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

Wizard of Oz redux— …and some casting questions…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
24 Aug 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Wizard of Oz redux—  …and some casting questions…

                                                                                                                     Wizard of Oz redux—

                                                                                                            …and some casting questions…

Suppose Hollywood hits you up
‘bout this big budget redo of
The Wizard of Oz? What if they
say it’s all your call…’cept this?

They say you must shoot in Uvalde
using locals. No big name stars. Do you say
“OK” when they say, “And you must cast the
Cops?” Or, do you ask—“What as?”

Angry Apple Tree? Crows in the Corn
Field? Ozmites? Tin Polishers? Horse
of Another Color? Almira Gulch’s bi
cycle?

Lullaby League? Lollipop Guild? Scare
crow? Sleepyheads? Munchkin Fiddlers?
Munchkin Soldiers? Munchkin Barristers?
Munchkin Mayor? Munchkin Coroner?

Hunk? Uncle Henry? Hickory? Toto?
Dorthy Gale? Aunt Em? Almira Gulch?
Professor Marvel? Tin Man? Glinda?
Wizard? Wicked Witch? Ruby Slippers?

Winged Monkeys instructed: “Take your Army
to the Haunted Forest and bring me those boys
and girls! Do what you want with the others—
They'll give you no trouble I promise you that?”

Winkies chanting, “O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!” into
radios in the school hallway? Hearing, “Poppies,
poppies, poppies” instead of some shooter’s
Pop-pop-pop-pops for some 70 minutes?

Are we leaving any characters out?

© 2022. 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.

Uvalde

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 Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    MOLEGHAF: Update on Armed Attacks in Port-au-Prince
    23 Oct 2024
    Western imperialist-backed paramilitary violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has escalated in the last year. As the conditions on the ground worsen, MOLEGHAF puts out this call to allies around the…
  • Jonathan Cook
    The West's Support for Israel's Genocide is Destroying the World as we Know it
    23 Oct 2024
    The old world is dying once again, but the US-Israel axis is wrong to suggest it is slaying monsters. It is the monster.
  • Lylla Younes
    Black Residents in Cancer Alley Try What May be a Last Legal Defense to Curb Toxic Pollution
    23 Oct 2024
    In St. James Parish, a zoning ordinance divides industrial development along racial lines.
  • Justin Podur
    Yahya Sinwar Wrote His Own Story
    23 Oct 2024
    Yahya Sinwar was a man who became a larger-than-life symbol of Palestinian resistance and struggle. Myths and rumors surrounded him in life and now in death but he did not need anyone, friend or foe…
  • Austin Cole
    Municipalism, Economic Development, and People Power for Participatory Democracy – A Conversation with Nicholas Richard-Thompson, Part I
    23 Oct 2024
    As part of this research on grassroots economic projects toward Black Liberation, Austin Cole spoke with Nicholas Richard-Thompson about his community organizing, expanding definitions of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us