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

SNAP elections?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
04 Sep 2024
🖨️ Print Article
Woman in grocery store

Pushing rattling shopping carts down supermarket aisles
They came up empty searching for okra, collard
Greens, and black-eyed peas. Hunting 50lb. bags of
Beans, rice— and tons of tortillas— Hecho de mano …

Rolling empty shopping carts down deserted ‘discount’
Market aisles, they came craving ice cream and fig bars—
Not Black Hawk Helicopters, Predator Drones and Hi-Mars!
They came for crackers and cheese—not an eradicated disease!

Pushing streamlined shopping carts down barren
Supermarket aisles they came looking to load
Paper towels and toilet tissue … Not 2,000 lb.
Bombs—                    busting babies and budgets!

Rolling empty shopping carts down ghostly ‘discount’
Market aisles— sticker shocked—Hellfire Missiles
$110,000 a pop! Frozen F-16s won’t fit in their freezers! And
Salads of shrapnel-shredded flesh of children aren’t appetizing …

Angry stomachs growling—faces questioning—
“When will we see SNAP elections?
Elections of sticker-shocked/check writer blocked citizens
Receiving SNAP?

Elections of citizen crusaders wrestling price-gougers each
Month … And somehow surviving …          Citizen crusaders
Feeding gargantuan grandchildren—with mothers of all appetites—
As grifters drop MOAB: Mother Of All Bombs for murderous sport!

“When will we see SNAP elections—with all their imperfections—
Electing citizen crusaders receiving SNAP? Firing bipartisan chefs
Shouting, “Ain’t nothin cookin here but hot Hunger; War; Fascism—
MAGAt-Microwave-style—or Democrat Crockpot-style: Order up!”

 

(SNAP refers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)

Š 2024. 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.

Working Class
Inflation
Elections
War and Empire

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Find me another 11,780 votes?
16 September 2026
Find me another 11,780 votes?Resurrection of old questions:How many jelly beans in a jar, How many bubbles in a bar of soap?
J.C. Hallman , Keaton Ross
Who's Calling?
09 September 2026
Oklahoma prison inmates were making political calls for a conservative Super PAC during the primary.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
U.S. Support of Israel is Absolutely an Issue of Affordability and Economic Populism…So Why Won’t the Democrats Discuss it as Such?
29 July 2026
The Democratic Party's continued support for Israel's genocide is not just a moral and political liability but also an economic one w
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Race Trading Race Traitors, Identity Reductionism, and the New Nadir of the Democrat Party Establishment
15 July 2026
The social democrat wing gains in strength but establishment Democrats continue their allegiance to the donor class.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Short word problems: do the math
03 June 2026
Work these word problems. Work them as if your lives depend onYOUR correct answers.YOUR solutions … Because they do:
John Parker
Socialist candidate John Parker: Abolish ICE and police, fund people’s needs
22 April 2026
Following is a recent campaign meeting talk by socialist congressional candidate John Parker.
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Zophia Edwards’ Book, “Fueling Development”
01 April 2026
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Donald Trump and the Truth About Robert Mueller
25 March 2026
Donald Trump is not lying about Robert Mueller.
Gary Wilson
Dow 50,000 — and workers selling blood
18 February 2026
The Dow Jones hit 50,000, yet 200,000 people a day are selling their blood plasma to survive.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Day 40-something pedophile-protecting government shutdown
19 November 2025
Day 40-something of pedophile-Protecting-government shutdown —Snapshot of resistance revealed our unwillingness to 

More Stories


  • Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
    Essam Elkorghli
    Reconciling with Libya’s History on the 13th Anniversary of NATO’s Regime Change: Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Matteo Capasso) - Book Review
    21 Feb 2024
    Essam Elkorghli reviews the book, "Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" by Matteo Capasso, which discusses the history and politics of Libya in the decades leading up to the 2011 uprising…
  • US Israel flags
    Mark P. Fancher
    Israel – Imperialism’s MVP (Most Valuable Proxy)
    21 Feb 2024
    Joe Biden's unchanging support of Israel during the ongoing genocide in Palestine, despite massive resistance, reflects the U.S. empire's commitment to protecting its imperialist interests in the…
  • Julian Assange in a police vehicle
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Support for Julian Assange As He Fights Extradition to the U.S.
    21 Feb 2024
    BAR Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley recorded this statement of support for Julian Assange as he began his fight against extradition to the U.S.
  • Mary Ann Shadd Cary and The Provincial Freeman
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Emancipation, the Nadir and Pan-African Awakenings
    21 Feb 2024
    The reactionary backlash after emancipation plummeted the nation into an extended state of racial tumult in the United States, contributing to an expanding political awareness of the global…
  • AFRICOM Director of Intelligence with Sudanese military professionals
    Black Alliance For Peace
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #50
    21 Feb 2024
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin has the latest news from the African continent. AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #50 delves into the ongoing war in Sudan which created a dire…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us