I was really pissed off when KRS-One did the voice over for this commercial.
The BlastMaster actually said “the Revolution is about Basketball & Basketball is the truth,” while speaking over Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” track.
I couldn’t believe my ears, I even felt betrayed as a long time student, not fan but student of “the Teacha.” How could he do such a thing?!?
But now, almost twenty years later, I see KRS-ONE was telling the truth, a prophetic truth, a sad and tragic truth.
I often admonish people for rejecting unpopular or harsh truth, but that’s what I did in this case.
The Revolution is Basketball (and all these other stupid ass pro sports), the Pro Ball-Chasers are the Vanguard. We follow them….in to Mass Media Bliss, in to mass consumption Oblivion, into a cultural/economic wasteland.
We rise up when a Franchise Plantation owner is caught saying what everyone already knows and understands. We get riled up over Racist Words but do nothing about Racist and Oppressive Conditions that confront us everyday.
Studying Revolutions has taught me that not all Revolutions are Progressive or in the best interest of the People, in fact most Revolutions have been extremely toxic; i.e. the Industrial Revolutions.
The multibillion dollar Basketball revolution and it’s multimillion dollar Ball-Chasers has the Black Community’s attention, loyalty, and our meager dollars all tied up.
We passively watch as Prisons and Corporations consume our children….I mean, our Human Resources. We sit by as our communities look and and function like post-apocalyptic dystopias. We allow the world’s ecosystems and economies to be raped by small White Elite. We do this as we watch, with all the excitement we can muster, millionaires play games to further enrich racist billionaires. SMH.
I have to apologize to KRS-One for rejecting this particular lesson, not because there was no evidence to back up his assertion that “the Revolution is Basketball,” I rejected it because I didn’t want that to be our truth…but it is.
Sorry BlastMaster, I truly am, on so many levels.
