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

Anthem of Banksters & War Profiteers
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Sep 2016
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Why does San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick choose to sit when the Star Spangled Banner is played before football games? Evidently he is one of many who know the real intention and import behind those bombs bursting in air...

Anthem of Banksters & War Profiteers…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

ā€œI spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.ā€
—Marine General Smedley Butler at his retirement, 1933

I.

No Iroquois or Seminole National Anthem,

No Hawaiian or Mexican National Anthem,

Before bombers fly over stadiums schools and

social services were sacrificed for on altars of austerity;

No Ohlone or Navajo National Anthem,

No Iroquois or Seminole National Anthem,

No Hawaiian or Mexican National Anthem,

Before rockets red glare/bombs bursting in air

Over Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Bosnia, Libya,

Panama, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen…and

Others, soon to be announced…

II.

The bleeding baby with blown off arms and stumps for legs

Dies in a ā€˜surgically struck’ hospital while you drain kegs?

Commander’s quarterback, bloody band wrapping his wrist,

Running old red zone, war-profiteer plays from his kill list?

Are other peoples’ children ā€˜collateral damage expendable—

Like leftovers lost when your fridge became undependable?

Why’s the fight for ā€˜our freedom’ usually where there’s oil?

Why’s it where mineral wealth’s buried beneath foreign soil?

How about freedom fighting without tanks, planes and boats—

Freeing: Fitzgerald, Peltier, Gilbert, Bell, Jamal, Shoatz…?

Ain’t ā€˜Incarceration Nation’ Slave State, by its other name—

Ain’t it the darker side of a barbaric, brain-damaging game?

Black players: interception, sack, fumble, loss from N-word

Inches from lynching by the intoxicated mob, the racist herd—

Of Hitler-loving, hair-trigger thugs, masquerading as fans…

Always seconds away from true team colors of their klan’s!

Raymond Nat Turner Ā© 2016 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

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


More Stories


  • Freedom Rider: Rebellion, Confusion, Scoundrels and Kente Cloth
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Rebellion, Confusion, Scoundrels and Kente Cloth
    10 Jun 2020
    Black rebellion brings insecurity to those in power, as editors, mayors and even long dead criminals are being called to account.
  • A Tale of Two Protests: Why the U.S. Ruling Class Loves Hong Kong Protests But Hates the Minneapolis-Led Rebellion
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    A Tale of Two Protests: Why the U.S. Ruling Class Loves Hong Kong Protests But Hates the Minneapolis-Led Rebellion
    10 Jun 2020
    The protests in Hong Kong are led by an assortment of US-backed proxies who have separation from China as their principle goal.
  • How Did Two Beloved Members of Louisville’s Black Community Die Under Police Fire?
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    How Did Two Beloved Members of Louisville’s Black Community Die Under Police Fire?
    10 Jun 2020
    Without justification, Louisville cops snuffed out the lives of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, drawing that city into the national vortex of protest.
  • low Barr Limbo
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    low Barr Limbo
    10 Jun 2020
    He so wide you can’t go ā€˜round him He so low you can’t go under him He so low that when he go High an ant can’t get under him; a rattlesnake’s shake’s 
  • Community Control Vs. Defunding the Police: A Critical Analysis
    Max Rameau and Netfa Freeman
    Community Control Vs. Defunding the Police: A Critical Analysis
    10 Jun 2020
    Defunding the police might end the armed and uniformed force as we know it, but the ruling class will then hire mercenaries to protect their wealth and enforce their will.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us