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
  • omnibus

The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
16 Jun 2021
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people—
‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 
off summer skyscrapers; ricocheting off resistance 
Millenia righteous… Centuries overdue…
So, what the bleep is Joe Munchkin? Another Mitch The
Witch For The Rich? Kentucky turtle Kabuki Theater
foil? Another Chamber of Commerce shill cross-dressing
as corporate lobbyist…Stalling Tom Thumb legislation?

We wade $campaign promise marsh; $election swamp lies.
We vault War House walls of words; leap Capitalist Hill
Money worship moats; and White Supreme Court quick-
sand—chambers of tilted tables, marked cards, loaded dice.
We evade Jim Crow jurists, hoodless klan in black robes 

We elude endless war, warmongering-war-profiteering, 
junk metal-chested generals—slimy senators, corrupt 
congressmen in tow. We navigate gauntlets of these
Gaslighting grifters…Thickets of thieves, thugs, torturers,
informants, flunkies, lackeys…Flippant filibusters running
on alcohol, protocol and Geritol. And we foil fossil fools
poisoning the planet. We behave like super heroes ‘cause
We can’t breathe no mo’ homelessness, poverty, low wealth, 
poor health, prison slavery, kidnapping and caging children

We know their f$%#ing pronouns— Now,“Say their names,”
bynames and aliases. Say their sobriquets as slavers; their
Epithets as exploiters/extractors; monikers as massacrers.
Say their bloody noms de guerre; and handles for henchmen.

“Say their names:” low level Bassackwards Tribesmen of the
Strong-arm Williams-Thom-ass Clarence-type. Bassackwards 
Tribesmen led by Rice Warrior Wenches, Drone Ranger, Ladee Blu,
Unca Jim, Raytheon’s Craven Raven—Sharlaton/See Eye Sebben ilk

“Say their names:” Insolent Slick Willy sects; low Barr/Boss Tweet
bottom feeders, draining the swamp of its dignity. “Say their names:”
Scornful Schmuck Cheney/Schmo Biden war criminal apartheid
state enablers. “Say their names:” Uncivil to children senator Sci-Fi,
Beauregard, Rumy-like Lead Lady, Chuck Tumor/Chancy Nancy/Joe 
Munchkin scribblers of… “Nothing will fundamentally change…”

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]

poetry

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


Related Stories

Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                                                                              Another June 1  
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
23 June 2021
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs…” —Karl Marx
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
09 June 2021
Raytheon’s craven raven Co-signing for mass murder: “Mowing the grass…” Now… Ladee Blu on a fool’s errand dis-
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
02 June 2021
The Mass Shooting Of The Day— this time was in San Jose… Do you know the way to San Jose?
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Preachin’ to the Choir (for Joe, Linda, Tim…)
26 May 2021
2020’s hindsight—frost in the rearview mirror. Miles Ahead… I’m Sheltered in Solidarity with National Poetry Month and

More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Canada, Ukraine, and Nazis
    27 Sep 2023
    The Canadian government turned what should have been an ordinary photo opportunity with Ukraine's president into a political debacle when a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator was honored in parliament. Now…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Haiti Had Its Sandino, Jean Lamonthe, 1929
    27 Sep 2023
    Remembering Haitian resistance “Caco” fighter Charlemagne Peralte, demonized by the  U.S. occupation forces as a “bandit,” the same label given to Nicaraguan freedom fighter, Augusto Sandino.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Menendez Bribery Scandal: Egypt versus Ethiopia
    27 Sep 2023
    Why did Menendez ignore Egypt’s human rights record and attack Ethiopia’s?
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Rizvana Bradley’s Book, “Anteaesthetics”
    27 Sep 2023
    This week’s featured author is Rizvana Bradley. Bradley is Assistant Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her book is Anteaesthetics: Black Aesthesis and…
  • Why Haiti Must Follow the Current Political Lead of Francophone Africa
    Pascal Robert
    Why Haiti Must Follow the Current Political Lead of Francophone Africa
    27 Sep 2023
    Haiti has suffered under western occupations and interference in its affairs. The people of that nation are struggling to break free from that domination and can look to mass movements in Francophone…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us