be "very disruptive". Vitter described Common Core as "very strong, significant, positive standards".
In 2016, Vitter succeeded after a five-year battle in passing through the Senate landmark legislation to reform the country's chemical safety laws. Vitter called the legislation a "big accomplishment. This is an area of federal law that everybody, every stakeholder, every group, whether it's some far-left environmental group or industry, said needed to be updated. The trick was getting agreement on doing that." Democratic colleague Richard Durbin of Illinois, a frequent critic of Vitter, said that if the bill is enacted with President Obama's signature "it's quite an accomplishment for him and for Congress to pass historic legislation."
Post-Senate career
After his Senate term ended, Vitter joined the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. As of October 2019, Vitter lobbies for sanctioned Chinese surveillance company Hikvision as well as for the Libyan Government of National Accord and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Also lobbied for sanctioned Russian bank Sovcombank. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
Electoral history
2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election
2010 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
2004 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
1999 Louisiana 1st District United States Congressional Election
1995 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
1991 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
See also
List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Footnotes
External links
United States Senator David Vitter official U.S. Senate website
Senator Vitter at BR Press Club
Vitter.org Vitter family website maintained by brother Jeffrey Vitter
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American lobbyists
American legal scholars
American Rhodes Scholars
De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni
Harvard College alumni
Lawyers from New Orleans
Living people
Louisiana Republicans
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party United States senators
Tea Party movement activists
Tulane University Law School alumni
Tulane University Law School faculty
United States senators from Louisiana | true | [
"Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? did not follow the format of text with inline drawings, being illustrated with black-and-white photographs by Lynn Fayman, featuring a boy named Rawli Davis. It is sometimes misattributed to Dr. Seuss himself. The book's cover features a photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a huge pile of pancakes.\n\nActivities mentioned in the book include bowling, water skiing, marching, boxing, and shooting guns with the United States Marines, and eating more spaghetti \"than anyone else has eaten before.\n\nHelen Palmer's photograph-based children's books did not prove to be as popular as the more traditional text-and-illustrations format; however, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday received positive reviews and was listed by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1963. The book is currently out of print.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 children's books\nAmerican picture books",
"Oil and Vinegar is a screenplay that was written but never filmed. It is a screenplay that John Hughes wrote and that Howard Deutch planned to direct. It would have starred Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick.\n\nPlot\nA soon-to-be-married man and a hitchhiking girl end up talking about their lives during the length of the car ride.\n\nProduction\n\nCasting\nThe film was set to have Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick as the two main characters.\n\nDevelopment\nThe screenplay was written by Hughes, with Howard Deutch set to direct. Its style was said to be similar to The Breakfast Club (1985) but instead of taking place in detention, it would have taken place in a car with Ringwald's and Broderick's characters both discussing their lives to each other.\n\nFuture\nWhen asked about Oil and Vinegar Howard Deutch said,\n\nYes. That was John's favorite script and he was saving it for himself, and I convinced him to let me do it. It was the story of a traveling salesman that Matthew Broderick was going to play, and a rock-and-roll girl, a real rocker. Polar opposites. Molly [Ringwald] was going to play that. And I had to make a personal decision about whether to go forward or not. We had rehearsals in a couple weeks, and I was exhausted, and my girlfriend Lea Thompson, who became my wife, said, \"You're going to die. You can't do this. I'm not going to stick around and watch that.\" And I think it was also sprinkled with the fact that I wanted to do one movie that was my movie, not necessarily in service to John, even though I loved John. So between the two things, I didn't... It could still happen. I would do it. Not with Matthew and Molly anymore, but the script is still there. It doesn't need anything. It's one of his great scripts. He had so many great scripts. For instance, he would stay up all night, music blasting, and at like 5:30 or 6 a.m., he'd hand me what was supposed to be a rewrite on Some Kind of Wonderful. We needed five pages, and it was 50 pages. I said, \"What did you do?! What is this?\" and he said, \"Oh, I didn't do that. I did something else. Tell me what you think?\" And it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He wrote the first half of the movie in, like, eight hours, and then finished it a couple days later. That was John. I never knew a writer who could do that. No one else had that ability. Even the stuff I fished out of the garbage was gold.\n\nReferences\n\nUnproduced screenplays\nFilms with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)"
]
|
[
"David Vitter",
"Immigration",
"How was David Vitter relevant?",
"Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants.",
"What was his stance on immigrants?",
"he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants",
"What else did he do with immigrants?",
"Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards."
]
| C_96f5ade176e148ef9a8dc157ab24ae9a_0 | Did he introduce even more bills? | 4 | Did David Vitter introduce even more bills for immigration? | David Vitter | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering. In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated. In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee. In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007. In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee. CANNOTANSWER | ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; | David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. He then represented Louisiana's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.
Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.
Early life and education
David Bruce Vitter was born on May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Audrey Malvina (née St. Raymond) and Albert Leopold Vitter. Vitter graduated in 1979 from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. While a student at De La Salle, Vitter participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1983; a second B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He was a practicing lawyer, and adjunct law professor at Tulane and Loyola University New Orleans.
Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack. Vitter's brother Jeffrey is a notable computer scientist who has served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from January 2016 to January 2019.
Early political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. As a freshman representative, he filed two complaints against Governor Edwin W. Edwards before the Louisiana Ethics Board. One questioned the financing of a trip Edwards took to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended an Evander Holyfield fight and gambled at Caesars Palace. The other questioned the involvement of Edwards' children in riverboat casinos.<ref>"Vitter's complaint filed against Edwards", Minden Press-Herald, November 8, 1993, p. 1</ref>
Vitter has argued for ethics reform and term limits since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s. As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature. The first election legislators affected by the reform occurred in 2007. In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a Political Action Committee with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority. While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.
Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.
United States House of Representatives
Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican U.S. Representative Bob Livingston, who resigned after disclosure that he had committed adultery. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David C. Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent. In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.
In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.
In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe RU-486, a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.
In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values."
2003 gubernatorial election
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.
Bruno said on a New Orleans-based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.
United States Senate
2004 election
In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."
On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.
State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter's state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.
2010 election
Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him.
He faced the Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, an Independent, also ran. On Nov 4, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The Independent candidate Wooton finished with 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.
Tenure
Vitter has identified himself as a political conservative throughout his political career. His legislative agenda includes positions ranging from anti-abortion to pro-gun rights while legislating against gambling, same-sex marriage, civil unions, federal funding for abortion providers, increases in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the United Nations, and amnesty for America's illegal immigrants. Vitter's stated positions include a balanced budget constitutional amendment, abolishing the federal and state estate tax, increasing local police forces, and an assortment of health care, tax and national defense reforms.
After conceding defeat to John Bel Edwards in the 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term.
Abortion
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment barring all federal public funds to health care providers and Planned Parenthood that provide services that include abortion. Federal law bars any funding to directly finance elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde amendment. Vitter argued that the funds are used for overhead costs that benefit the abortion services. The amendment failed to pass. Following the rejection, Vitter and others urged
the Senate to pass a similar bill introduced by Vitter in
January 2007. The bill failed to pass.
In January 2008, Vitter proposed an amendment to prohibit the funding of abortions with Indian Health Service funds except in the case of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. The amendment would have held future presidential administrations to an executive principle first crafted in 1982 by the Ronald Reagan White House. Vitter's amendment passed the Senate but later was stalled in the House.
Later that year, Vitter co-sponsored the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act which – along with other oversight regulations – required doctors performing abortions to have the authority granted by a nearby hospital to admit patients. The bill was never reported to committee.
Abstinence education
Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence over sex education that includes information about birth control, drawing criticism from Planned Parenthood. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
Automotive industry bailout
Vitter was one of 35 Senators to vote against the Big 3 Bailout bill. The financial bailout package was for GM, Chrysler, and Ford, but failed to pass on December 11, 2008. During the Senate debate Vitter referred to the approach of giving the automotive industry a financial package before they restructured as "ass-backwards". He soon apologized for the phrasing of the comment, which did not appear in the Congressional Record.
BP Horizon oil spill
In response to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coast of Louisiana, Vitter introduced legislation along with Jeff Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from $75 million to its most recent annual profits (or $150 million if greater). In the case of BP, the owner of the oil lease, its liability would be $20 billion. Vitter later introduced an amendment that would remove the cap entirely for this particular spill. Competing Democratic proposals would have raised the liability to $10 billion regardless of profits or removed the cap altogether. Sessions argued that large caps unrelated to company profits would harm smaller companies.
Chemical safety
In May 2013, Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would have regulated the introduction of new or already existing chemicals. The bill would have given additional authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate chemicals and streamline the patchwork of state laws on chemicals under federal authority.
Child protection
In April 2008, Vitter introduced an amendment to continue funding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was excluded from the 2008/2009 budget. The federal program maintains a national sex offender registry, provides resources for tracking down unregistered sex offenders and increases penalties for the sexual assault of children. His amendment received bipartisan support.
Children's health insurance program
In September 2007, Vitter opposed an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. He said he preferred that private health insurance provide the needed care and deemed the bill as "Hillarycare", a reference to the 1993 Clinton health care plan created by Hillary Clinton which proposed universal health care.
Ethics and term limits
Vitter refused to pledge to a voluntary term limit when running for the U.S. Congress in 1999. His opponent characterized this stance as hypocritical, and Vitter countered that unless it were universally applied, the loss of seniority would disadvantage his district. As a Senator, he has proposed term limit constitutional amendments for members of Congress three times. Vitter eventually decided to retire from the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms.
In 2007, in response to lobbying scandals involving, among others, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, Congress passed a lobbying and ethics reform package to which Vitter proposed a package of five amendments. The Senate approved three that limited which legislators' spouses could lobby the Senate, created criminal penalties for legislators and executive branch officials who falsify financial reports, and doubled the penalties for lobbyists who failed to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate rejected prohibiting legislators from paying their families with campaign funds with some saying it was unrelated to the current legislation and others that the payments were not a problem. Additionally, they tabled his proposal to define Indian tribes as corporations and its members as shareholders so that they are required to contribute to candidates through political action committees instead of their tribal treasury. Senators objected saying that they are already subjected to campaign laws for unincorporated entities and individuals and that the proposal was singling them out unfairly. The reform package became law in September 2007.
In 2009, Vitter and Democratic former Senator Russ Feingold announced an effort to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
Franken Amendment
In October 2009, the Senate passed Democratic Senator Al Franken's amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would forbid federal contractors from forcing victims of sexual assault, battery and discrimination to submit to binding arbitration (where a third-party typically chosen by the contractor adjudicates) and thereby prohibiting them from going to court. The impetus for the amendment came from the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by employees of Halliburton/KBR, a federal contractor.
The amendment passed 68 to 30 with all opposition coming from Republicans including Vitter (all four female Republicans, six other Republicans and all present Democrats voted for passage). Vitter's 2010 Democratic Senatorial opponent Charlie Melancon criticized Vitter for his vote saying, "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were." However, The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker argued that the 30 senators were being "unfairly smeared for doing the harder thing, maybe even for the right reasons."
