Maya Angelou Essay -- essays research papers fc

Maya Angelou is one of the most influential and talented African American writers of our modern day. Those who read Angelou‘s works should not pass the thought of where her influence came from. Maya Angelou’s work has been heavily affected by the era in which she began to write. The fifties and sixties were a tumultuous time for most African-Americans in the US. The civil-rights movement, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, was instrumental in securing legislation, notably the Civil-Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, schools, employment, and voting for reasons of color, race, religion, or national origin. But all this was gained at a great price, the freedom of many saints who sacrificed for the greater cause, and many years of hard work. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and others pushed for desegregation and equal rights in the face of strong white opposition, and it sometimes became violent. Many whites protested integration. In 1951, Florida NAACP state secretary Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriet, were killed Christmas night in a bombing of their house. No arrests were ever made. In 1953, black political leader Lamar D. Smith, 63, was shot to death in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse at Brookhaven, Mississippi, after seeking to qualify blacks to vote. More than twenty people witnessed the shooting, including several blacks, but nobody admitted to having seen anything and no witnesses testified against the three white men charged with the murder. In 1954, black minister George W. Lee was killed at Belzoni, Mississippi, after a week of terror during which whites had vandalized blacks’ property. The blacks had refused to send their children to racially segregated schools, the whites had retaliated by refusing credit to blacks at local stores, and Lee had campaigned for black voting rights. In 1956, Southern congress... ...rientation span the lines of race and class. Passionate and exuberant, Angelou is an ambassador to people worldwide, sharing lessons on the human spirit, and what each of us can dream about, strive toward, fail at, endure and still survive.† (Miller,1982) She is an advocate for the betterment and education of all, encouraging us to surpass our potential, both as individuals and as communities of people. Through her unselfish gifts of poetry, story and song, Maya Angelou continues to demonstrate what it means to be a truly Phenomenal Woman. Works Cited Angelou, Maya. And Still I Rise, A Book of Poems by Maya Angelou. 3. 1978 Casey, Ellen Miller:1982. in a review "The Heart of a Women." Best Sellers January, 1982: 376-77. Lisandrelli, Elaine Slivinski:1996, Maya Angelou; More Than a Poet. Springfield, NJ Loos, Pamela:2000, Maya Angelou. Introduction by James Scott Brady. Philadelphia: Chelsea House. Pettit, Jayne:1996, Maya Angelou; Journey of the Heart. New York: Lodestar, 1996. Ages 9-12 Based in part on her autobiography Reilly, Charlie :1994,"Maya Angelou Interviews Amiri Baraka." Conversations with Amiri Baraka. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1994. 261-66.

Music Piracy: Should It Be Allowed?

