Shadowproof obtained 28 pages of FBI records regarding Gil Scott-Heron under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Born in Chicago in 1949, Scott-Heron was a renowned African-American poet and musician, perhaps most famous for his 1974 album, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
The declassified records include a memo to the FBI Director about a party thrown by the socialist All African People’s Revolutionary Party, at which Scott-Heron was scheduled to speak. The memo states that its contents concern an “extremist matter.”
Another document refers to an “investigation to identify Gil Scott-Heron.” The document also notes that Scott-Heron “is a well-known black jazz pianist who writes and signs [sic] civil rights protest songs.”
View the FOIA release in its entirety below.
Top photo: A photo of the cover art for the LP ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. (Michael Brown/Flickr)
Published in partnership with Shadowproof.