Republican senators said they voted against it because it was unenforceable, a position also taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Obama administration. However, the DOD and the White House stated they agreed with the intent of the legislation and suggested it would be better if it was broadened to prohibit the use of arbitration in cases of sexual assault for any business contract, not just federal contractors. Senators explained their vote against the legislation by saying it was a political attack on Halliburton and that the Senate shouldn't regulate contracts. The latter argument is countered with many examples of similar restrictions on contractors such as discrimination, bonuses and health care. Others felt it was unconstitutional and that arbitration is useful in resolving disputes, often faster, privately and cheaper.
Later, a Baton Rouge rape survivor confronted Vitter at a town hall meeting saying, "[it] meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me behind bars ... How can you support a law that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?" Vitter replied, "The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form."
Gambling
Vitter opposed a bid by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana, arguing that the build site was not historically part of their tribal lands. He lobbied the Interior Department and included language in an appropriations bill to stop the casino. Although the Interior Department gave its approval, the casino has not yet been approved by the state. The Jena chief accused Vitter of ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who simultaneously lobbied against the casino. The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the lobbyist said, "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." In 2007 and 2008, Vitter introduced a bill to prohibit Indian casinos such as Jena's. Neither bill became law.
Gun rights
Rated "A" by the National Rifle Association, Vitter has been a consistent defender of gun rights. In April, 2006, in response to firearm confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster. Later, Vitter included the provisions of the act in an amendment to an appropriation bill for the Department Of Homeland Security. The bill became law in September 2006, with the amendment modified to allow for the temporary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entering a rescue or evacuation vehicle.
On April 17, 2013, Vitter voted against the Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment. The amendment failed to reach the sixty senatorial votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment is a bipartisan deal on gun background checks. Under the proposal, federal background checks would be expanded to include gun shows and online sales. All such sales would be channeled through licensed firearm dealers who would be charged for keeping record of transactions. The proposal does not require background checks for private sales between individuals.
In February 2008, Vitter – along with Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho – blocked the confirmation of Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) saying Sullivan supports "burdensome regulations" on gun owners and dealers and is "overly aggressive" enforcing gun laws. An editorial writer for The Boston Globe wrote that Vitter's position was "unreasonable" because the guns Sullivan sought to control are those commonly used in crimes: those stolen or purchased on the black market. On the other hand, gun rights advocates say that many gun dealers have lost their licenses for harmless bureaucratic errors. Sullivan stayed on as acting head of the ATF until January 2009 to make way for President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.
Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter and the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation worked to bring aid to the Gulf Coast region to rebuild broken levees, schools and hospitals, restore coastal wetlands, and provide assistance for its many victims.
In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.
In September 2007, Vitter announced that he got "a critical concession" from the White House that decreased Louisiana's obligations for hurricane recovery by $1 billion. However, the White House said that was false.
Immigration
Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, a piece of federal legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering.
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated.
In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee.
In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007.
In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee.
Louisiana Family Forum earmark
In September, 2007, Vitter earmarked $100,000 in federal money for a Christian group, the Louisiana Family Forum, known for challenging evolution by means of "teaching the controversy" which promotes intelligent design. According to Vitter, the earmark was "to develop a plan to promote better science education". The Times-Picayune alleged the group had close ties with Vitter. However, they have criticized Vitter for his support of Rudy Giuliani.
On October 17, 2007, the liberal organization People For the American Way, along with several other groups asked the Senate to remove the earmark. Vitter later withdrew it.
Military
In May 2008, Vitter voted with the majority, despite the opposition of Bush and other Republicans, for the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits for veterans similar to the level provided for returning World War II veterans in the G.I. Bill.
Network neutrality
Vitter was one of six senate Republicans to propose an amendment to a bill which would stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing network neutrality which they allege is a violation of the First Amendment.
New Orleans public housing
In September 2007, The Times-Picayune reported that Vitter and the Bush administration opposed a provision of The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery bill which required that every public housing apartment torn down be replaced with another form of low-income housing on a one-for-one basis. The administration testified that there was not sufficient demand for public housing units, a position contested by several senators. Vitter stated it would recreate "housing projects exactly as they were", isolated and riddled with crime. However, Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democratic Senator, said the intent was to make certain there were affordable places for working-class people who returned. The bill requires that demolished housing projects be replaced with mixed income communities which local housing advocates say is different from the massive public housing developments that Vitter is referring to. However, the bill does not include a ban on large-scale projects. The city housing authority is planning on replacing 4,000 low-income units with mixed-income projects providing a smaller inventory of low-income units. In December 2007, Vitter prevented the bill from leaving the committee.
Obama nominations
Vitter and Jim DeMint were the only two Senators that voted against Hillary Clinton's confirmation for the position of Secretary of State under the new Obama administration, on January 21, 2009.
He blocked President Obama's nominee for the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator until he received a written commitment on flood control issues from the nominee and FEMA. The New York Times, along with some Republican Senators, criticized Vitter for what it characterized as political posturing, given that the hurricane season was quickly approaching. He lifted his hold on May 12, 2009.
Obamacare
Vitter opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Same-sex marriage
Vitter opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history."
In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."
School board prayer
In 2005 Vitter introduced a resolution supporting prayer at school board meetings in response to an earlier district court decision that the Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers was unconstitutional. The bill died in committee after receiving little support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Alt URL Vitter later reintroduced the resolution in January 2007 after a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court concluded that Christian prayers were unconstitutional but was undecided whether nonsectarian prayers were allowed. In July 2007, the full Fifth Circuit dismissed the case because of a lack of standing. The school board subsequently resumed prayer evocations but opened it to diverse community religions. Vitter's bill died in committee. Alt URL
Tea Party movement
In recognition of the Tea Party protests opposing President Barack Obama's policies, Vitter proposed Senate Resolution 98, which would designate April 15 in years both 2009 and 2010 as "National TEA Party Day". As of April 2009, the bill has no cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with no scheduled action.
