The revolutionary African (black) poet, Gil Scott Heron, once said, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” within the lines of a poem by the same name. Those words strung together (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised) are cogent, as well as prophetic. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised may have been recorded in the early 1970s; however those words carry even more weight in 2010, especially within the United States. In the age of corporate media domination the revolution will not be seen or heard on any mainstream airwaves, especially if that revolution has anything to do with the true liberation, resistance and mobilization of black and brown people.

US corporate media is, without doubt, a tool of the state. Corporate media plays a significant role in keeping the masses disengaged, "dumbed” down and largely pacified. Corporate media, in essence, largely does the work of various government sectors. An engaged populous has a working comprehension of critical issues that dominate their society and well beyond. When that populous is engaged they have a much stronger understanding of what issues need to be fought for, and why. To be blunt, you could say it (access to solid comprehensive information) wakes up the masses, especially those who have been systematically trampled upon. The US corporate media is vastly anti-democratic. They, like much of the US government, continually create illusions that people are being given a broad range of options to choose from. In reality, the masses are routinely given a limited range of options that are acceptable by the corporate masters or the government overseers. The problem is that most people have no idea that these options have been carefully chosen for them. When the range of information is limited to a few options we can be certain there will never be any progressive, or dare I say radical, change in their day-to-day lives. Thus, the cycle of oppression continues in perpetuity.

The examples of a fixed corporate media system are abound, however many Americans have been socially engineered not to recognize that it is in fact—overtly fixed for the benefit of those who own the US corporate media oligopoly. The so-called "news” media limit the range of thought on critical issues by limiting (and omitting) their coverage on many vital and newsworthy topics. They do this like we breathe—intrinsically, and without regard for the deleterious side affects on society. So yes, the "news” media fixes and stages much of what they decide to broadcast, or not broadcast—and even how.

Deliberately deciding to refrain from reporting on things like police brutality in the black community, the prison industrial complex and even US financed oppression throughout the world, cannot be called anything less than "staged ‘news’”. It is staged for the benefit of the ruling class and their beneficiaries. And if you are from a community of color, odds are the critical issues affecting your community will never make their way unto any mainstream airwaves. Black and brown communities are not and never will be the beneficiaries of the ruling class or the corporate media titans in America. As much as some of us think that class issues are on par with "race’ issues, they are not. Poor whites can always fall back on their skin in regards to certain issues that exist within the epicenter of institutional racism (America). Black people, for instance, cannot hide their attractive skin color, even if they wanted to. Police brutality within the US seemingly finds it way to black and brown neighborhoods, over and over again. White people are not racially profiled, not even poor whites. Their skin protects them from many barbaric police that are frequently given impunity by the state. True, there is a definitive class war within America in which the rich continue to gobble up more and more wealth at the expense of the masses; however there has always been a governmentally sanctioned war on Africans in America dating back to the 1600s. Even relatively "well to do” blacks are not protected from the wrath of racist police.

The US society’s acceptance of institutional racism and white supremacy are very real and undeniable. They are issues that need to be broadcast and fought against, everyday, until they are erased completely. However, we are kidding ourselves if we think that the corporate media will discuss institutional racism and/or white supremacy in any kind of depth or comprehension. They won’t because they could not care less about the day-to-day plight of people of color, especially those that continue to languish within the United States. Their inaction has spoken volumes, loud and clear. Continuing the myth that mass black unemployment, incarceration and poverty are innately caused by those who come from various governmentally neglected black communities has long been a role the mainstream media has reveled in playing.

The US corporate media follows the script sharply. This is where we get half-assed programs like CNN’s so-called "Black in America”. The critical telling of significant issues plaguing black and brown communities has historically come from grassroots means of communications. American born Africans have a long history of creating and operating their own mediums, such as newspapers, as a means of disseminating information throughout their communities. This history dates back to the 1820s with the publishing of Freedom’s Journal by John Russwurm and Sam Cornish. However the dissemination of information has also come from non-conventional means such as Hip Hop music (RAP/Rhythm and Poetry).

The US corporate media (Viacom, Clear Channel, Radio One, etc…) systematically indulges itself in promoting some of the most stereotypically racist images when it comes to Hip Hop. The US corporate media only feels comfortable in promoting rappers whose images are akin to yesteryear Minstrel shows. Those images reinforce their conscious and subconscious racist notions of black people in America. Corporate America makes popular whatever it wants to make popular simply by throwing large sums of money behind it and imposing those images upon media illiterate masses. These racist images are made popular because the corporate media giants have long decided to push that agenda. Despite the mental warfare being waged on the masses of black and brown skinned children, by the corporate media, Hip Hop continues to serve as symbol of cultural and political resistance, as well as expression. This is news to those who primarily receive their "news”, information and entertainment from the US corporate media. This is a significant component of the problem and the conspiratorial plan of the corporate media pimps. I call them pimps because it is they who make the premeditated decision to block images and messages of resistance within the Hip Hop world. It is they who make the decisions to flood the airwaves with as many stereotypically racist images and messages as they possibly can. As deleterious as these messages are, they feed the oppressive system/beast that maintains the status quo of institutional racism and white supremacy within the plundered and artificial borders of "America”.