File sharing is when people share files on their computers with other users. This is done across the internet and made possible by peer-to-peer programs. These files can be anything: pictures, text, pornography, movies, etc. I will be focusing on music. The issue is whether or not music or file-sharing should be legalized. When I first tried Kazaa, I was absolutely amazed. With my family's terribly slow internet connection, I would download as much music as I could. I would wait patiently, sometimes 30-45 minutes, for a single song to be downloaded. Then, one day we got a ADSL connection and no one could stop me from downloading music. In a rough estimate, I must have downloaded over 30 gigabytes worth of music in the past few years. That's a lot of music, music that I would not have heard, artists I would have not discovered, if it weren't for file sharing. But all good things come to an end. After losing legal battles with the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and related parties, Napster started deteriorating. Filters prevented certain artists from being listed in searches and if you had songs by certain artists on your computer, you would be banned. I once started up Napster only to be greeted with this message: â€Å"YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED BY DR. DRE†. Along with thousands of other people, I stopped using the program. So what was/is the RIAA's deal? What do they have against file-sharing? The RIAA and many artists feel that peer-to-peer file-sharing is a violation of copyright laws and is hurting music sales. Some artists feel that P2P sharing is, simply, stealing. That they feel this way is okay. However, the way they went about handling the situation is highly debatable. For the most part it shows the lack of vision and understanding the RIAA and some musicians have concerning the future of music. Why are CD sales down? In 2002, there was a 10% decline in record sales. The RIAA blame file-sharing, however, they need to consider the following possibilities†¦ (1) The state of radio. Clear Channel controls around 60% of rock radio. Ever wonder why, no matter what city you travel to, there is always a radio station with the same format as a station back home. According to Professor James Boyle's, this is an example of Clear Channels â€Å"McDonaldization† of radio. â€Å"Since Clear Channel controls the format and the play lists of the majority of radio stations across the country, the type of music that gets heard becomes limited to what Clear Channel programmers decide to include on play lists†(Boyle's). If the listeners don't like what they hear, they won't buy the music. Would the fact that almost every song on commercial radio is bought and paid for have anything to do with the narrow focus and homogeneous nature of radio? â€Å"What drives radio is advertising and money, not music. A lot of music gets left behind thanks to the current state of radio, that consumers are rejecting it shouldn't be surprising. They're creating their own MP3 play lists, and if the labels were smart, they'd be doing everything in their power to be on the play lists of radio stations. Instead, they scream copyright infringement and call their lawyers.† (Boyle's) The second possibility is price. Music is overly expensive. Sometimes, paying $15 for a CD is just not within people's budget. What file-sharing has told the recording industry is that a very large number of people are more willing to sit in front of their computer and download music, rather than pay for the ridiculously overpriced alternative. Basic economics tells us that as more alternatives become available, prices drop. The recording industry is trying to resist this. Imagine if new CD's were only 5 dollars each. Would you buy more music? I certainly would. Of course, this invites the classic argument, presented by John Syner in his essay â€Å"Many Things We Pay for Are Free†: â€Å"Why would people buy something that they can get for free?† There are dozens of companies that sell†¦water. We pay for TV when there is free programming. We buy books, when we borrow them for free at the library. Why would you pay for a song that you could get for free? For the same reason that you will buy a book that you could borrow from the public library or buy a DVD of a movie that you could watch on television or rent for the weekend. Convenience, ease-of-use, selection, ability to find what you want, and for enthusiasts, the sheer pleasure of owning something you treasure. It could be argued that MP3's are the greatest marketing tool ever to come along for the music industry. If your music is not being downloaded, then you're in trouble. If you can't give it away, you certainly can't sell it. There will always be a market for CD's because people, especially music collectors, want something tangible. Something with art and liner notes, that they can put on their shelves. I believe the Philosophy of Consumerism fits this topic to a â€Å"T†. Consumerism is the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable. The third and final possibility is that file-sharing is helping the music industry. As I said at the beginning of the essay, file-sharing has allowed me to discover artists that I would not have discovered otherwise. Many times after discovering these new bands/artists I actually did go out and purchase some of their music. Sometimes I went to go see them play live at a local club. But even if I didn't go out and purchase a bands album, I am still benefiting them by downloading their music. If I like what I hear, they get free word of mouth.

