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


  • I’m no nuanced Negro, but…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    I’m no nuanced Negro, but…
    13 Oct 2021
    I’m no nuanced Negro, but…   I’m no nuanced Negro—never have been—never will be. I’m a lower the forks, pick up the pallet, put it on the
  • Build Back Better Legislation: New Keynesianism or Neoliberal Public Relations Stunt?
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Build Back Better Legislation: New Keynesianism or Neoliberal Public Relations Stunt?
    13 Oct 2021
    Some provisions of Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation benefit the masses of Black people, but this legislation is a bare minimum effort to blunt some of the sharpest contradictions of the
  • Many would-be migrants, like the Garifuna, would love nothing more than to stay in their homes. It’s Washington that’s making it difficult.
    Miriam Miranda
    Afro-Indigenous People in Honduras Are Being Forcibly Displaced. Washington Is Complicit.
    13 Oct 2021
    Many would-be migrants, like the Garifuna, would love nothing more than to stay in their homes. It’s Washington that’s making it difficult.
  • STATEMENT: Black Caucus Protest at the African Studies Association, Montreal, October, 1969
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    STATEMENT: Black Caucus Protest at the African Studies Association, Montreal, October, 1969
    13 Oct 2021
    Black challenges to white control of African Studies at the 1969 African Studies Association meeting in Montreal exposed the deeply entrenched racism within, and the imperialist leanings of, th
  • U.S. Imperialism in Africa with Abayomi Azikiwe
    Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Imperialism in Africa with Abayomi Azikiwe
    13 Oct 2021
    Abayomi Azikiwe of Pan-African News Wire joined Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley to discuss AFRICOM and U.S./NATO imperialist actions on the African continent.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us