The Revolution

The Revolution will not be televised 

This you must know 

It will be lived out in its truth 

It will be splattered in bright red 

On the streets 

Not on the streets of what is said 

to be the “bad” neighborhoods 

But streets everywhere 

The same street that 4 story homes lay next to 

The pavement will be painted in sorrow, pain, adversity and liberty 

The pavement will be painted with rage

It will knock down doors 

And bust through windows 

Shattering glass in already shattered homes 

The architecture that was built 

on the very backs of my slave ancestors 

Those buildings will be burned

And unlike a Phoenix they will not rise from their ashes 

Oh no 

There will be no reconstruction 

There will be no second city 

And when the fire is put out

And all that remains is smoke 

The only towering statues will be 

Uncle Toms 

Mad ugly black women 

Filthy ignorant fatherless black children

And dangerous black men 

And when asked why they did it 

They’ll say 

Columbus made me do it 

Willie Lynch made me do it 

The KKK made me do it

The slave trade in libya made me do it   

My boss made me do it 

The white man on the bus stop made me do it 

The cashier at Macy’s made me do it 

The system made me do it 

The oppressors made me do it 

They made me do it 

See the Revolution will come 

It will not make headlines

No it won’t be announced 

Not written in large, important bold font 

No red flags will be waived

As a warning 

No flashing red lights will be in sight

For the warning signs have always been there

It will be spoken

told by word of mouth 

It will be translated and converted 

Consumed and condensed 

It will be processed and reproduced 

in organic mechanisms 

all from the same origin 

Submerged in cries for salvation 

The Revolution will silently bellow 

Roaringly whisper 

It will March 

Protest 

And boycott 

It will hang down on grapevines—strange fruit 

Pallet of colors 

That all bleed the same color

blood

And you will not be able to unplug 

Turn off 

Or drop out 

There will be no reruns 

The Revolution will be live 

embedded in everyone’s lives 

This you must know 

The Revolution will not be televised