Editing Whitey on the Moon

{{good article}}
{{short description|1970 spoken-word poem by Gil Scott-Heron}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
"'''Whitey on the Moon'''" is a [[spoken-word]] poem by [[Gil Scott-Heron]], released as the ninth track on his debut album ''[[Small Talk at 125th and Lenox]]'' in 1970. Accompanied by [[conga]] drums, Scott-Heron's narrative tells of [[medical debt]] and poverty experienced at the time of the [[List of Apollo missions#Manned Apollo missions|Apollo Moon landings]]. The poem critiques the resources spent on the space program while [[African Americans|Black Americans]] were experiencing social and economic disparities at home. "Whitey on the Moon" was prominently featured in the 2018 [[biographical film]] about [[Neil Armstrong]], ''[[First Man (film)|First Man]]'', and the second episode of [[HBO]]'s television series ''[[Lovecraft Country (TV series)|Lovecraft Country]]''. It received renewed interest in 2021 following spaceflights by billionaires [[Jeff Bezos]] and [[Richard Branson]], which were seen as emblematic of the inequities highlighted by the poem.<ref name="Mitchell 2021">{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Taiyler Simone |title='Whitey on the Moon' poem garners social media attention on anniversary of moon landing, Bezos's spaceflight |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/whitey-on-the-moon-poem-resurfaces-amid-bezos-branson-spaceflight-2021-7 |access-date=December 30, 2021 |work=Business Insider |date=July 20, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230230155/https://www.businessinsider.com/whitey-on-the-moon-poem-resurfaces-amid-bezos-branson-spaceflight-2021-7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Background, recording, and content==
[[File:Gil Scott Heron.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Gil Scott-Heron]] in 1986]]
[[Gil Scott-Heron]] was a poet, [[jazz]] musician, scholar, and novelist of Jamaican and [[African American]] descent.<ref name="Sharrick 2011">{{cite news |last1=Sharrock |first1=David |title=Gil Scott-Heron: music world pays tribute to the 'Godfather of Rap' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/may/29/gil-scott-heron-godfather-of-rap |access-date=January 5, 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=May 28, 2011 |archive-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105012302/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/may/29/gil-scott-heron-godfather-of-rap |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="R&RHoF">{{cite web |title=Gil Scott-Heron |url=https://www.rockhall.com/story-gil-scott-heron |website=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |access-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227022938/https://www.rockhall.com/story-gil-scott-heron |url-status=live }}</ref> His 1970 debut album, ''[[Small Talk at 125th and Lenox]]'', contained spoken-word pieces that showcased his many literary and musical influences, including [[Langston Hughes]], [[Malcolm X]], and the [[Last Poets]].<ref name="R&RHoF"/><ref name="Bush 2020"/> Scott-Heron stated that he was inspired to write "Whitey on the Moon" by a statement from writer and activist [[Eldridge Cleaver]], who argued that the [[Space policy of the United States|space program]] was intended to distract the United States from problems within, and to suppress discontent.<ref name="Baram 2014">{{cite book|first=Marcus|last=Baram|title=Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ea6MAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-250-01279-1|pages=72–80}}</ref> Scott-Heron wrote the poem in the summer of 1969. His mother, Bobbie Scott, suggested the refrain and the closing line.<ref name="Baram 2014"/>

