For the politics and protest paper I will be researching Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson’s Winter in America album. This album was the artist views on African American culture in his surroundings during the 1970s. Many of the tracks were vivid insights to frustrations of not only the African American community, but to those stricken by poverty and other social injustices. Winter in America was not released on a major label but was a considered underground hit. The artist used “guerilla marketing” such as spray painted ads and flyers to promote the album, which lead to its huge underground success. This made Heron known as a street poet of sorts, which is largely due to his grassroots marketing and his stance on many social issues. Heron also used what many believe to be the earliest form of rap music to drive home his point of social equality.