In September 2010, Vitter signed a candidate pledge from the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots. It included a promise to "Conduct myself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner."
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
In September 2007, during hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vitter expressed serious doubts about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty concerning issues of U.S. sovereignty echoing an array of conservative groups against the treaty including the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. The treaty, which sets up countries' jurisdiction over their coasts and ocean including exploration and navigation rights, was supported by the Bush administration, a majority of the United States Senate, the Pentagon, the State Department and Navy as do a coalition of business and environmental groups. The committee approved the treaty 17–4, with Vitter voting no.
Water Resources and Development Act
Vitter helped write the Water Resources and Development Act for flood-control, hurricane-protection and coastal-restoration projects including $3.6 billion for Louisiana. He called it the "single most important" legislation for assisting Louisiana with its recovery from hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush vetoed the act, objecting to its cost. Congress overrode his veto, enacting the bill.
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee on the Constitution
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairman)
2007 prostitution scandal
In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions. In 2004, Vitter had denied allegations that he had patronized prostitutes.
While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation'' predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.
On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and won by more than 12%.
2015 gubernatorial election
Vitter announced on January 21, 2014, that he would run for governor of Louisiana in the 2015 election. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. Vitter was the first sitting or ex-U.S. Senator to launch a gubernatorial bid in Louisiana since 1904, when Democrat Newton Blanchard was elected. Vitter's major opponents were Republicans Scott Angelle, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and former lieutenant governor, and Jay Dardenne, the current lieutenant governor; and Democrat John Bel Edwards, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
On November 5, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, endorsed Democrat Edwards in the general election race against his intraparty rival Vitter. Dardenne made the announcement at "Free Speech Alley" in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. After the primary, polls showed Edwards with a commanding lead over Vitter. Verne Kennedy of Market Research Insight placed Edwards ahead, 54 to 38 percent or 51 to 40 percent, depending on the level of turnout among African-American voters, either 25 or 20 percent, accordingly.
In the November 21 runoff election, Edwards defeated Vitter by 56% to 44%.
Other political involvement
Vitter became involved in the Louisiana State Senate District 22 special election held in January 2011, a vacancy created by the resignation of Troy Hebert, who accepted an appointment in the Jindal administration in Baton Rouge. Vitter endorsed and made telephone calls on behalf of a Democrat-turned-Republican state representative, Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. However, Champagne was soundly defeated by another Democrat-turned-Republican state lawmaker, Fred Mills, Jr., a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish.
In August 2014, Vitter endorsed the Common Core curriculum for Louisiana schools, a position shared by his Republican intraparty rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne. Vitter said that he regards Governor Bobby Jindal's attempt to withdraw from Common Core before the start of another school year to be "very disruptive". Vitter described Common Core as "very strong, significant, positive standards".
In 2016, Vitter succeeded after a five-year battle in passing through the Senate landmark legislation to reform the country's chemical safety laws. Vitter called the legislation a "big accomplishment. This is an area of federal law that everybody, every stakeholder, every group, whether it's some far-left environmental group or industry, said needed to be updated. The trick was getting agreement on doing that." Democratic colleague Richard Durbin of Illinois, a frequent critic of Vitter, said that if the bill is enacted with President Obama's signature "it's quite an accomplishment for him and for Congress to pass historic legislation."
Post-Senate career
After his Senate term ended, Vitter joined the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. As of October 2019, Vitter lobbies for sanctioned Chinese surveillance company Hikvision as well as for the Libyan Government of National Accord and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Also lobbied for sanctioned Russian bank Sovcombank. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
Electoral history
2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election
2010 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
2004 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
1999 Louisiana 1st District United States Congressional Election
1995 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
1991 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
See also
List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Footnotes
External links
United States Senator David Vitter official U.S. Senate website
Senator Vitter at BR Press Club
Vitter.org Vitter family website maintained by brother Jeffrey Vitter
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American lobbyists
American legal scholars
American Rhodes Scholars
De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni
Harvard College alumni
Lawyers from New Orleans
Living people
Louisiana Republicans
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party United States senators
Tea Party movement activists
Tulane University Law School alumni
Tulane University Law School faculty
United States senators from Louisiana | true | [
"A government bill is a bill which is proposed, introduced or supported by a government in their country's legislature. It is most significant in the Westminster system where most bills are introduced by the government. This is in contrast to private member's bills which are introduced by members of the legislature who are not part of the executive or cabinet.\n\nUsually, constitutional systems that forbid members of the government from simultaneously being members of the legislature, such as South Korea and the Netherlands, give the government the right to initiate bills in its own right to allow it to introduce government bills. However, in the United States, the right to introduce bills is only given to members of Congress, who cannot simultaneously serve in the executive branch, and the government can only introduce bills \"by proxy\", via its congressional backers.\n\nGovernment bills are usually public bills and are often introduced into the chamber of government (in a bicameral system) where there are the most ministers. In the UK, forthcoming government bills are often listed in the Queen's Speech, a speech from the throne which precedes each session of Parliament.\n\nSee also\n\nRight of initiative (legislative)\nPrivate member's bill\n\nReferences\n\nWestminster system\nProposed laws\nStatutory law\nLegislatures",
