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
🖨️ 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

“I 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.”
—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 ‘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 ‘collateral damage expendable—

Like leftovers lost when your fridge became undependable?

Why’s the fight for ‘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 ‘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 Š 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


  • Black Girl Magic
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Girl Magic
    31 Dec 2019
    Artists Nicki Minaj and BeyoncĂŠ “represent a kind of ethos of Black political commitment in the 21st century, said Aria Halliday, professor of Women’s and Gender Stu
  • US War on Black and Brown Youth
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    US War on Black and Brown Youth
    31 Dec 2019
    “The term ‘gang’ is used for formations of young Black and brown men, but is never seriously used to describe the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, the US military,” said Jus
  • After Impeachment, What?
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    After Impeachment, What?
    31 Dec 2019
    Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner and a prolific political analyst and author, said: “While history books will note that Donald Trump was impeached, beyon
  • A National Movement for Community Control of Police
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    A National Movement for Community Control of Police
    31 Dec 2019
    New York activists look forward to collaborating with the newly established National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in creating a network to fight for community control of police
  • Anti-War Movement Must Adopt to Changing Imperial Wars
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Anti-War Movement Must Adopt to Changing Imperial Wars
    31 Dec 2019
    The US is expanding its wars and regime change plans, especially in its use of economic sanctions, which now target 39 countries containing one-third of the global population, said Sar
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us