*This piece is dedicated to Gil-Scott Heron who said in the 1970s that the revolution will not be televised.*

They said that the revolution will not be televised, but the television is all I see.
I sit here quietly watching it until it ends up watching me.
When I open my eyes, to my surprise, but also to my dismay,
We have a president that’s against gay marriage, but the vice president has a daughter that’s gay.
We tore down Iraq just to build it up the American way.
I used to wonder why in this day and age, people’s hearts fill with rage.
We spend billions to protect American interests overseas, but can’t raise minimum wage.
Apathy and ignorance have hit us harder than the bubonic plague.
Fancy preachers, false teaching, shy away from the pulpit, but feel at home on the stage.
But the revolution won’t be on television and we’d rather be entertained by televised lies,
Than to open a book, read the truth, and let it burn our eyes.
We’d rather be entertained without being educated, than to be educated without being entertained,
Which can only explain why my top college professors don’t make as much as Lebron James.
Black and white no longer matter; now green is the only noticeable color.
The Menendez brothers were mad at their parents, so they fatally shot their father and killed their mother.
Our foremothers and fathers fought for civil rights, but we still don’t want to sit in the front of the bus.
We still don’t want to vote.
America declared a war on drugs, but even the president sniffed a little coke.
Thirteen is now the age at which girls give birth.
So I guess it no longer matters if you get married
Or have sex first.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
Open your eyes.
The revolution has arrived.