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

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


  • The Great “Awokening” and Ruling Class Uses for Racial Grievance Discourse 
    Pascal Robert
    The Great “Awokening” and Ruling Class Uses for Racial Grievance Discourse 
    09 Jun 2021
    The Black political class is wedded to the centrist Democrats for its “fatback and biscuits” patronage.
  • Jail Populations Back Up After COVID-19
    Weihua Li, Beth Schwartzapfel, Michael R. Sisak and Camille Fassett
    Jail Populations Back Up After COVID-19
    09 Jun 2021
    Judges, prosecutors and sheriffs in many states sent people home instead of to jail last year, but new data suggests the change is not lasting.
  • Exposing the Motive for the Sudden Wave of Attacks on Schools That Teach Critical Race Theory
    Jeff Bryant
    Exposing the Motive for the Sudden Wave of Attacks on Schools That Teach Critical Race Theory
    09 Jun 2021
    What appears to be a dispute about academics is really a political tactic in the ongoing campaign to privatize public schools.
  • Leftist Anti-Anti-Imperialism: Supporting Imperialism But With Caveats
    Roger D. Harris
    Leftist Anti-Anti-Imperialism: Supporting Imperialism But With Caveats
    09 Jun 2021
    The phony Left dabbles in R2P interventions and claims the world is plagued by a plethora of imperialisms, thus letting the superpower and its allies off the hook.
  • AFRICOM Military’s Exercise: The Art of Creating New Pretexts for Propagating US Interests
    Pavan Kulkami
    AFRICOM Military’s Exercise: The Art of Creating New Pretexts for Propagating US Interests
    09 Jun 2021
    An AFRICOM-sponsored military exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, ostensibly to combat “irregular migration” and trafficking, is really about further militarizing Africa.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us