Imitation #3 (1970s) Gil Scott Heron "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."

               This poem written by Gil Scott Heron is called "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". It is written during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, which was happening during the time period when this poem was written, the 1970s. Heron states the revolution will not be televised, so it is not accepted by everyone otherwise it would get the recognition it deserved and would be televised. He states that the revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox, which is a photocopying manufacturer. So by saying this Heron is saying that you will not be brought any change, you will need to go out and make a change. He also states by saying this that you can not just follow everyone else, if you want to make a change you can not simply be a "photocopy" you need to be an "original". You will have to think and stand up for what you want, not what anyone else says or thinks. Heron then states that Nixon, referring to president Nixon who was president of the United States from 1969-1974, will not be shown as the leader of this revolution. And he will neither be followed by John Mitchell, U.S Attorney General, or General Creighton Abrams, who was one of the commanders of the U.S army during the Vietnam War. The vice president, Spiro Agnew, will not lead the charge either who was Nixon's vice president. Heron then refers to hog maws which is a traditional African American food. I think this reference of the hog maws getting "confiscated" from the "Harlem sanctuary" refers to the African Americans getting mistreated just because of their skin color. There is no rhyme scheme in this poem, there is repetition of the word revolution. This poem represents lyrical poetry.

Chapter 1 Hip-Hop Causes Violence

The first chapter of The Hip Hop Wars, by Tricia Rose, is about violence caused by hip hop. Critics have said that hip hop glorifies and encourages violence. In the 1990s gangsta rap was prevalent in hip hop. These rappers told stories of violence, and young listeners were hearing these stories told by the artists they looked up to. It is said that when you listen about or see violence, such as in hip-hop and video games, it encourages these same acts of violence. There are five major elements that contributed to the dismantling of stable communities. These elements are, high levels of chronic joblessness, loss of affordable housing and urban renewal, drug-trade expansion, access to automatic weapons, and incarceration over rehabilitation. We supported destruction of low income african american communities which led to homelessness. Corporations used to hire african americans last over whites, and the african americans were also the ones who got fired first, which contributed to homelessness. The lack of jobs for african american teens led to increased drug use and trade. The increased drug trade led to the use of readily available automatic weapons and the drug use led to increased african american prison populations. We try to correct the violence with more violence and incarceration. Then we associate these young african american males with violence, because they react to the violence they experience from police and others with more violence which in-turn repeats this cycle. This creates the connection between violence and african americans, which is untrue. The violence that is spoken about in these artists songs are ridiculed and seen as a bad influence on the young listeners. However the violence and discrimination that was used to combat these violent acts, in these low-income neighborhoods, was accepted. This process needs to be changed. Rehabilitation and community projects need to be implemented in order to combat these violent tendencies in low-income communities. There needs to be programs that turn teens away from violence and towards peaceful resolution. We have to understand that these rap artists are influenced and are products of where they grew up. They might be rapping about violence because that is what they see/saw on a daily basis, it might be a way for them to release their feelings they have about these situations. We also need to look at how much these rap artists are talking about violent actions, because they might represent the actions that have taken place in the communities recently, and if so then policies need to be made, or re-addressed in order to limit these violent actions/tendencies. The chapter correlates violent rap lyrics with the violence in communities. The experiences these rap artists have/had and write about, raise the question,  are they really influencing young listeners? The chapter also explains why violence occurred in these communities and that policies must be made to stop the violence in these neighborhoods.

Imitation #2 (1960s) Bob Dylan "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"

It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)


"Advertising signs that con you

Into thinking you're the one

That can do what's never been done

That can win what's never been won

Meantime life outside goes on

All around you
You loose yourself, you reappear

You suddenly find you got nothing to fear

Alone you stand without nobody near
 
When a trembling distant voice, unclear

Startles your sleeping ears to hear

That somebody thinks

They really found you."

I chose to write about a song by Bob Dylan, called "It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". This song was written in the 1960s, which was when the hippie generation was taking place and the Vietnam War was in forefront of everyone's minds. The first verse talks about how propaganda has made it seem that the people of America can do anything, but as these people are thinking about what they can do life still goes on around them. The second verse talks about people who lost themselves discovered themselves again but now they have no one around them, they lost no only themselves but what they had. I would say this song is a confession. Dylan is giving his own opinions on what he sees during the 1960s. He is talking to the people of America who were living during these times of war and hippie movement. The first verse has a rhyme scheme of ABBBBA, and the second verse has a rhyme scheme of CCCCCDE. The last two words in each verse rhyme in most of the song. This rhyming of the last words in each verse happens through most of the song. The way Bob Dylan rhymes in this song is amazing, it really sounds like a rap song, even though he is playing guitar and harmonica. This song is about seven minutes long and he rhymes for all of those minutes. The use of rhyme, the stories and meaning is the overpowering techniques in this song.