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
  • omnibus

How will we pay for it?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Jan 2022
🖨️ Print Article
How will we pay for it?
M. Wuerker POLITICO Universal Uclick

                                                                                            How will we pay for it?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
59 missile shooting spree—
$110, 000 a pop?
Mother Of All Bombs?
A boondoggle bomber?
800 bases in faraway places?
States with more warheads than congress members? A modern-medieval torture
chamber on foreign soil? A weapons lab disguised as an apartheid state?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
Surgical strikes on hospitals—
renaming babies Collateral Damage?
Orders to “Light ‘em up!”?
Lethal gifts dropped on wedding parties?
‘Taking out’ other nations’ generals?
Swapping strongmen for wrong men?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
Drinking water juiced with jet fuel?
Freedom to breathe blue-black air?
Fracking fluid flavored springs?
Freedom of fires gorging themselves year round?
Freedom of floods to wash away labor’s fruits?

It’s not neurosurgery or rocket science—
and I’m no genius but— I know-I know
I know-I know-I know-I know-I know-I know…
I know-I know-I know-I know-I know-I know…
Tents, tarps, cardboard mattresses—cancer,
Diabetes, tooth decay are one way we pay—
Feel free to fill in anything I’ve missed…
 

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

Military Industrial Complex

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


Related Stories

Biden has Money for War, but Not for the Poor
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Biden has Money for War, but Not for the Poor
23 March 2022
Joe Biden and congress have plenty of money for the military industrial complex, but only austerity for the people.
US War Lobby Fuels Conflict in Russia, Ukraine, and Syria: Ex-Pentagon Advisor
Aaron Maté
US War Lobby Fuels Conflict in Russia, Ukraine, and Syria: Ex-Pentagon Advisor
12 January 2022
A former senior advisor at the Pentagon confirms what was obvious to those who pay attention.
Raytheon’s Raven caws “War—Evermore!” Not wind beneath Negroz wings…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raytheon’s Raven caws “War—Evermore!” Not wind beneath Negroz wings…
29 September 2021
Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty
Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  
Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty
01 September 2021
The U.S.

More Stories


  • x
    The Editors
    Black Agenda Report Will Return on January 8, 2025
    21 Dec 2024
    The Black Agenda Report team are taking our annual end of year break. We will be back with a new issue on January 8, 2025. Thanks for your support and have a great holiday season!
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio December 20, 2024
    20 Dec 2024
    This week, we hear about an ongoing court case involving the CUNY 8 and Palestine solidarity protest. But first, we speak with Omali Yeshitela of the Uhuru 3, who were recently sentenced to probation…
  • Uhuru 3 press conference
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Omali Yeshitela Discusses the Uhuru 3 Victory
    20 Dec 2024
    Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru 3 were convicted of conspiracy in a federal case alleging that they acted under the direction of the Russian government. They were recently sentenced to…
  • CUNY Encampment
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The CUNY 8 Face Charges for Palestine Solidarity Protest
    20 Dec 2024
    Nora Fayad, one of the CUNY 8 arrested and charged with felony burglary and accused of attempting to enter a campus building without permission, joins us to discuss their court case.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Eric Adams and Daniel Penny Make Black People the Face of Crime
    18 Dec 2024
    Daniel Penny’s acquittal was not surprising, and neither is Mayor Eric Adams' defense of Penny and law enforcement power being used against Black people.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us