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Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 Song: The Revolution Must Be Organized

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Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 Song: The Revolution Must Be Organized
9/13/13
ENG 1101-E2
Word Count: 933

The Revolution Must Be Organized

Considering the emergence of modern media’s involvement with civil rights, as we have witnessed with the Arab Spring, the operations of a revolution have experienced a paradigm shift from the days of the Civil Rights Movement. In Gil Scott-Heron’s 1970 song, “The Revolution Will Not be Televised,” a call to action is made on behalf of the revolution. Scott-Heron’s words emphasized that the revolution is not a scheduled event, the revolution can not be brought to you, and ultimately the revolution can only be experienced live (Scott-Heron). When it first surfaced, the importance of this message could not be understated. At a time when mass media was still strictly produced by white America (Hilmes), there was minimal media content …show more content…
When the Middle East experienced its revolutionary wave, modern communication gave the power of content to the revolutionaries. Possessing this power allowed activists to exploit networks such as Twitter and Facebook to disseminate their plight and bypass censorship. The question posed in this new age is whether the operations of revolution are more effective today than during the time of Gil Scott-Heron and the Civil Rights Movement. Utilizing only print and televised media, the success of the Civil Rights Movement was driven by discrete motivations, unity, and strong leadership. However, the Arab Spring, notably in Egypt and Syria, has lacked focused change and unity, expecting social media to compensate for these shortcomings.
Since Tunisians first began their protests on December 18, 2010, seventeen nations
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