"A private members' bill (PMB) in the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a type of public bill that can be introduced by either members of the House of Commons or House of Lords who are not Ministers. Less parliamentary time is given to such bills and as a result only a minority of PMBs actually become law. Such bills can be used however to create publicity for a cause or issue and can affect legislation indirectly.\n\nMethods\nThere are three methods by which a Member of Parliament can introduce a Private Members' Bill: by ballot, by the Ten Minute Rule, and by presentation.\n\nBallot\nUnder this method Members who apply are drawn from a ballot and, if successful, are given Parliamentary time for their bill. Members of Parliament who are successful in the ballot often have a higher chance of seeing their legislation passed, as greater Parliamentary time is given to ballots than other methods of passing a PMB such as under the Ten Minute Rule. It is normal for the first seven ballot bills to get one day's debate each.\n\nTen Minute Rule\n\nThe Ten Minute Rule is a method of introducing a PMB after a brief debate. A member speaks for up to ten minutes on a motion under Standing Order 23 to introduce a bill, followed potentially by an opposing member's ten minute speech. If the motion is passed, the bill is introduced and given a formal first reading; it is unlikely to make further progress because it will not be given priority on the parliamentary calendar. The Ten Minute Rule can be used to generate publicity for a particular issue. Often they are used merely as an opportunity to criticise legislation rather than pass a bill.\n\nPresentation\nUnder this method any Member of Parliament may introduce a PMB if they have previously given an indication that they intend to do so. Members then formally introduce the bill but do not speak to support it. It is rare for a PMB to succeed by this method.\n\nProcedure\nThe second reading and subsequent readings of Private Members Bills take place on a sitting Friday. The sitting times for debate are 9.30am until 2.30pm, the debates for each bill must be concluded before 2.30pm in order to progress to the next stage of the bill passage. If the debate has not concluded before the time has run out, it will be moved to the bottom of the list of bills to be read and rescheduled for another time. For any sitting Friday there can be as many as 50 bills scheduled for debate on the order paper, however due to the short amount of time allotted to Friday sittings, Parliament has never progressed further than the 4th bill listed on the order of business for the day.\n\nCriticisms\n\nThe current system of Private Members' Bills has been criticised for being easily susceptible to filibustering. Labour MP Kerry McCarthy has compared the system to the BBC radio game show Just a Minute but in reverse stating that the more hesitation, deviation and repetition an MP makes the more likely they are to defeat a bill. As Private Members' Bills are debated on Fridays attendance in debates is often poor as Members of Parliament return to their constituency.\n\nReform proposals\nThe low number of Private Members' Bill passed has resulted in calls for reform of the PMB system. The Hansard Society has produced reform proposals in a pamphlet called 'Enhancing the Role of Backbench MPs'. The pamphlet calls for greater resourcing of PMBs and changes to the times when Private Members' Bills are debated.\n\nRecent successful PMBs\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\nCurrent parliamentary session\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nParliament\n\nParliament of the United Kingdom"
]
|
[
"David Vitter",
"Immigration",
"How was David Vitter relevant?",
"Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants.",
"What was his stance on immigrants?",
"he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants",
"What else did he do with immigrants?",
"Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards.",
"Did he introduce even more bills?",
"ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing;"
]
| C_96f5ade176e148ef9a8dc157ab24ae9a_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Other than just the political life, Are there any other interesting aspects about this article on David Vitter? | David Vitter | Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking federal Immigration Legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering. In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated. In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee. In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007. In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee. CANNOTANSWER | The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. | David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. He then represented Louisiana's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with a Washington, D.C. escort service. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.
Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.
Early life and education
David Bruce Vitter was born on May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Audrey Malvina (née St. Raymond) and Albert Leopold Vitter. Vitter graduated in 1979 from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. While a student at De La Salle, Vitter participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1983; a second B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He was a practicing lawyer, and adjunct law professor at Tulane and Loyola University New Orleans.
Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack. Vitter's brother Jeffrey is a notable computer scientist who has served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi from January 2016 to January 2019.
Early political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. As a freshman representative, he filed two complaints against Governor Edwin W. Edwards before the Louisiana Ethics Board. One questioned the financing of a trip Edwards took to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he attended an Evander Holyfield fight and gambled at Caesars Palace. The other questioned the involvement of Edwards' children in riverboat casinos.<ref>"Vitter's complaint filed against Edwards", Minden Press-Herald, November 8, 1993, p. 1</ref>
Vitter has argued for ethics reform and term limits since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s. As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature. The first election legislators affected by the reform occurred in 2007. In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a Political Action Committee with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority. While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.
Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.
United States House of Representatives
Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican U.S. Representative Bob Livingston, who resigned after disclosure that he had committed adultery. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David C. Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent. In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.
In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.
In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe RU-486, a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.
In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts values."
2003 gubernatorial election
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.
Bruno said on a New Orleans-based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.
United States Senate
2004 election
In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."
On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.
State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter's state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.
2010 election
Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him.
He faced the Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, an Independent, also ran. On Nov 4, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The Independent candidate Wooton finished with 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.
Tenure
Vitter has identified himself as a political conservative throughout his political career. His legislative agenda includes positions ranging from anti-abortion to pro-gun rights while legislating against gambling, same-sex marriage, civil unions, federal funding for abortion providers, increases in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the United Nations, and amnesty for America's illegal immigrants. Vitter's stated positions include a balanced budget constitutional amendment, abolishing the federal and state estate tax, increasing local police forces, and an assortment of health care, tax and national defense reforms.
After conceding defeat to John Bel Edwards in the 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term.
