When the revolution comes

When the revolution comesJesus Christ is gonna be standing on the corner of Lennox Ave and 125th Street trying to catch the first gypsy cab out of Harlem, when the revolution comes
Poeti, musicisti, attivisti, rivoluzionari, “MC” senza microfoni, newyorchesi. Neri. Last Poets.Abiodun Oyewole, Omar Ben Hassen, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin si incontrano spesso all’incrocio tra Lennox Avenue e la 125°. Mettono in ritmo, più che in musica, le loro rime.Non si parla di sesso, né d’amori finiti o ragazze dei sogni. Si parla di società, di politica, di razza, razze e razzismi. Di diritti. Lo si fa in un modo che 20 anni dopo abbiamo chiamato hip-hop. Non ci sono chitarre, pianoforti, mellotron né sezioni d’archi. C’è il battito delle mani, la chiamata e risposta tra il solista e il coro.Per un bianco ascoltare questa musica è sempre spiazzante. Inevitabilmente; ai limiti dell’imbarazzo. Chi dice il contrario, mente. Si potrà obbiettare che per chi ascolta, parla, ha ascoltato, scritto e trattato di Ornette Coleman, dell’Art Ensemble of Chicago e di tutta quell’ enorme mole di Great Black Music, potrebbe essere facile sparare qualche sentenza anche in questo caso. Non è così; però certamente anche questa è “Great Black Music” nella pura accezione che ne dava Joseph Jarman.Ma resta spiazzante.Come trovarsi nel mezzo di una scena tipo quella in cui Clint Eastwood/Henry Callaghan va ad interrogare  Albert Popwell/Mustapha in “Cielo di piombo ispettore Callaghan”:
-You got the wrong number, boy. We don't deal in violence.--What do you deal in?-Waiting.--For what?--Waiting for all you honkies...to blow each other up so we can move on in.-
O come nel pranzo che Al Pacino/Tony D’amato offre a Willie Beamen/Jamie Foxx in “Ogni maledetta domenica”:
-Maybe it’s not racism, maybe it’s placism, but the black man still gotta know his place, right, coach?-

Forse c’è ancora una cronica incomunicabilità. Credo che qualunque bianco americano possa ascoltare un album del genere, come Last Poets, apprezzarlo, ammirarlo, magari idolatrarlo; ma mai farlo proprio. Figurarsi noi europei degli anni duemila. Tanta parte scappa, tanta parte sfugge, è un’esperienza di pura superficie, di puro radicalismo-chic tanto per dire “Però, che figo che è condividere gli ideali nella Black Nation!”. Ammettiamolo, finalmente.E’ come appendere al muro la maschera di ebano al ritorno dal safari in Kenya. Quale Kenya, quale safari?Non esiste quel Kenya, quella Tanzania. Non esiste quell’Africa. Esiste, anzi persiste nella perenne mentalità missionario-colonizzatrice-educatrice tipica della storia centenaria del bianco europeo cattolico. Educhiamo il buon selvaggio in cambio di qualche devoto alla nostra sacrosanta religione. L’unica giusta, s’intende!Sono troppo estremista? Chiedere a Kurtz per chiarimenti…Allora ho deciso che tanto vale ascoltare “Last Poets” per quello che è, esternamente: un archetipo di hip-hop analogico all’incrocio tra Lennox Avenue e la 125°. Ad Harlem. Rime, ritmi, africanismi, bidoni di alluminio percossi con le mani, belle voci; frenesia da rito laico; ma pur sempre rito. Testi strampalati, che mi dispiace di non potere interiorizzare fino in fondo. Anzi, il farlo mi sembrerebbe un’ingerenza indebita. Non voglio portarmi a casa la maschera. Mi basta ammirarla nella bottega dello scultore.

Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers are scared of revolutionBut niggers shouldn't be scared of revolutionBecause revolution is nothing but changeAnd all niggers do is changeNiggers come in from work and change into pimping clothesAnd hit the streets to make some quick changeNiggers change their hair from black to red to blondAnd hope like hell their looks will changeNigger kill other niggersJust because one didn't receive the correct changeNiggers change from men to women, from women to menNiggers change, change, changeYou hear niggers sayThings are changing? Things are changing?Yeah, things are changingNiggers change into 'Black' nigger thingsBlack nigger things that go through all kinds of changesThe change in the day that makes them rant and raveBlack Power! Black Power!And the change that comes over them at night, as they sigh and moan:White thighs, ooh, white thighsNiggers always goin' through bullshit changeBut when it comes for real changeNiggers are scared of revolutionNiggers are actors, niggers are actorsNiggers act like they are in a hurryTo catch the first act of the 'Great White Hope'Niggers try to act like MalcolmAnd when the white man doesn't reactToward them like he did MalcolmNiggers want to act violentlyNiggers act so coooool and slickCausing white people to say:What makes you niggers act like that?Niggers act like you ain't never seen nobody act beforeBut when it comes to acting out revolutionNiggers say: 'I can't dig them actions!'Niggers are scared of revolutionNiggers are very untogether peopleNiggers talk about getting high and riding around in 'els'Niggers should get high and ride to hellNiggers talk about pimpingPimping that, pimping whatPimping yours, pimping mineJust to be pimping, is a helluva lineNiggers are very untogether peopleNiggers talk about the mindTalk about: My mind is stronger than yours"I got that bitch's mind uptight!"Niggers don't know a damn thing about the mindOr they'd be rightNiggers are scared of revolutionNiggers fuck. Niggers fuck, fuck, fuckNiggers love the word fuckThey think it's so fuckin' cuteThey fuck you aroundThe first thing they say when they're mad: 'Fuck it'You play a little too much with themThey say 'Fuck you'When it's time to TCBNiggers are somewhere fuckingTry to be nice to them, they fuck over youNiggers don't realize while they doin' all this fuckingThey're getting fucked aroundAnd when they do realize it's too lateSo niggers just get fucked upNiggers talk about fuckingFuckin' that, fuckin' this, fuckin' yours, fuckin' my sisNot knowing what they're fucking forThey ain't fucking for love and appreciationJust fucking to be fuckingNiggers fuck white thighs, black thighs, yellow thighs, brown thighsNiggers fuck ankles when they run out of thighsNiggers fuck Sally, Linda, and SueAnd if you don't watch outNiggers will fuck you!Niggers would fuck 'Fuck' if it could be fuckedBut when it comes to fucking for revolutionary causesNiggers say 'Fuck revolution!'Niggers are scared of revolutionNiggers are players, niggers are players, are playersNiggers play football, baseball and basketballWhile the white man cuttin' off their ballsWhen the nigger's play ain't tight enoughTo play with some black thighsNiggers play with white thighsTo see if they still have some play leftAnd when there ain't no white thighs to play withNiggers play with themselvesNiggers tell you they're ready to be liberatedBut when you say 'Let's go take our liberation'Niggers reply: 'I was just playin'Niggers are playing with revolution and losingNiggers are scared of revolutionNiggers do a lot of shootin'Niggers do a lot of shootin'Niggers shoot off at the mouthNiggers shoot pool, niggers shoot crapsNiggers cut around the corner and shoot down the streetNiggers shoot sharp glances at white womenNiggers shoot dope into their armNiggers shoot guns and rifles on New Year's EveA new year that is coming inThe white police will do more shooting at themWhere are niggers when the revolution needs some shots!?Yeah, you know. Niggers are somewhere shootin' the shitNiggers are scared of revolutionNiggers are lovers, niggers are lovers are loversNiggers love to see Clark GableMake love to Marilyn MonroeNiggers love to see Tarzan fuck all the nativesNiggers love to hear the Lone Ranger yell "Heigh Ho Silver!"Niggers love commercials, niggers love commercialsOh how niggers love commercials:"You can take niggers out of the country, butYou can't take the country out of niggers"Niggers are lovers, are lovers, are loversNiggers loved to hear Malcolm rapBut they didn't love MalcolmNiggers love everything but themselvesBut I'm a lover too, yes I'm a lover tooI love niggers, I love niggers, I love niggersBecause niggers are meAnd I should only love that which is meI love to see niggers go through changesLove to see niggers actLove to see niggers make them plays and shoot the shitBut there is one thing about niggers I do not loveNiggers are scared of devolution

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes When the revolution comesWhen the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV, with chicken hanging from our mouths. You'll know its revolution cause there won't be no commercialsWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesPreacher pimps are gonna split the scene with the communion wine stuck in their back pocketsFaggots won’t be so funny then and all the junkies will quit their noddin’ and wake up When the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesTransit cops will be crushed by the trains after losing their guns and blood will run through the streets of Harlem drowning anything without substanceWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesOur pearly white teeth froth the mouths that speak of revolution without reverenceThe cost of revolution is 360 degrees understand the cycle that never endsUnderstand the beginning to be the end and nothing is in between but space and time that I make or you make to relate or not to relate to the world outside my mind your mind. Speak not of revolution until you are willing to eat rats to surviveWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comes; guns and rifles will be taking the place of poems and essays. Black cultural centers will forts supplying the revolutionaries with food and arms when the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesWhite death will froth the walls of museums and churches breaking the lies that enslaved our mothers when the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesJesus Christ is gonna be standing on the corner of Lennox Ave and 125th St trying to catch the first gypsy cab out of Harlem, when the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesJew merchants will give away motza balls and gifilka fish to anyone they see with afros. Frank Shieffin will give away the Apollo to the first person he sees wearing a blue dashiki, when the revolution comesWhen the revolution comes afros gone be trying to straighten their heads and straightened heads gone be tryin to wear afrosWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesWhen the revolution comesBut until then you know and I know niggers will party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party...
Some might even die before the revolution comes