Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Is cruelty Governor Woke Smoke’s superpower?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
21 Jun 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Is cruelty Governor Woke Smoke’s superpower?
Photo collage Rachel Handley

                                                                                              Is cruelty Governor Woke Smoke’s superpower?

 

Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.

We won’t force feed you—Hop on this shiny white bus to

a better life! Catch this sleek private plane to food, clothing

and shelter! Hey, señora, one plush seat’s left for you and yours!

We swear this ain’t Sunshine State slapstick! We swear

it ain’t Lone Star State Abbot and Costello—comedy of

Cruelty! …Why… we’d never score $election points with

Corporate paymasters…by using you as $campaign props…

Why, we’d never ever move men, women, children across

this confederate chessboard like bipartisan pawns—Swear we

Wouldn’t! We’re not the same bloodthirsty Europeans who gun-

smoked plains, prairies, and wetlands, creating crimson clouds.

Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.

We won’t force feed you—Hop on this shiny white bus to

a better life! Catch this sleek private plane to food, clothing

and shelter! Hey, señora, one plush seat’s left for you and yours!

We swear this ain’t Sunshine State slapstick! We swear

it ain’t Lone Star State Abbot and Costello—comedy of

Cruelty! We’re not the ones who blood-soaked this soil—

leaving Indigenous ones with stand stolen ground nightmares…

Why, we wouldn’t lie—just ask the Seminoles! We’ve changed.

We’re simply not the same predatory Europeans exploring Africa,

Promising, “Jobs! Jobs! Longterm Employment Opportunities!”

Trust us, “Voluntary Relocation” can live “Where woke goes to die.”

Trust us… We’ re… “like a good neighbor.” Like Allstate following

fires in California—or floods in Florida…We’d never use pandemic

Recovery Funds (earmarked for relief ) to ship you people to woke

‘Sanctuary Cities!’ Oh—no—Never!

Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.

We won’t force feed you. This is a melting pot! You and your family

just jump right in! Trust us… we aren’t the AI-driven, rightwing, robotic,

Brooks Brothers’ suited barbarians your growling gut’s saying we are…



© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.



Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.

Ron DeSantis
Guantanamo
Immigrant Rights

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • x
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor
    Iran, China, Fascism, and Boycotting FIFA
    05 Aug 2026
    Ajamu Baraka and Dimitri Lascaris join BettBeat media to interrogate the questions the anti-imperialists keep refusing to ask.
  • x
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    "Real Talk" from Kamala Harris on the Voting Rights Act Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
    04 Aug 2026
    The evisceration of the Voting Rights Act is of great concern to Black voters. But most of them are affiliated with the Democratic Party, whose leadership have no real interest in making it a…
  • x
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: “I, for one, know I’m a prisoner of War,” Herbert X. Blyden, 1973
    04 Aug 2026
    “I don't mean just in the struggles in these prisons. America is one whole concentration camp in and of itself.”
  • x
    Anthony Rogers-Wright
    The Commodification of Social Justice: (Or, Saving the Data Center Subject from the Elite Capture of the Climate Industry)
    04 Aug 2026
    There is near unanimity of opinion against data centers in the U.S. But elitist and compromised environmental groups and the climate industry should not lead this fight. 
  • x
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    What’s with a Pomade Man’s testosterone obsession?
    04 Aug 2026
    "What’s with a Pomade Man’s testosterone obsession?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us