Abortion
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment barring all federal public funds to health care providers and Planned Parenthood that provide services that include abortion. Federal law bars any funding to directly finance elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde amendment. Vitter argued that the funds are used for overhead costs that benefit the abortion services. The amendment failed to pass. Following the rejection, Vitter and others urged
the Senate to pass a similar bill introduced by Vitter in
January 2007. The bill failed to pass.
In January 2008, Vitter proposed an amendment to prohibit the funding of abortions with Indian Health Service funds except in the case of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. The amendment would have held future presidential administrations to an executive principle first crafted in 1982 by the Ronald Reagan White House. Vitter's amendment passed the Senate but later was stalled in the House.
Later that year, Vitter co-sponsored the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act which – along with other oversight regulations – required doctors performing abortions to have the authority granted by a nearby hospital to admit patients. The bill was never reported to committee.
Abstinence education
Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence over sex education that includes information about birth control, drawing criticism from Planned Parenthood. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
Automotive industry bailout
Vitter was one of 35 Senators to vote against the Big 3 Bailout bill. The financial bailout package was for GM, Chrysler, and Ford, but failed to pass on December 11, 2008. During the Senate debate Vitter referred to the approach of giving the automotive industry a financial package before they restructured as "ass-backwards". He soon apologized for the phrasing of the comment, which did not appear in the Congressional Record.
BP Horizon oil spill
In response to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the coast of Louisiana, Vitter introduced legislation along with Jeff Sessions of Alabama to increase the liability cap of an oil company from $75 million to its most recent annual profits (or $150 million if greater). In the case of BP, the owner of the oil lease, its liability would be $20 billion. Vitter later introduced an amendment that would remove the cap entirely for this particular spill. Competing Democratic proposals would have raised the liability to $10 billion regardless of profits or removed the cap altogether. Sessions argued that large caps unrelated to company profits would harm smaller companies.
Chemical safety
In May 2013, Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would have regulated the introduction of new or already existing chemicals. The bill would have given additional authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate chemicals and streamline the patchwork of state laws on chemicals under federal authority.
Child protection
In April 2008, Vitter introduced an amendment to continue funding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was excluded from the 2008/2009 budget. The federal program maintains a national sex offender registry, provides resources for tracking down unregistered sex offenders and increases penalties for the sexual assault of children. His amendment received bipartisan support.
Children's health insurance program
In September 2007, Vitter opposed an increase of $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the national program to provide health care for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. He said he preferred that private health insurance provide the needed care and deemed the bill as "Hillarycare", a reference to the 1993 Clinton health care plan created by Hillary Clinton which proposed universal health care.
Ethics and term limits
Vitter refused to pledge to a voluntary term limit when running for the U.S. Congress in 1999. His opponent characterized this stance as hypocritical, and Vitter countered that unless it were universally applied, the loss of seniority would disadvantage his district. As a Senator, he has proposed term limit constitutional amendments for members of Congress three times. Vitter eventually decided to retire from the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms.
In 2007, in response to lobbying scandals involving, among others, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, Congress passed a lobbying and ethics reform package to which Vitter proposed a package of five amendments. The Senate approved three that limited which legislators' spouses could lobby the Senate, created criminal penalties for legislators and executive branch officials who falsify financial reports, and doubled the penalties for lobbyists who failed to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate rejected prohibiting legislators from paying their families with campaign funds with some saying it was unrelated to the current legislation and others that the payments were not a problem. Additionally, they tabled his proposal to define Indian tribes as corporations and its members as shareholders so that they are required to contribute to candidates through political action committees instead of their tribal treasury. Senators objected saying that they are already subjected to campaign laws for unincorporated entities and individuals and that the proposal was singling them out unfairly. The reform package became law in September 2007.
In 2009, Vitter and Democratic former Senator Russ Feingold announced an effort to end automatic pay raises for members of Congress.
Franken Amendment
In October 2009, the Senate passed Democratic Senator Al Franken's amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would forbid federal contractors from forcing victims of sexual assault, battery and discrimination to submit to binding arbitration (where a third-party typically chosen by the contractor adjudicates) and thereby prohibiting them from going to court. The impetus for the amendment came from the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by employees of Halliburton/KBR, a federal contractor.
The amendment passed 68 to 30 with all opposition coming from Republicans including Vitter (all four female Republicans, six other Republicans and all present Democrats voted for passage). Vitter's 2010 Democratic Senatorial opponent Charlie Melancon criticized Vitter for his vote saying, "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were." However, The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker argued that the 30 senators were being "unfairly smeared for doing the harder thing, maybe even for the right reasons."
Republican senators said they voted against it because it was unenforceable, a position also taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Obama administration. However, the DOD and the White House stated they agreed with the intent of the legislation and suggested it would be better if it was broadened to prohibit the use of arbitration in cases of sexual assault for any business contract, not just federal contractors. Senators explained their vote against the legislation by saying it was a political attack on Halliburton and that the Senate shouldn't regulate contracts. The latter argument is countered with many examples of similar restrictions on contractors such as discrimination, bonuses and health care. Others felt it was unconstitutional and that arbitration is useful in resolving disputes, often faster, privately and cheaper.
Later, a Baton Rouge rape survivor confronted Vitter at a town hall meeting saying, "[it] meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me behind bars ... How can you support a law that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?" Vitter replied, "The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form."
Gambling
Vitter opposed a bid by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana, arguing that the build site was not historically part of their tribal lands. He lobbied the Interior Department and included language in an appropriations bill to stop the casino. Although the Interior Department gave its approval, the casino has not yet been approved by the state. The Jena chief accused Vitter of ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who simultaneously lobbied against the casino. The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the lobbyist said, "The committee has seen absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Senator Vitter's opposition to (the proposed casino) had to do with anything other than his long-standing opposition to gambling." In 2007 and 2008, Vitter introduced a bill to prohibit Indian casinos such as Jena's. Neither bill became law.