The Affordable Care Act ( Aca ) - 1207 Words

It has been stated that one of the largest benefits to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for those that were already insured, is that they may purchase insurance through a marketplace allowing for continuous coverage, regardless of life experiences such as a change in job. Even those that are young, and may not appreciate health insurance because they have coverage through their parents, will need insurance once of age that isn’t dependent upon an employer as they are more likely to change jobs more often. Those that purchase health insurance through an employer offered group coverage could be made to feel as though they are captive to a job in order to continue to receive the insurance that they are accustomed to. Subsequently, the ACA has made health insurance more affordable for those that earn a lower income, making group plans more expensive for individuals, overall. Monahan and Schwarcz (2013) identify three threats to small group health insurance markets that may result fro m the 2014 implementation of certain provisions of the ACA: †¢ Small employers with predominately low-income employees may tend to opt out of small group markets because their employees will be better off with subsidized individual coverage. †¢ Small employers with employees of heterogeneous income levels will have strong incentives to offer coverage that is either â€Å"unaffordable† or fails to provide â€Å"minimum value† in order to preserve availability of government subsidies for their low-incomeShow MoreRelatedThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )956 Words   |  4 PagesAbsract++++++++++++++++++++++++++= The Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as â€Å"Obamacare†) is an historic piece of legislation that has had massive effect on healthcare in the United States. Its systemic effects on healthcare in this country are numberous, from insurance to ambulatory care, from healthcare related taxes to healthcare resources, and beyond. That said, the following research paper attempts to summarize how this massive piece of legislation has effected healthcare in the UnitedRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )784 Words   |  4 PagesThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a primary debate topic since it was enacted in 2010. The conservatives completely disagree with the Affordable Care Act and believe that â€Å"Democrats used it as an assertion of power than they used it to improve health care conditions† (â€Å"Republican Views on Health Care†, 2014). They believe that the act was a waste of taxpayer’s dollars and would inevitably ruin our health care syste m. In contrast, the liberals supported the ACA and â€Å"pride themselves on the factRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )1668 Words   |  7 PagesOn March 23,2010 the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law. This act aims to provide affordable health care coverage for all United States citizens. â€Å"The Affordable Care Act affirms the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.† (President Obama) It will provide insurance to more than thirty million people who have been previously uninsured, and will be achieved by expanding Medicaid and extending federal subsidiesRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca ) Essay1428 Words   |  6 PagesThe Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as ObamaCare, is a United States law that was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. This Act was set to reform both healthcare and health insuranc e industries in the United States. It aims to lower cost on coverage, add new benefits, and a few new taxes. Increasing the quality, availability, and affordability of private and public health insurance are very important roles of the ACA. While tryingRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )1349 Words   |  6 PagesIn 2010 the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into act to help reform healthcare in the United States. Before and after the act was effective, many people were concerned with how it would affect our country as a whole and on an individual basis. Many people say that the ACA is helping our country and others are not so sure. The goal of the act is to give millions of uninsured Americans access to quality health care and by also making it more affordable. Although thereRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )1279 Words   |  6 PagesThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a health reform law that was signed by President Barrack Obama on March 23, 2010. The full name of the law is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). One week later the President also signed a law called the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act (HCERA), which was a supplement that made several changes the PPACA. What the country currently refers to as the ACA or Obamacare is both of these laws combined. (McDonough, 2012) Many AmericansRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act (ACA)1156 Words   |  5 PagesThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) will cause a large influx of patients into the health care system. For a variety of reasons, this will change how the front-line health care personnel provide care. Nurses will expand his or her scope and territory of care. Front line providers will change to include more advanced practice nurses because of the national shortage of primary care providers (Department Of Health And Human Services, 2014). No longer will they just practice in brick and mortar hospitalsRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca ) Essay1089 Words   |  5 PagesSince the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ‘Obamacare’ in 2010 and its implementation in 2014,there has been a steady decline in the uninsured population of the United States of America. The number of Americans with health insurance, has reached a historic peak. According to recent data from the Census Bureau about he alth insurance coverage, the number of uninsured Americans fell from 33 million the year prior to ACA implementation to 29 million in 2014.The total uninsured rate droppedRead MoreAffordable Care Act ( Aca )1576 Words   |  7 PagesAffordable Care Act (ACA), often known as Obamacare, was signed by President Obama in 2010. The goal of the Act is to increase the number of individuals with health insurance to the point where all Americans are insured by providing quality healthcare at an affordable price. Despite its good intent, the ACA is not as perfect as it may appear. In this paper, I will list the main features of the Act, its pros and cons, and how it affects you as an individual and discuss the King vs. Burwell lawsuitRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )890 Words   |  4 PagesOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act which is an Obamacare, is the United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) experienced many challenges, debates, and objections until the Supreme Court rendered a final decision on individual mandate healthcare insurance to uphold the health care law on June 28, 2012. The mandate healthcare insurance for workers by employers’ obligation through a regulated marketplace of health maintenance organizations