This is a poem-beat put out by Gil Scott-Heron in 1971 – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
This is the original. I’ve added links throughout for points of reference.
The Black Panthers started as a very effective movement in the U.S. before being infiltrated by the U.S. government and co-opted and
later set up to fail through programs such as the CIA‘s OP CHAOS and the FBI‘s OP COINTELPRO as well as infighting.
The panthers should be a case study for any would be social movement in lessons learned.
Enjoy this video version of Gil Scott-Heron and a band playing accompaniment:
“You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and
skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8: 32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back
after a message about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat.
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live”
That is the entirety (or so I’ve been led to believe) of the original. My take as follows:
the revolution will not be commodified, the revolution will not be commodified, the revolution will not be commodified
Geraldo’s empty vault like the Ronald’s promises
Nancy just says no while Sid punches out
rappers inspire you to be criminals instead of rising above
Occupy the bankers and wall street until they offer you a 401k
they sell you change but then take it all away.
Don’t worry you can buy the memory and an ironic t-shirt. -EvS rip
Sadly as soon as it’s getting airtime on the major news networks (aka legacy media) it’s been commodified, labelled, categorized, marketed, homogenized and controlled.
If there’s a go fund me and they’re selling wrist band’s and clothing lines for the cause, it’s under control.
The “elites” will always try to co-opt and control any major social movement to prevent it from upsetting the status quo. It is in the interests of the rich and powerful to keep people divided and fighting among themselves.
As much as tossing that brick may feel really damned good your best bet for revolutionary zeal is starting a street mission or community garden.
Remember the FBI will have an informant in any would be revolutionary group trying to get your trust and a conviction!
