Space Race
Chicago native Gil Scott-Heron was something like a mixture between John Coltrane and Malcolm X : a spoken word , be-bop revolutionary whose beatnik poems and songs always forced us to rethink everything about our culture . He was best known , perhaps , for “ The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ,” but when he released “ Whitey on the Moon ” on the same LP�just weeks after the Apollo 11 crew made their historic rendezvous with our natural satellite�he gave voice to a sentiment with which a large part of America that wasn ’ t otherwise being heard agreed .
A rat done bit my sister Nell ( with Whitey on the moon ). Her face and arms began to swell ( and Whitey ’ s on the moon ). I can ’ t pay no doctor bill ( but Whitey ’ s on the moon ). Ten years from now I ’ ll be payin ’ still ( while Whitey ’ s on the moon ). The man just upped my rent last night (’ cause Whitey ’ s on the moon ). No hot water , no toilets , no lights ( but Whitey ’ s on the moon ). 2
It is almost surely a false-dilemma to say that we either fund NASA or we fund social programs , but there is a deeper truth that Scott-Heron is getting at here other than just budget decisions�a truth that forces us both to consider what we mean when we say that “ we ” chose to go to the moon and also that “ we ” accomplished something by going there . If Armstrong ’ s first sentence while on the moon was , unfor-
2 The first three stanzas from Gil Scott-Heron ’ s , “ Whitey on the Moon ” ( 1970 ).
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