edited by courtney marie
We have good news and we have sad news. The sad: our community is about to lose a true gem of our literary, music, and arts scene to the wild wilderness of Alaska, our very own Spider-editor, Sean Enfield. He’s on his way to pursue his MFA/MA at the University of Alaska Fairbanks after living seven years in Denton, surviving a BA in English-Literature from UNT, and contributing countless memorable performances and collaborations with Spiderweb+friends, his band Soggy, and beyond.
We know. We’re still in a bit of denial about it ourselves.
However, before Sean hits the road he’s got one more performance to share with us, and he’s given us permission to share what we believe to be one of the most necessary pieces that’s found its way into the world via a humble stage in our hometown. So the good news: today we are unleashing that powerful work, Sean’s The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, recorded by Corbin Childs of Shiny Sound Recording Studio, for everyone to hear. We hope you can find a moment to spend some time with this track today:
The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted is more than just a twenty-first century rewrite of Gil Scott-Heron’s powerful 1970 poem, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised; it’s an urgent call to listen to the voices of our own generation, to bear witness to injustices, to dismantle our broken and corrupt systems, to put down our phones and connect, to take action. It will shake you to your core because it’s supposed to: behind the catchy beat is a deeper cut, one that needs you to listen in order to start healing.
We’ve got the full text of Sean’s poem here too, so read. Listen. Share. Repeat.
The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted
This is an old transmission, brothers and sisters
You will not be able to log in, zone out, and scroll past
It will not appear your newsfeed
You will not be able to re-post, re-tweet, or re-blog
You know why?
Because the revolution will not be tweeted
The revolution will not be broadcast on facebook or instagram live
You will receive no notification,
Your phone will not buzz, beep, or ring
The revolution will be Ieisha Evans Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge
Baltimore, in Flint, and in Ferguson
Wherever the graves of black bodies are marked
By white chalk outlines
It will not be cropped into a square frame
Or summarized by 280 characters
The revolution will not be tweeted
45 will not flex his greasy thumbs for a late night tweet storm
He will not be able to cyber-bully the revolution out of existence
There will be no white nationalist rallying cry
america will not be made white again
Black folks will not be made slaves again
The revolution knows that america was never great
The revolution knows that no great foundation can stand on stolen ground
There will be no pundit on fox news loud enough to suppress the revolution
Hannity’s lies will return to the ass-crack that made them
The revolution will have no super pac
It will not make empty promises to bring water to Flint,
Electricity to Puerto Rico
It will accept no donations from the clinton foundation,
No campaign strategy from pelosi or her neo-liberal horde
The revolution will not be susceptible to russian interference
Or hide in the bushes with spicer or behind the curtains with comey because
The revolution will be black and brown bodies mobilized
The revolution will get into formation
It will have hot sauce in its bag, swag
There will be no pictures of you and Khloe posing for the gram
Handing Pepsi out to smiling pigs in riot gear
There will be no think piece on HuffPo or Buzzfeed
No clickbait to see what happens next
You will not be able to take a personality quiz
To determine your role
You will not have to skip a 30 second ad
Of happy white folks on a happy white vacation
In a poor brown nation
The revolution will not be tweeted
There will be no smiling white faces on the frontlines
No taylor swift or brad pitt
No monologue from kimmel, colbert, or conan
eminem will not use the revolution to boost album sales
There will be no time left for the sexual abusers in suits,
No space made for nice guys hiding behind social capital
The revolution will handcuff the pussy-grabber-in-chief
The revolution will not be tweeted
The revolution will not gain you likes and lots of friends on facebook
It will not take the red pill
Or be doxxed by lonely, bitter trolls
The revolution will not be ignored
Even as 45 spews filth from his shithole mouth
He will not be able to turn it off or tune it out
And neither will you…
Because the revolution will not be tweeted, not be tweeted, not be tweeted
It will blow in on Eric Garner's breath
It will be rustling in Trayvon's pockets
The revolution will say the names of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, the Emanuel AME congregation, Aiyana Jones, Erica Garner, Stephon Clark, Trayvon Martin…
Trayvon Martin… Trayvon Martin…
The revolution will not be tweeted, snapped, or live-streamed
The revolution is and always will be live
Sean Enfield at #PLEASED in Santa Fe, NM
Originally debuted at Spiderweb Salon’s Annual Winter Formal this year alongside a jazz-inspired beat held down by Roberto Glasgow and Scott Joyce, the piece was reworked later in the year for #PLEASED, Spiderweb’s hyper collaborative experimental-experiential production. The crew originally performed #PLEASED in Santa Fe, New Mexico and then later on July 11 in our hometown at the one and only Dan’s Silverleaf. Our initial challenge to take the piece on the road with a minimal crew was overcome with help of Shiny Sound Recording Studio. Sean met up with Corbin, his pal Roberto, and bassist Kamaron Black in the studio to record the piece to be played and performed with live vocals by Sean himself and keys by Jacob Greenan at the show. The piece was then revamped for an explosive live performance with Sean, Corbin, Jacob, and Kamaron for the Denton #PLEASED debut. In short: it ruled every time.
While we’re super sad to see him go, we know Sean’s gonna kick ass up north. Spiderweb was lucky to witness first-hand the life that Sean breathed into the community during his time in Denton, and on a personal note, I feel distinctly honored that our random meeting (true story: one day about a year and a half ago we were introduced at a local watering hole, which led to a heated game of farkle, and then we got to talking about writing, and the rest is history) resulted in so many powerful moments of creation and friendship over the last couple years.
That being said, while Denton might be losing one if its finest thinkers and doers, we’re pleased to say that Spiderweb Salon won’t be losing an editor: once Sean’s back on his feet in Alaska he’ll still be reading and editing work for our Feature project alongside his fellow Spidercrew, long-distance! (Submit here! We want to read/see/hear your work!) You can also come witness a new performance by Sean one last time on Saturday, August 4, at Spiderweb Salon’s Six Year Birthday Party!
Let’s send this guy off in style.
P.S. Also, check out Landlocked, Sean’s new comic book project, coming soon to a Kickstarter near you!
Sean Enfield is a writer and educator based out of the Denton. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in English-Literature. He has had work featured on NPR's All Things Considered as a part of their Three Minute Fiction Contest and published in Vine Leaves, F(r)iction Online, and Poetry Quarterly. His piece, "Paper Shackles" was recently published via Lunch Ticket. Sean is the executive editor of Spiderweb Salon’s online literary series. Visit his website at seanenfield.com.
Sean Enfield performing The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted at #PLEASED in Denton, TX | photo by Leah Jones