"Whitey on the Moon" was released as the ninth track on ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'',<ref name="Bush 2020">{{cite web |last1=Bush |first1=John |title=Gil Scott-Heron Small Talk at 125th and Lenox |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/small-talk-at-125th-and-lenox-mw0000175340 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=June 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122232511/https://www.allmusic.com/album/small-talk-at-125th-and-lenox-mw0000175340 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was recorded late in the summer of 1970 in a studio belonging to [[Atlantic Records]].<ref name="Baram 2014" /> Scott-Heron [[Spoken word|speaks the poem]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Gil Scott-Heron Whitey on the Moon |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/whitey-on-the-moon-mt0010949799 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=June 4, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604210449/https://www.allmusic.com/song/whitey-on-the-moon-mt0010949799 |url-status=live }}</ref> alongside a [[bongo drum]] accompaniment of a sort common in street poetry, and used by contemporaneous artists such as [[The Last Poets]]. The track is just under two minutes long.<ref name="Loyd 2015">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Mobile Desires: The Politics and Erotics of Mobility Justice|editor-last1=Montegary|editor-first1=Liz|editor-last2=White|editor-first2=Melissa Autumn|title='Whitey on the Moon': Space, Race, and the Crisis of Black Mobility|first=Jenna M.|last=Loyd|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137464217_4|pages=41–52|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|doi=10.1057/9781137464217_4|isbn=978-1-349-56684-6|access-date=June 1, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101032347/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137464217_4|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="Bongo">{{cite book|first=Iain |last=Ellis |title=Rebels wit attitude: subversive rock humorists |year=2008|publisher=Soft Skull Press|isbn=978-1593762063|pages=170–171}}</ref> Although the album has been frequently described as being [[live recording|recorded live]] in a [[nightclub]] in [[New York City]], it was in fact recorded in a studio, with an audience present to simulate a live crowd.<ref name="Baram 2014"/> "Whitey on the Moon" narrates the story of Scott-Heron's "sister Nell," who is bitten by a rat while [[Neil Armstrong]] lands on the Moon. It then talks of medical debt that is incurred for her treatment, and rising costs of basic necessities as a result of the [[Apollo program|Moon landings]]. It ends with the sarcastic promise that when the next bills arrive, Scott-Heron would send them by "air mail special to Whitey on the Moon".<ref name="Loyd 2015"/> The first lines of the poem run as follows:

{{Poemquote|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 paying still.
(while Whitey's on the Moon)<ref name="Chiroux 2019">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthis-chiroux/whitey-on-the-moon-again_b_1188220.html|title=Whitey on the Moon, Again?|date=March 11, 2012|last1=Chiroux|first1=Matthis|work=Huffington Post|accessdate=June 4, 2020|archive-date=November 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105091157/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthis-chiroux/whitey-on-the-moon-again_b_1188220.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

==Analysis and reception==
"Whitey on the Moon" became exceptionally popular among African-Americans in [[inner city]] neighborhoods in New York, [[Detroit]], and [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="Maher 2017">{{cite book |last1=Maher |first1=Neil M. |title=Apollo in the Age of Aquarius |date=2007 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674971998 |pages=28–30}}</ref> While the album, described by ''[[AllMusic]]'' as a "volcanic upheaval of intellectualism and social critique", did not receive much airtime, it received considerable attention in Black and progressive neighborhoods across the US.<ref name="Baram 2014" /> Its criticism of the [[Space Race]] was broadly similar to that featured by the Black-owned print media, but drew far greater attention among that community.<ref name="Maher 2017"/> It featured thematic commonalities with [[Marvin Gaye]]'s 1971 song "[[Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)]]", and [[Faith Ringgold]]'s 1969 painting titled "Flag for the Moon: Die Nigger".<ref name="Loyd 2015" /> The poem's popularity was described as evidence of growing awareness of the struggles of [[urban blight]] in the US.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maher |first1=Neil M. |title=Grounding the Space Race |journal=Modern American History |date=2018 |volume=1 |pages=141–146 |doi=10.1017/mah.2017.4|s2cid=135115637 }}</ref> While ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'' did not [[Record chart|chart]], it earned enough attention for [[Flying Dutchman Records]] to authorize a second Scott-Heron album, ''[[Pieces of a Man]]''.<ref name="Baram 2014"/>

