Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heronis the narrator and author of the poem. He was born on April 1, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up to form a band called Black & Blues which gave him the foundations before his solo career took off. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is Heron’s most well-known poem/song and has various connotations to the black power movement and civil unrest towards African Americans. Throughout the poem, Heron attacks the political system for their discrimination and racism towards the black community. He makes the message a call to arms for black people to fight to gain justice.
White People
Heron makes many references to white people as a collective throughout the text. He uses aggressive and colloquial language to convey his disgust at the oppression that they have cast on African Americans. Indeed, he criticizes the general white American population for their lack of action towards their black counterparts.
President Nixon
Since Nixon was the President at the time the poem was written, Heron makes multiple sarcastic jabs at the political system. He appears to call out Nixon for his lack of efforts in making desegregation happen under his presidential term in order to garner favor with white conservatives.
