The revolution is brought to you by cable news.

Something about the wall to wall coverage of this uprising in Baltimore seems a little unseemly to me.

As if a community suffering is something to pontificate about 24/7 from a cozy  temperature controlled news studio.  

Gil Scott Heron, may his soul rest in peace, was wrong. The revolution will be televised.

CNN has sent their Negro du jour, Don Lemon, to the streets, to interview troll protesters in order to give that network a much needed ratings boost.

MSNBC is calling back every black host and guest that ever appeared on their network in order to help white America understand the "riots" from the Negro perspective.

Meanwhile, over at FOX VIEWS, it's just more of the same: Scare old white people
into thinking that the black bogeyman is right around the next corner.

And on and on it goes. Each network hoping to capture that moment that sparks conversation at water coolers in cozy temperature controlled offices all across the country.

"Wow! Did you see that mother smack the hell out of that kid of hers and drag him away from the rest of those thugs?" Good for her. Give that woman a medal." 

Under different circumstances that same black woman would  have child welfare services called on her by some white woman in the grocery store. Now she is a hero.

Yes, get over here right away! I saw it with my own eyes! The woman just hit her son in the back of the head repeatedly. Yes, I will wait. 

I tried to say something but she told me to mind my own f*****g business. Please hurry. I fear for the child's safety.....   

Let me stop.

"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"

Yes it will, Gil.

But enjoy the riot while it is in limited release.

*Pic from mashable.com

Standing on your shoulders.

"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,
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
bbout 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."

Thanks for getting it started, Gil!

Who will televise the revolution?

Remember that old Gil Scott Heron hit, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"? It was made about 36 years ago when there was only three television stations and a handful of radio stations in A-merry-ca. I always wondered about that; if there was a revolution going on, who would have the balls to show it? Gil Scott was telling us that the revolution will not be televised, but the truth is it, given the nature of A-merry-ca, there is no way in hell that revolution was going to be televised in the first place.

Now with the explosion of all types of new communications outlets such as cable television, the Internet, and satellite radio, one has to wonder if Gil Scott's scenario of a revolution possibly being televised isn't more plausible. Sadly, I think it would be just as implausible today as it was when Gil Scott Heron was exploring the question in his powerful rap.

The truth of the matter is this; today, no one in the main stream media would be willing to televise a revolution. Not in this day and age. First they would have to acknowledge that there was one, ( A revolution) and I really don't think they would want to do that. Too bloody, too uncomfortable, and the imagery would be way too powerful. We know FAKE NEWS wouldn't televise it, because a revolution would be opposing the government in power, and FAKE NEWS is the propaganda arm of the frat boy's administration. We know it wouldn't be televised on BET, because a revolution doesn't involve booty shaking, and we wouldn't see a revolution in one of those crass ghetto fabulous reality shows now would we. It wouldn't be televised on HBO or Showtime either, because they don't deal in real time events. Maybe a year or two down the road they would televise a documentary or do a mini series about the revolution, but not while it was happening. Newspapers? Nope; too slow. By the time they went to print the revolution would probably be over.

And then there is radio. I suppose radio stations could televise the revolution. But you have to worry about them too, because honestly, only a few groups own all the radio stations in this country, and I am sure they have agendas that are contrary to any revolutionary manifesto. "But field what about all the black radio stations and talk show hosts"? Nope, that wouldn't work either, because these cats are basically buffoons and modern day minstrels who simply do their massa's bidding. They would be talking about bullshit and telling jokes, not televising the revolution.

Which leads me to the bloggers with their blogs and all their pod casts. Surely they would blog about the revolution. I mean what better way to reach the people and mobilize a revolution than a bunch of the people themselves blogging about it in real time. Sorry, not them either. Unfortunately some of these bloggers out here are no different or better than the folks in the traditional media. For instance, some of these bloggers in blogdom would not touch the revolution if conservatives weren't involved. Some wouldn't want anything to do with it if they didn't feel women were properly represented. And some of the larger Wal Mart blogs wouldn't want anything to do with the revolution unless their issues were being addressed, or their leaders were the ones in the forefront of the movement.

I guess it's safe to say that even if a revolution was going on today it wouldn't be televised. This is in spite of all the modern day mediums at our disposal to televise it through. I wonder if Gil Scott Heron could have seen back in 1971 that even 36 years later, the revolution still would not be televised?

So if there is a revolution going on or about to start, how do you tell the like minded people who would be willing to participate, about it? How do you go about televising a revolution in 2007? How do the people that the revolution would benefit even know that it's there? They won't. And that's the whole point isn't it; because you can't have a revolution by yourself.

"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. "

You are right Gil, but not for the reasons you think. Because unless there is a sponsor to pay for it; the revolution really won't be televised. That is because here in A-merry-ca we are all about ratings, and no one wants to watch a revolution.