Thursday, December 15, 2005

A Contextless Observation About Spirituals and Death in This Week's News

The spirituals appear in two of the last week's major news stories. I'm still thinking more about the ways that death, religion and the music of the elders interact in these stories, but for now:

According to several news reports, Rigoberto Alpizar (the passenger fatally shot after allegedly making a bomb threat at Miami International Airport) sang "Go Down Moses" before boarding.

At a gathering of protestors outside San Quentin State Prison demonstrating against the execution of Stanley Williams, folk singer Joan Baez sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

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