the revolution will not be on social media (4/100)
I’ve been listening to Gil Scott-Heron’s poem and song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised over and over lately — mostly because I finally really paid attention to the lyrics. I remember when I was younger, I thought the phrase “the revolution will not be televised” to be a bit odd — surely, if there was a revolution, it would be televised, right?
Clearly, I’d missed the point.
The song, recorded in 1970, was a call for folks to take part in the Black Power Movement — not just sit back and watch it unfold on television, because that’s not where the actual work was happening. It’s like that famous Magritte painting, Ceci n’est pas une pipe — what you’re watching on television isn’t the real thing. The only way to experience the real thing is to be in it.
(When Marcus listened to it, he said he noted a subtext that said the establishment might not have allowed the entire story about the revolution to be aired in 1970 — that there was some gatekeeping that might have been in play. Similar to the ways today’s social media algorithms might keep your posts from being widely seen today, I suspect.)
As I was thinking about this, I wondered what the lyrics of this amazing poem might be if it were updated for 2020 — what would today’s call to action look like? So I took a stab at it (my changes to the original words in bold).
With apologies to Gil Scott-Heron.
You will not be able to stay home, sister
You will not be able to log on, scroll down and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on meth
And skip out for beer before the video premier, because
The revolution will not be on social media
The revolution will not be on social media
The revolution will not be brought to you
By Netflix in four parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Trump blowing a bugle
And leading a charge by William Barr, Mark Esper, and Mike Pence
To eat elote confiscated from the border
The revolution will not be on social media
The revolution will not be brought to you on Hulu
And will not star Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo di Caprio or Bart and Lisa
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 on social media, sister
There will be no pictures of you and Steph Curry
Pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run
Or trying to slide that flat screen TV into a stolen ambulance
NBC will not be able predict the winner
At 8:32 on report from twenty-nine districts
The revolution will not be on social media
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on instant replay
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on instant replay
There will be no pictures of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Being run out of the Bronx on a rail with a brand new process
There will be no slow motion or still lifes of Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrice Cullors
Strolling through Ferguson in red, black, and green liberation jumpsuits
That they have been saving for just the proper occasion
"The Bachelor", "Cheer", and "Keeping up with the Kardashians"
Will no longer be so damn relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally got down with Jane
On “Tiger King”
Because black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day
The revolution will not be on social media
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock news
And no pictures of LGBTQ+ liberationists
And Michelle Obama singing “Turnip for What”
The theme song will not be written by Ed Sheeran or Francis Scott Keys
Nor sung by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Katy Perry
Ariana Grande, or The Jonas Brothers
The revolution will not be on social media
The revolution will not be right back
After a message on Facebook
FaceTime, or white faces
You will not have to worry about a gecko on your desk,
The tiger in your tank, or the Most Interesting Man in the World
The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath
The revolution *will* put you in the driver's seat
The revolution will not be on social media
Will not be on social media
Will not be on social media
Will not be on social media
The revolution will not be on the ‘gram, sisters
The revolution will be live
You can hear the real version here or by clicking on the arrow, below.