The corporate media pimps peddle the messages of black and brown rappers who they approve for America’s mainstream airwaves. They, in essence, have set the standard for millions of young aspiring Hip Hop artists to follow, knowing that if they do; they stand a much better chance of getting signed with a major label and/or having their music played nationally. The corporate media pimps, like blood thirsty animals, desire Hip Hop artists that espouse the most mentally damaging messages within their music. Meanwhile, these same corporate media pimps eschew any black artist that, no matter how talented, discusses cultural edification, political resistance or revolutionary thinking within their music. They care very little about black and brown youth or the issues that continue to plague their communities. They only care about their bottom lines and their corporate clients.

The insatiable US prison industrial complex continues to devour black and brown people at a furious pace. This diet is fueled by Wall Street and the institutionally racist criminal "justice” system. Many extremely talented underground rappers embrace the responsibility that comes with their talents. There are many songs by some of these artists that speak out about the prison industry complex all the while educating and inspiring their audiences. One such artist is Brooklyn born Capital-X. As important as the following lyrics are, they will never find their way to any corporate media’s co-opted airwaves:

Those are the type of lyrics that, if heard on a regular basis, have the potential of educating and galvanizing a generation of young Hip Hop fans. Those are the type of lyrics that inspired this author to become an unrepentant social activist. Knowing this it should be a bit easier to understand why the corporate media will never promote talented revolutionary artists. It is against their nefarious interests. We should also never be confused as to whether they are friends to the black community in America. They are not! The corporate media has by default created the term "underground rapper”. They suppressed the kinds of messages Public Enemy, X-Clan and so many others put forth during the Golden Era of Hip Hop (1986-1995/6). Before Hip Hop music was seen as a billion dollar industry by rapacious corporations; Hip Hop fans could frequently hear a range of messages within rap music, including an abundance of empowering and revolutionary songs. However, as the large corporations began buying out everything from record labels to radio stations, the messages within rap music became more and more diluted. They became less empowering and less critically engaging. And in 1996 the Telecommunications Act sealed the deal in not only suppressing the messages of progressive artists from the mainstream but also significantly decreasing the already disproportionately small number of black owned radio stations. Thus, the term "underground rapper” became more and more prominent in describing rappers who hold revolutionary and progressive thoughts within their lyrics. Those rappers who dare speak out about social issues within their music stand to be white-listed from the mainstream music industry.

Artists like New York based Immortal Technique are not supposed to be heard by the masses, especially not by African/black and Latino youth whose communities continue to be devastated by ethnic cleansing (gentrification). The corporate media, private developers, as well as the politicians that strike backroom deals, all fear the thought of black and brown communities gaining a greater comprehension of the causes and motivation for gentrification. This is why the US corporate media will not do stories documenting and explaining the gentrification boom in America. Underground Hip Hop music has routinely spoken about issues and topics that mainstream America desperately tries to suppress. Songs like Immortal Technique’s Harlem Renaissance do what the corporate media wont—critically engage and inform the audience.

The corporate media had to find a way to make billions of dollars exploiting Hip Hop all the while making sure Hip Hop fans no longer heard songs like Public Enemy’s Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos. After all, that song addressed everything from political prisoners, the prison system and the contradiction of black men serving in the US military while that same government institutionally represses their community. The following words from that song speak volumes to the impact this song had on the fledging minds of black youth throughout America:

Hip Hop music, when left unabated, has the power to inspire, empower and educate disenfranchised youth to resist against the system that has systematically disenfranchised their communities. It is the music that inspires future leaders to tangibly make differences in their communities and throughout the globe. Hip Hop Culture motivated the likes of this author to think outside of the box politically. Political expression should never be confined solely to the ballot box. Despite the hollow words of Sean "Diddy” Combs’ Democratic Party manufactured "Vote or Die” "movement”; voting alone can never be the extent of Black America’s political expression. Our political expression must extend far beyond merely voting. It must also consist of mobilizing, organizing, and empowering. Those are the organic seeds that must be planted in order to cultivate a real people’s social revolution. Hip Hop Culture has the power to plant these seeds and this is exactly what some are afraid of. The corporate media wishes to plant destructive genetically modified mental-seeds within the minds of legions of youth of color who are desperate to escape their governmentally engineered misery. So instead of providing a wide array of rap music, they deliberately block the most thought provoking Hip Hop music from ever reaching the masses by way of their broad co-opted airwaves. They provide songs like the following, sometimes six or more times a day:

No matter how destructive the above lyrics are on the psyche of black children; the corporate media does not give a damn. They are nothing short of media pimps. Black America must continue to draw inspiration from the past and establish independent and alternative means of disseminating information, especially to youth. Hip Hop can, has and should be used a tool towards developing and awakening the sleeping giant within the minds and hearts of disenfranchised youth. The corporate media and governmentally sanctioned "educational” centers will never facilitate a platform for this goal. Activists and educators must continue to push the envelope when it comes to empowering our youth in a wide array of important topics. If we don’t, who the hell will!