In the wake of the tragic shootings of 6 Baton Rouge, La. police officers, 3 of them murdered by gunmen, Gavin Long, America has once again gotten a wake up call in the worst way possible. It seems like 70’s poet/singer, Gil Scott-Heron’s, words of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” are now coming off of the wax and into life.

The thousands of unwarranted murders of African Americans by police officers that have been swept under the rug of the justice system’s front door, have reached breaking points and for some people, such as Gavin Long and Micah Johnson, it reached the point of no return.

“Zero have been successful by simply protesting. It has never worked and it never will. You’ve gotta fight back, that’s the only way a bully knows to quit. He doesn’t understand words.” -Gavin Long

CRISES OF CONSCIENCE
Another harsh reality is that many African Americans are having a silent crisis of conscience right about now- many don’t agree with Gavin’s actions, but also find difficult to view his reasoning, displayed in his online videos and social media, as insane or irrational.

“There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay” -Gil Scott-Heron

Here’s what Long’s life and views have displayed so far:

• He was socially conscious and intelligent, like Gil Scott
• He was a college graduate of Central Texas College
• He earned a spot as a sergeant in the U.S. Marines
• Was not irrational (based on what we can tell at this point from his online posts).
• Was always in search of understanding how American culture has psychologically conditioned African people dating back to slavery.
• Then he created his own “revolution.”

Ever since the days of slavery, Black people, like Gavin Long, have been America’s worst nightmare. Why so? Not simply because he is a murderer, but because he was a Black murderer who was able to think rationally and had no fear of what he viewed as his oppressor. That makes it difficult for media and others to paint him as mentally ill, delusional, a random killer, or anything else, other than what he so far seems to have been- a person who wanted justice for the countless injustices thrusted upon his oppressed people.

In comparison to the U.S. laws during slavery- America sees Long as the slave who could read (which was illegal)-the very thing it feared because if a slave could read, they could gain knowledge about the system and rationalize how to channel their anger into action toward freedom from their oppressors, by any means necessary. Take Nat Turner for example.

“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.” -Gil Scott-Heron

Sadly, those Baton Rouge officers didn’t deserve to die because they have not unjustly killed any civilians, but many would say the reality is that they were a part of an organization that has, for decades, unjustly slaughtered thousands of African Americans. Many would also argue that they, along with all of the other thousands of good cops, could have just walked away from the organization, but people of color can’t just walk away from being Black.

So after years of oppression, it seems we’re living in different times now. Our society has transformed from the days of Nat Turner, to the days of Martin Luther King & Malcolm X, and now to the days of Gil Scott Heron’s words coming off of paper and into life, because just like Gil said in the 70’s, ‘The revolution will not be televised brotha, because the revolution will be live.’

May the three Baton Rouge officers rest in peace and may the thousands of African Americans unjustly killed by police continue to rest peacefully as well.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old school news with a new point of view