Editing Gil Scott-Heron (section)

===Prison terms and more performing===
[[File:Gill Scott Heron 2009 Regency.jpg|thumb|upright|Scott-Heron performing at the [[The Regency Center|Regency Ballroom]] in San Francisco, 2009]]

In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment in a [[New York State]] prison for possession of cocaine.<ref name="coke">{{cite news|title=Musician Is Sent to Prison on Drug Charge|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/31/nyregion/musician-is-sent-to-prison-on-drug-charge.html|access-date=February 27, 2023|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 31, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527181051/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/31/nyregion/musician-is-sent-to-prison-on-drug-charge.html|archive-date=May 27, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the ''[[Blazing Arrow]]'' album by [[Blackalicious]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Blackalicious Blazing Arrow|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/787-blazing-arrow/|work=Pitchfork|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=December 21, 2013|first=Chris|last=Dahlen|date=May 29, 2002|archive-date=December 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224104716/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/787-blazing-arrow/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was released on parole in 2003, the year [[BBC TV]] broadcast the documentary ''Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised''. Scott-Heron was arrested for possession of a crack pipe during the editing of the film in October 2003 and received a six-month prison sentence.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gil Scott-Heron: Musician, writer and political activist whose years lost to drug addiction could not erase his influence|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gil-scottheron-musician-writer-and-political-activist-whose-years-lost-to-drug-addiction-could-not-erase-his-influence-2290724.html|access-date=December 21, 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=May 30, 2011|first=James|last=Maycock|archive-date=March 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301025044/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gil-scottheron-musician-writer-and-political-activist-whose-years-lost-to-drug-addiction-could-not-erase-his-influence-2290724.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a [[Drug rehabilitation|drug rehabilitation center]]. He claimed that he left because the clinic refused to supply him with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was [[HIV positive]], subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/scott-heron%20to%20serve%20time%20for%20breaking%20rehab%20deal_1001885|title=Scott-Heron To Serve Time For Breaking Rehab Deal|author=Wenn|magazine=Contactmusic.com|date=July 8, 2006|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-date=May 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511132802/http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/scott-heron%20to%20serve%20time%20for%20breaking%20rehab%20deal_1001885|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/genius-burning-brightly-unraveling-gil-scott-heron|title=Genius Burning Brightly: The Unraveling of Gil Scott-Heron|website=Black Agenda Report|date=May 13, 2009|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-date=June 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603151728/http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content%2Fgenius-burning-brightly-unraveling-gil-scott-heron|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="New York Magazine-Baram-2008-06-22"/> Originally sentenced to serve until July 13, 2009, he was paroled on May 23, 2007.<ref name="Parole">
{{cite web|url=http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/GCA00P00/WIQ2/WINQ120|title=Inmate Information NYS Department of Correctional Services for Scott-Heron|publisher=Nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us|access-date=May 28, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602144835/http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/GCA00P00/WIQ2/WINQ120|archive-date=June 2, 2011}}</ref>

After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at [[SOB's]] restaurant and nightclub in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing ''The Last Holiday'', previously on long-term hiatus, about [[Stevie Wonder]] and his successful attempt to have the birthday of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/05/last-holiday-scott-heron-review|title=The Last Holiday: A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron – review|first=Margaret|last=Busby|author-link=Margaret Busby|newspaper=The Observer|date=February 2, 2012|access-date=December 11, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602144835/http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/GCA00P00/WIQ2/WINQ120|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Malik Al Nasir]] dedicated a collection of poetry to Scott-Heron titled ''Ordinary Guy'' that contained a foreword by [[Jalal Mansur Nuriddin]] of [[The Last Poets]]. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Nasir's book entitled ''Black & Blue'' in 2006.

In April 2009, on [[BBC Radio 4]], poet [[Lemn Sissay]] presented a half-hour documentary on Gil Scott-Heron entitled ''Pieces of a Man'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00js8d1|title=Radio 4 Programmes – Pieces of a Man|publisher=BBC|date=April 21, 2009|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-date=May 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528155913/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00js8d1|url-status=live}}</ref> having interviewed Gil Scott-Heron in New York a month earlier. ''Pieces of a Man'' was the first UK announcement from Scott-Heron of his forthcoming album and return to form. In November 2009, the BBC's ''[[Newsnight]]'' interviewed Scott-Heron for a feature titled ''The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8362518.stm|title=The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns|first=Stephen|last=Smith|date=November 16, 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=January 22, 2010|archive-date=April 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408084214/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8362518.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, gilscottheron.net, was launched with a new track "Where Did the Night Go" made available as a free download from the site.

In 2010, Scott-Heron was booked to perform in [[Tel Aviv]], Israel, but this attracted criticism from pro-Palestinian activists, who stated: "Your performance in Israel would be the equivalent to having performed in [[Sun City, North West|Sun City]] during South Africa's apartheid era... We hope that you will not play apartheid Israel". Scott-Heron responded by canceling the performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/05/20115287194489734.html|title=US activist, poet and singer dies|website=www.aljazeera.com|date=May 28, 2011|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328204743/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/05/20115287194489734.html|url-status=live}}</ref>