Gun rights
Rated "A" by the National Rifle Association, Vitter has been a consistent defender of gun rights. In April, 2006, in response to firearm confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster. Later, Vitter included the provisions of the act in an amendment to an appropriation bill for the Department Of Homeland Security. The bill became law in September 2006, with the amendment modified to allow for the temporary surrender of a firearm as a condition for entering a rescue or evacuation vehicle.
On April 17, 2013, Vitter voted against the Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment. The amendment failed to reach the sixty senatorial votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment is a bipartisan deal on gun background checks. Under the proposal, federal background checks would be expanded to include gun shows and online sales. All such sales would be channeled through licensed firearm dealers who would be charged for keeping record of transactions. The proposal does not require background checks for private sales between individuals.
In February 2008, Vitter – along with Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo of Idaho – blocked the confirmation of Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) saying Sullivan supports "burdensome regulations" on gun owners and dealers and is "overly aggressive" enforcing gun laws. An editorial writer for The Boston Globe wrote that Vitter's position was "unreasonable" because the guns Sullivan sought to control are those commonly used in crimes: those stolen or purchased on the black market. On the other hand, gun rights advocates say that many gun dealers have lost their licenses for harmless bureaucratic errors. Sullivan stayed on as acting head of the ATF until January 2009 to make way for President Barack Obama to name his own nominee.
Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter and the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation worked to bring aid to the Gulf Coast region to rebuild broken levees, schools and hospitals, restore coastal wetlands, and provide assistance for its many victims.
In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.
In September 2007, Vitter announced that he got "a critical concession" from the White House that decreased Louisiana's obligations for hurricane recovery by $1 billion. However, the White House said that was false.
Immigration
Vitter has been actively involved with legislation concerning illegal immigrants. In June 2007, he led a group of conservative Senators in blocking the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, a piece of federal legislation that would have granted a pathway to legal residence to 12 million illegal immigrants coupled with increased border enforcement. The bill's defeat won Vitter national attention as the bill was supported by President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy, among others. Vitter characterized the bill as amnesty, which supporters denied. Bush accused the bill's opponents of fear mongering.
In October 2007, Vitter introduced an amendment withholding Community Oriented Policing Services funds from any sanctuary city which bans city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status in violation of the Illegal Immigration Act. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in opposition to the amendment, said these cities do not want to inquire about someone's status if they report a crime, are a victim of domestic violence or get vaccinations for their children. The amendment was defeated.
In November 2007, Vitter introduced a bill requiring banks to verify that no customer was an illegal immigrant before issuing banking or credit cards. The bill never made it out of committee.
In March 2008, Vitter reintroduced the latter two proposals and cosponsored ten of eleven other bills in a Republican package of tough immigration enforcement measures including jail time for illegal border crossing; deportation for any immigrant (legal or illegal) for a single driving while intoxicated; declaration of English as the official language (thereby terminating language assistance at voting booths and federal agencies)' additional construction of a border fence; permission for local and state police to enforce immigration laws and penalties for states who issue drivers licenses to illegals. None of these proposals passed, partially because the Democratic-controlled Senate preferred a comprehensive approach which would include a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for the current population more akin to the package defeated by Vitter in 2007.
In April 2008, Vitter introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that a child born in the United States is not a citizen unless a parent is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien serving in the military. Currently the Constitution grants citizenship to children born within the U.S. regardless of the legal status of the parents. The bill never made it out of the Democratic-led committee.
Louisiana Family Forum earmark
In September, 2007, Vitter earmarked $100,000 in federal money for a Christian group, the Louisiana Family Forum, known for challenging evolution by means of "teaching the controversy" which promotes intelligent design. According to Vitter, the earmark was "to develop a plan to promote better science education". The Times-Picayune alleged the group had close ties with Vitter. However, they have criticized Vitter for his support of Rudy Giuliani.
On October 17, 2007, the liberal organization People For the American Way, along with several other groups asked the Senate to remove the earmark. Vitter later withdrew it.
Military
In May 2008, Vitter voted with the majority, despite the opposition of Bush and other Republicans, for the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 to expand educational benefits for veterans similar to the level provided for returning World War II veterans in the G.I. Bill.
Network neutrality
Vitter was one of six senate Republicans to propose an amendment to a bill which would stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing network neutrality which they allege is a violation of the First Amendment.
New Orleans public housing
In September 2007, The Times-Picayune reported that Vitter and the Bush administration opposed a provision of The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery bill which required that every public housing apartment torn down be replaced with another form of low-income housing on a one-for-one basis. The administration testified that there was not sufficient demand for public housing units, a position contested by several senators. Vitter stated it would recreate "housing projects exactly as they were", isolated and riddled with crime. However, Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democratic Senator, said the intent was to make certain there were affordable places for working-class people who returned. The bill requires that demolished housing projects be replaced with mixed income communities which local housing advocates say is different from the massive public housing developments that Vitter is referring to. However, the bill does not include a ban on large-scale projects. The city housing authority is planning on replacing 4,000 low-income units with mixed-income projects providing a smaller inventory of low-income units. In December 2007, Vitter prevented the bill from leaving the committee.
Obama nominations
Vitter and Jim DeMint were the only two Senators that voted against Hillary Clinton's confirmation for the position of Secretary of State under the new Obama administration, on January 21, 2009.
