Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word soul performer and his collaborative work with musician Brian Jackson. His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron’s recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. On his influence, Allmusic wrote “Scott-Heron’s unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists”.
I have always loved poetry. It has drawn some of the most vivid pictures I have ever seen. In this case Ronnie Bruce a film student at Temple University visualizes the words of poet Taylor Mali using typography and animation. In its’ execution we do not lose sight of the meaning or the picture they draw — we gain new insight into the pacing and tone as the poet speaks. We read the words as the poet says them; burnishing them into our heart and mind.
This little film realizes the potential of communicators when they do good work. It is not spectacular. It is not just clever. It speaks, we think, and understand.
Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes. – J.K. Rowling
Watch the whole speech, really. It was quite amazing to listen to the wisdom and challenge that the author put before this graduating class at Harvard. How she reminded them of their privilege yet embraced their achievements. How she reminded us all of the value of imagining and acting on behalf of others.
on failure :
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
on imagination :
Now you might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.
You can read the full text of the speech here : Harvard Magazine
This is from a film written and directed by Percy Adlon If you haven’t seen the film rent it. Well, that is if art films are an interest. This isn’t a hollywood thing.
Ok so I love Roy Orbison. Was thrilled about his comeback and saddened by his death.His new arrangements and gentleness had brought him new listeners. Cyndi does a great job with this tune.
Stumbled upon this on YouTube. Joni Mitchell’s version of this song is seared into my memory. Yet this version has touched me and now I have embraced it’s slow deliberateness. Enjoy.
