RIP Gil Scott-Heron

[Booth]

Gone too soon at 62. Most people knew him for "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" but I always enjoyed this one:

http://youtu.be/PtBy_ppG4hY

[Yssup Rider]

SHIT! What a shame!

He had a mainstream hit in "Winter in America." Also did "Johannesburg" on SNL.

He also did a little ditty called: "We Beg Your Pardon, America." Great bit of protest. Check it out!

Hi we like to do an idea for you that¹s related to the H20 G. A.T.E. The
WaterGate Blues.

In March of 1973 we wrote the WaterGate blues and 17 months later then
President Nixon resign. But the story didn¹t end there so we didn¹t stop
there.

We beg your pardon America

We beg your pardon because the pardon you gave wasn¹t yours to give.

They call it due process. And some people are overdue.

We beg your pardon America.

Somebody said brotherman gonna break a window, gonna steal a hubcap gonna smoke some refer. Brotherman gonna go to jail. But the man who tried to steal America is not in jail. Get caught with a nickel bag [Five dollars worth of weed] get caught with a nickel bag sister lady on your way to get your hag fixed you will do big Ben [ten years in jail].And big Ben is time, but the man who tried to fix America will not do time.

They say they gonna slap his wrist and retire him with 800,000 thousands dollars and America was shocked.

America leads the world in shocks.

800,000 thousands and the people protested so they said ok we will give him 200,000 dollars. Everybody said ok that¹s better. I would like to retire with 200 thousands dollars some day.

San Quentin not San Clemente , do not pass go, go directly to jail do not collect 200 thousand dollars.

We beg your pardon America.

We beg your pardon because some how the pardon didn't sit correctly. What was the cause of this pardon?

They said he had plebitis. Rats bite us and we get no pardons in the Ghetto.

They brought up National Security but do you feel secure with a man who tried to steal
America is back on the streets again.

What are the results of this pardon will be' Because remember when there are causes there are results. And results are always deeper still. We now have Oatmeal man. (Referring to Gerald Ford)

Anytime you find someone in the middle,; anytime you find someone who is timid; anytime you find someone who is lukewarm. Anytime you find someone who has been in congress for 25 years and no one every heard of him you got oat meal man. Oat meal straddling uncomfortably on yards and feet of barbed wire it's hard to live in
the middle all of the time.

Oatmeal man who said he could fit all of his black friends in the trunk of his car and still have room for the Republican Elephant (Big time laughter).

Oat meal man. But there was no crime committed. Oatmeal man says that.

America in 1975 your president will be a 1913 Ford. Regressive!

Circle up the wagons to defend yourself from nuclear attack Oatmeal man. Reminiscent of 1964 H20 Goldwater, thank god he didn¹t win. But he didn¹t win. Oatmeal man
didn¹t win.

I didn¹t vote for him but that¹s the first result. And the second in command would be the dreadful Nelson Rockefeller. Obviously be promoted for what he did at Attica. 43 dead And once again America is in shock.

Baby face Nelson being protected for the job he did on the streets of New York City.
Where the pushers sell the drugs that the government allows in the country. And then they (black people) do the time. They do life and death or life and death behind bars while William says he is going to discontinue the furlough program.

Bro Richard X of buffalo New York faces 1,365 that¹s one thousand three hundred sixty five years for participating in Attica. And Rockefeller faces being the vice president of this country. And all this time they are easing upon the sands of San Clemente.

We beg your pardon America. We beg your pardon once again.

We find out that 7 out of ten black men in jail. And most of the men behind bars are black. 7 out of every ten black men never went to the ninth grade. They didn¹t have
fifty dollars and never had a hundred for a month when they went to jail.

So the poor and ignorant go to jail while the rich go to San Clemente.

We beg your pardon America because we understand much more deeper than what we understood before. We don¹t want to take the pardon back. We want you to issue some more pardons.

Pardon brother Frank Willis the (Black) Watergate security guard. He was only doing his job.

Pardon H. Rap brown it was only burglary.

Pardon Charles Manson it was only mass murder.

And pardon us while we get sick.

As unemployment rockets up to 7 percent and it seems like 70 % in my neighborhood. As unemployment rises we watch cattlemen shoot cows in their heads and kick them in the grave. Millions are starving across the world and maybe even next door we understand all the more deeply as Boston became Birmingham became Little Rock became Selma became Philadelphia became Mississippi becomes yesterday all over again.

We understand as we beg your pardon.

We beg your pardon America cause we have an understanding of trauma.

What goes around comes around. And we beg your pardon for all of the lies. All of the people who have been ruined and who look forward to the next year. Being we can¹t stand to look at this one (Amen).

We beg your pardon America because the pardon you gave this time wasn¹t yours to give.



HOLY CHIT! WHAT A SPEECH!

RIP GIL SCOTT-HERON!