He blocked President Obama's nominee for the new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator until he received a written commitment on flood control issues from the nominee and FEMA. The New York Times, along with some Republican Senators, criticized Vitter for what it characterized as political posturing, given that the hurricane season was quickly approaching. He lifted his hold on May 12, 2009.
Obamacare
Vitter opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Same-sex marriage
Vitter opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history."
In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."
School board prayer
In 2005 Vitter introduced a resolution supporting prayer at school board meetings in response to an earlier district court decision that the Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers was unconstitutional. The bill died in committee after receiving little support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Alt URL Vitter later reintroduced the resolution in January 2007 after a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court concluded that Christian prayers were unconstitutional but was undecided whether nonsectarian prayers were allowed. In July 2007, the full Fifth Circuit dismissed the case because of a lack of standing. The school board subsequently resumed prayer evocations but opened it to diverse community religions. Vitter's bill died in committee. Alt URL
Tea Party movement
In recognition of the Tea Party protests opposing President Barack Obama's policies, Vitter proposed Senate Resolution 98, which would designate April 15 in years both 2009 and 2010 as "National TEA Party Day". As of April 2009, the bill has no cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with no scheduled action.
In September 2010, Vitter signed a candidate pledge from the North Central Louisiana TEA Party Patriots. It included a promise to "Conduct myself personally and professionally in a moral and socially appropriate manner."
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
In September 2007, during hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vitter expressed serious doubts about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty concerning issues of U.S. sovereignty echoing an array of conservative groups against the treaty including the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. The treaty, which sets up countries' jurisdiction over their coasts and ocean including exploration and navigation rights, was supported by the Bush administration, a majority of the United States Senate, the Pentagon, the State Department and Navy as do a coalition of business and environmental groups. The committee approved the treaty 17–4, with Vitter voting no.
Water Resources and Development Act
Vitter helped write the Water Resources and Development Act for flood-control, hurricane-protection and coastal-restoration projects including $3.6 billion for Louisiana. He called it the "single most important" legislation for assisting Louisiana with its recovery from hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush vetoed the act, objecting to its cost. Congress overrode his veto, enacting the bill.
Committee assignments
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee on the Constitution
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairman)
2007 prostitution scandal
In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions. In 2004, Vitter had denied allegations that he had patronized prostitutes.
While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation'' predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.
On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and won by more than 12%.
2015 gubernatorial election
Vitter announced on January 21, 2014, that he would run for governor of Louisiana in the 2015 election. Then-Governor Bobby Jindal was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. Vitter was the first sitting or ex-U.S. Senator to launch a gubernatorial bid in Louisiana since 1904, when Democrat Newton Blanchard was elected. Vitter's major opponents were Republicans Scott Angelle, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner and former lieutenant governor, and Jay Dardenne, the current lieutenant governor; and Democrat John Bel Edwards, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
On November 5, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, endorsed Democrat Edwards in the general election race against his intraparty rival Vitter. Dardenne made the announcement at "Free Speech Alley" in front of the LSU Student Union building in Baton Rouge. After the primary, polls showed Edwards with a commanding lead over Vitter. Verne Kennedy of Market Research Insight placed Edwards ahead, 54 to 38 percent or 51 to 40 percent, depending on the level of turnout among African-American voters, either 25 or 20 percent, accordingly.
In the November 21 runoff election, Edwards defeated Vitter by 56% to 44%.
Other political involvement
Vitter became involved in the Louisiana State Senate District 22 special election held in January 2011, a vacancy created by the resignation of Troy Hebert, who accepted an appointment in the Jindal administration in Baton Rouge. Vitter endorsed and made telephone calls on behalf of a Democrat-turned-Republican state representative, Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. However, Champagne was soundly defeated by another Democrat-turned-Republican state lawmaker, Fred Mills, Jr., a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish.
In August 2014, Vitter endorsed the Common Core curriculum for Louisiana schools, a position shared by his Republican intraparty rival for governor, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne. Vitter said that he regards Governor Bobby Jindal's attempt to withdraw from Common Core before the start of another school year to be "very disruptive". Vitter described Common Core as "very strong, significant, positive standards".
In 2016, Vitter succeeded after a five-year battle in passing through the Senate landmark legislation to reform the country's chemical safety laws. Vitter called the legislation a "big accomplishment. This is an area of federal law that everybody, every stakeholder, every group, whether it's some far-left environmental group or industry, said needed to be updated. The trick was getting agreement on doing that." Democratic colleague Richard Durbin of Illinois, a frequent critic of Vitter, said that if the bill is enacted with President Obama's signature "it's quite an accomplishment for him and for Congress to pass historic legislation."
Post-Senate career
After his Senate term ended, Vitter joined the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. As of October 2019, Vitter lobbies for sanctioned Chinese surveillance company Hikvision as well as for the Libyan Government of National Accord and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Also lobbied for sanctioned Russian bank Sovcombank. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/lobbying-firms-russian-businesses-sanctions-invs/index.html
Electoral history
2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election
2010 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
2004 Louisiana United States Senatorial Election
1999 Louisiana 1st District United States Congressional Election
1995 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
1991 Louisiana 81st District State House of Representatives Election
See also
List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Footnotes
External links
United States Senator David Vitter official U.S. Senate website
Senator Vitter at BR Press Club
Vitter.org Vitter family website maintained by brother Jeffrey Vitter
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
American anti–illegal immigration activists
American lobbyists
American legal scholars
American Rhodes Scholars
De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni
Harvard College alumni
Lawyers from New Orleans
Living people
Louisiana Republicans
Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party United States senators
Tea Party movement activists
Tulane University Law School alumni
Tulane University Law School faculty
United States senators from Louisiana | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.