“I can’t pay no doctor bills but whiteys on the moon… The man just upped my rent last night ‘cause whiteys on the moon.”
Gil Scott Heron
International poet Gil Scott Heron passed away on Friday, May 27th. He was 62 years young and he leaves behind a grateful generation of rappers, singers, song writers, poets, and great thinkers whom he helped birth.
Heron was a broadcaster for the human condition. Better yet, he was an evening news reporter about the black human condition.
He’s probably best known for his song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” where he speaks of a disdain for conventional media and how the rebellion won’t show up on your local news station.
Gil will be sorely missed and so will his spirit and his truth.
It’s just too bad we’ve fallen asleep waiting for the revolution to appear on our television screens.
Brother Heron told us that we would have to leave our homes to see it but I guess we didn’t believe him. We were rocked to sleep by the glow of our flat screen televisions and infinite gigabyte iPods.
Instead of joining the revolution we allowed it to slip into a coma.
In one his most powerful songs, “Whitey on the moon,” Heron speaks again on the condition of black folks.
Gas prices continue to rise and unemployment remains high yet we are able to open a shiny new performing arts center in downtown Orlando.
The Florida state Legislature talks about creating jobs and saving our economy but they have cut over $1.7 billion dollars from education and we still have enough to open a new performing arts center.
Our schools continue to fail and the sizes of classrooms are on the rise and we can still open a new performing arts center.
Now there is nothing wrong with the city wanting a new center for the performing arts, nothing at all. If the city’s economic success depends on a vibrant downtown Orlando then Mayor Dyer has every right to do whatever he needs to, to ensure that success happens.
But in the spirit of brother Heron I can’t help but think that so many of the city’s residents are struggling to buy food, pay rent, and find a job yet we have enough money to fund a new performing arts center.
There is an audacity about this to the highest degree and it reeks of negativity. Capitalism is a dirty female dog but its helping to build the new Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. That’s the negative part of this type of audacity.
For the resident who struggles to pay a light bill or the homeless person who can’t get a meal downtown this is your whitey on the moon moment.
I will repeat a phrase that I saw early this morning in response to the death of Gil Scott Heron. Rest in POWER brother Heron for we are all better because of your daring nature and powerful voice.
The revolution was never televised but because of you brother Gil, we were able to heart about it.
-JH
