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His spoken word poetry describes these outlets of references before repeating the phrase “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised…” to strengthen the claim that the consumer media is superficially choosing to pretend that all was well when in fact a revolution was happening at their doorstep. A selection of references will be analyzed from the verses of this poem, out of the dozens of events, policies, and people that he chooses to include.
In the first verse, and throughout the rest of the song and poem, Scott-Heron describes what his revolution will NOT be; specifically he says that it will be completely unlike the media that the average African American is exposed …show more content…
The image in his lyrics describes how the President would not lead these influential men to eat hog maws, which is a traditional soul food in African American and South-East American cuisine. In particular this reference can be attributed to influential leaders at the time slowly approaching the topic of integration only when it was necessary. Though Richard Nixon took the first steps to start desegregation in the south it was a long process and was far from the integration of culture that many civil rights leaders wanted. In particular his Vice President Spiro Agnew took no action when he was given the task to lead preliminary efforts of desegregation in the South in 1972. This part of the song conveys the idea that many of the influential leaders at the time were either inept for leading this change or would simply refuse …show more content…
The song mention pictures of shopping carts being pushed while running which references a popular picture at the time of a man running during the riot with looted items. The riots were a product of police discrimination and violence against an African American family in August 11, 1965. The event incited mobs and soon large scale looting took place. The reason Scott-Heron claims there will be no pictures of this riot for his revolution was largely because the broadcasted riot was warped on television to only show acts of vandalism and did not mention the cause that motivated the people to start rioting. The selective information given by the media is one of the main reasons why Scott Heron feels the revolution or change he wants to bring to the African American struggle can only be done live and free from the bias of
In the first verse, and throughout the rest of the song and poem, Scott-Heron describes what his revolution will NOT be; specifically he says that it will be completely unlike the media that the average African American is exposed …show more content…
The image in his lyrics describes how the President would not lead these influential men to eat hog maws, which is a traditional soul food in African American and South-East American cuisine. In particular this reference can be attributed to influential leaders at the time slowly approaching the topic of integration only when it was necessary. Though Richard Nixon took the first steps to start desegregation in the south it was a long process and was far from the integration of culture that many civil rights leaders wanted. In particular his Vice President Spiro Agnew took no action when he was given the task to lead preliminary efforts of desegregation in the South in 1972. This part of the song conveys the idea that many of the influential leaders at the time were either inept for leading this change or would simply refuse …show more content…
The song mention pictures of shopping carts being pushed while running which references a popular picture at the time of a man running during the riot with looted items. The riots were a product of police discrimination and violence against an African American family in August 11, 1965. The event incited mobs and soon large scale looting took place. The reason Scott-Heron claims there will be no pictures of this riot for his revolution was largely because the broadcasted riot was warped on television to only show acts of vandalism and did not mention the cause that motivated the people to start rioting. The selective information given by the media is one of the main reasons why Scott Heron feels the revolution or change he wants to bring to the African American struggle can only be done live and free from the bias of