R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron

"**R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron**" is a poem by Lupe Fiasco, published to his website on May 28, 2011, in commemoration of Gil Scott-Heron. He referenced to Scott-Heron's "The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized" as a line break followed by his own viewings on the present-day media that exerts negative effects.

Scott-Heron was an American jazz poet, singer, and author who passed away on May 27, 2011. He was known as a spoken-word performer, who wrote the 1970 poem and song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which analyzed what was being broadcasted on television. He explained in a 1990s interview, "The first change that takes place is in your mind. You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move. The thing that's going to change people is something that nobody will ever be able to capture on film. It's just something that you see and you'll think, "Oh I'm on the wrong page," or "I'm on I'm on the right page but the wrong note. And I've got to get in sync with everyone else to find out what's happening in this country.""

## Text

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized.

Idiot boxes of the world unite! To fight off the effects of intelligence, replace smart quotes with fart jokes, substitute sense with scenes from Martin, let the baby's bathe in that glow and learn all manner of things they don't really need to know!

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

Channel the content of some rambling nonsense deep into the annals of yo' subconscious, deprogram and depress chasing some televised success, be them, that, they and those be everything but in control,

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

Small claims Court drama, teenage baby mamas, Osama watching Osama, Celebrity Endorsed indoor saunas, the perfectly cooked piraña and other cannonfodder for you to ponder, all at the speed of imitations of life while the smoke of war gets inhaled thru the peace pipes, be still my beating heart and scare my brain from thinking thoughts as i sit intoxicated by the delights, sarcasm and 3 strikes thrown by my favorite pitcher in a sound surrounded, 3 dimensional, high death, full color mixture, wholly unsocializing and completely uncensored,

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

By this one-eyed monster most of the world was raised, and by this hero most of the world was saved, and to this master most of the world is slaves, it factors your fears with actors and cheers from a live studio audience pushing you to engage in a heroic act of thoughtlessness for the grand prize of a little bread, fleeting fame in the circus and every thought in yo head,

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

"Ain't no changing me" said my flat screen TV, No More Che's to the rescue, or Black Panthers to correct you, just coaxial cables and satellite signals to connect you to a world that doesn't really look like it does on TV, where everything is much shorter, fatter, uglier and in disorder, where u have to do it now because there are no digital recorders where if the present gets boring you can just fast forward,

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

So there will be no revolution, or paradoxically ironic televised public execution of the entire worldwide televising institution, there wont even be a celebritized, televised trial of old baby blue, cuz you see my dear friends the television will not be revolutionized but what about the revolution that should taking place inside......................of you?

By Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco in Dedication to that guiding light of a human being Gil-Scott Heron.

## References

1. ↑ "R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron". *LupeFiasco.com*. May 28, 2011.
2. ↑ Rankin, Kenrya (June 1, 2011). "Read Lupe Fiasco's Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron". *BET*.
3. ↑ Baram, Marcus (November 11, 2014). "Why Gil Scott-Heron Wrote "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"". *Medium*.
4. ↑ ""The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - Gil Scott-Heron". *YouTube*. April 21, 2010.