"Whitey on the Moon" is described as exemplifying [[afrofuturism]], or "Black social thought concerning 'culture, technology, and things to come'."<ref name="Loyd 2015" /> Scott-Heron saw the Apollo landings as exemplifying racial disparities in the US.<ref name="Chaikin 2007">{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Chaikin |first1=Andrew |editor1-last=Dick |editor1-first=Steven J. |title=Live from the moon: The societal impact of Apollo |encyclopedia = Societal Impact of Spaceflight| date=2007 |publisher=Government Printing Office |author-link = Andrew Chaikin|isbn=9780160867170}}</ref> The poem critiques the US space program by connecting its use of government funds to the marginalization of [[African Americans|Black Americans]].<ref name="Loyd 2015" /> The poem identifies government neglect as the root cause of poverty while questioning the benefits and beneficiaries of the space program.<ref name="Rao 2018">{{cite news|title=Why 'First Man' prominently features Gil Scott-Heron's spoken-word poem 'Whitey on the Moon'|first=Sonia|last=Rao|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/13/why-first-man-prominently-features-gil-scott-herons-spoken-word-poem-whitey-moon/|date=October 13, 2018|accessdate=June 4, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101183501/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/13/why-first-man-prominently-features-gil-scott-herons-spoken-word-poem-whitey-moon/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Regard 2015"/> The connection that Scott-Heron implies between [[capitalism]] in the US and poverty, environmental destruction, and militarism, is a theme found in many of his other works.<ref name="Loyd 2015" /> During the 1970s, the view that the country was spending too much on its space program was widespread in the US, and was shared by politicians including President [[Richard Nixon]].<ref name="Rao 2018" /><ref name="Crotts 2014">{{cite book|author=Arlin Crotts|title=The New Moon: Water, Exploration, and Future Habitation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a0pCBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-76224-3|pages=71–72}}</ref> This criticism of the space program has been described as reaching its epitome in "Whitey on the Moon."<ref name="Regard 2015">{{cite book|author=Frédéric Regard|title=Arctic Exploration in the Nineteenth Century: Discovering the Northwest Passage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJVECgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-32152-1|pages=11–12}}</ref>

Scott-Heron's handling of difficult material with dark humour has been praised by commentators.<ref name="Taylor 2021">{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Tom |title=Six definitive songs: The ultimate beginner's guide to Gil Scott-Heron |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/gil-scott-heron-guide-six-best-songs/ |website=Far Out |access-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230225503/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/gil-scott-heron-guide-six-best-songs/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Lavin 2021">{{cite news |last1=Lavin |first1=Talia |title=Jeff Bezos' live Blue Origin space launch is the pinnacle of waste |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/jeff-bezos-space-launch-pinnacle-billionaire-waste-n1274392 |access-date=December 30, 2021 |work=MSNBC |date=July 20, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230054449/https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/jeff-bezos-space-launch-pinnacle-billionaire-waste-n1274392 |url-status=live }}</ref> Writing for ''[[The Atlantic]]'' after Scott-Heron's death in 2011, Alexis Madrigal stated that "Whitey on the Moon" had taken [[spaceflight]] out of the "abstract, universal realm in which we like to place our technical achievements". Madrigal added that the poem raised questions about "which America" got the "glory of the moon landing", and of what the costs of putting "whitey on the moon" were.<ref name="Madrigal 2011">{{cite news|title=Gil Scott-Heron's Poem, 'Whitey on the Moon'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/gil-scott-herons-poem-whitey-on-the-moon/239622/|first=Alexis C.|last=Madrigal|work=The Atlantic|date=May 28, 2011|accessdate=June 4, 2020|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216114355/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/gil-scott-herons-poem-whitey-on-the-moon/239622/|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2014 biography of Scott-Heron described "Whitey on the Moon" as a "gem of a prose poem" that was well-received critically, and that it was "devastating in its harsh counterpoint" to adulatory coverage of the Moon landings.<ref name="Baram 2014"/> Also writing in 2021, [[MSNBC]] columnist Talia Lavin stated that the poem "memorialized, in sardonic fashion, the saccharine patriotism that had arisen around Apollo 11".<ref name="Lavin 2021"/> Also in 2021, a review of Scott-Heron's work commented: "Rarely has a point been made so forcefully while artfully avoiding the full brutal bludgeon of the nose."<ref name="Taylor 2021"/>

==Legacy==
The 2018 film ''[[First Man (film)|First Man]]'', a [[biographical film]] about [[Neil Armstrong]], prominently features "Whitey on the Moon". Director [[Damien Chazelle]] and writer [[Josh Singer]] sought to portray the "passionate feelings" of those opposed to the cost of the program: Singer stated he was interested in "pulling the veneer off" of what had been a "pretty sugarcoated story".<ref name="Rao 2018" /> In the film, the poem is read over footage of the [[Apollo 1|Apollo 1 disaster]] and of people protesting the space program.<ref name="Rao 2018" /> It was performed by [[Leon Bridges]], and included on the movie's soundtrack album.<ref name="Holmes 2018">{{cite news|work=National Public Radio|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/11/655889177/first-man-considers-glory-grief-and-a-famous-walk-on-the-moon|title=First Man Considers Glory, Grief And A Famous Walk On The Moon|first=Linda|last=Holmes|date=October 11, 2018|accessdate=June 5, 2020|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606000310/https://www.npr.org/2018/10/11/655889177/first-man-considers-glory-grief-and-a-famous-walk-on-the-moon|url-status=live}}</ref> The poem is also used prominently in the second episode of HBO's series ''[[Lovecraft Country (TV series)|Lovecraft Country]]''. The episode, which is titled "Whitey's on the Moon", debuted on August 23, 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Monique |first1=Joelle |title=On Lovecraft Country, "Whitey's On The Moon" and we're in love |url=https://tv.avclub.com/on-lovecraft-country-whitey-s-on-the-moon-and-we-re-1844821970 |accessdate=August 24, 2020 |work=AV Club |date=August 23, 2020 |archive-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824231313/https://tv.avclub.com/on-lovecraft-country-whitey-s-on-the-moon-and-we-re-1844821970 |url-status=live }}</ref>

"Whitey on the Moon" received renewed attention in 2021 following spaceflights by billionaires [[Jeff Bezos]] and [[Richard Branson]] in July 2021.<ref name="Carson 2021">{{cite web |last1=Carson |first1=A. D. |title=Why Gil Scott-Heron's 'Whitey on the Moon' still feels relevant today |url=https://theconversation.com/why-gil-scott-herons-whitey-on-the-moon-still-feels-relevant-today-164681 |website=The Conversation |date=July 21, 2021 |access-date=January 4, 2022 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230221247/https://theconversation.com/why-gil-scott-herons-whitey-on-the-moon-still-feels-relevant-today-164681 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Jones 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Eileen |title=Summer of Soul Is an Enthralling and Emotional Concert Film 50 Years in the Making |journal=Jacobin |date=July 2021 |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/harlem-cultural-festival-black-woodstock-summer-of-soul-questlove-film-review |access-date=January 4, 2022 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230221530/https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/harlem-cultural-festival-black-woodstock-summer-of-soul-questlove-film-review |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mitchell 2021">{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Taiyler Simone |title='Whitey on the Moon' poem garners social media attention on anniversary of moon landing, Bezos's spaceflight |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/whitey-on-the-moon-poem-resurfaces-amid-bezos-branson-spaceflight-2021-7 |access-date=December 30, 2021 |work=Business Insider |date=July 20, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230230155/https://www.businessinsider.com/whitey-on-the-moon-poem-resurfaces-amid-bezos-branson-spaceflight-2021-7 |url-status=live }}</ref> 2021 was also the year Scott-Heron was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref name="Carson 2021" /> Commentators wrote that the piece was particularly topical, given the billions of dollars spent on the spaceflights in a time of social and economic inequality.<ref name="Carson 2021"/><ref name="Ongweso 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Ongweso Jr. |first1=Edward |title=The Billionaire 'Space Race' Has Nothing to Do With Space |journal=Vice |date=July 12, 2021 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/akg4gk/the-billionaire-space-race-has-nothing-to-do-with-space |access-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230223147/https://www.vice.com/en/article/akg4gk/the-billionaire-space-race-has-nothing-to-do-with-space |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Koren 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Koren |first1=Marina |title=The Uncomfortable Truths of American Spaceflight |journal=The Atlantic |date=November 10, 2021 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/11/nasa-moon-artemis-2025/620668/ |access-date=January 4, 2022 |archive-date=December 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230223249/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/11/nasa-moon-artemis-2025/620668/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A piece on ''[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]'' said that the "whitey" of the poem could represent any of the billionaires, as the poem highlighted the economic inequalities upon which their wealth was built, and which allowed them to be space tourists.<ref name="Carson 2021" /> An opinion piece in [[Vice (magazine)|''Vice'' magazine]] stated that the question of "precisely who is going to space, why, and at what cost?", which ran through Scott-Heron's poem, remained relevant.<ref name="Ongweso 2021"/> An opinion piece from [[MSNBC]] argued that the racial inequalities the poem highlighted remained in place, emphasized by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], which had had a particularly large impact upon [[people of color]].<ref name="Lavin 2021" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External link==
* Official audio {{YouTube|goh2x_G0ct4|"Whitey on the Moon"}}

{{Gil Scott-Heron}}

[[Category:Gil Scott-Heron songs]]
[[Category:1970 songs]]
[[Category:Protest songs]]
[[Category:Spoken word]]
[[Category:Afrofuturism]]
[[Category:Works about the Apollo program]]