My two new lil nieces: Session 1 Lesson 1
“And you very small persons will not have to die
if you make yourselves heard! So come on, now,
and TRY!” — Dr. Seuss
Infant eyes fixed on big colorful pages—
Preschool sister’s holding her. Rocking her
World with reading—student’s ready! Uncle
sent Dr. Seuss—‘Uncle’ s Alphabet’ follows:
A’s for Anti-Black Arm, crooked, tatted, crushing windpipe
B’s for Blu Klux Klan/Baton/Blunt force/Broken bones…
C’s for Cracked skull; Cuffs too tight: Circulation cut off
D’s for Democracy—Don’t believe your lil lying eyes…
E’s for Extremist: ‘white’ supremacist views blasting you as NEWS…
F’s for Flashlight-busted—bloodied scalp—‘Fighting crime’
G’s for Glock—Gun-thug—‘Good shoot’ ’10-ring’/center mass
H’s for Hatred of Black and Brown skins like Yours/like Ours…
I’s for ICE cold-blooded killers hunting families trapped on borders
J’s for Justifiable Homicide/Juvenile Detention/January 6th…
K’s for Knee—on neck 9 min.—blu klux klansman extinguishing cigarette butt
L’s for Legal Lynching; Less Lethal: put eye out/disfigure face/damage brain…
M’s for Mace—in your
face—stay in your place, lovely little ladies!
N’s for Nigger—cops glaring at mirrors, mumbling to themselves—daily…
O’s for Obey—do as they say—whatever nonsense/whatever false pretense
in ‘self-defense’
P’s for Presto! Planted ‘evidence!’ ’Puttin cases on’ people disappearing ‘up the river’
Q’s for Questions cops ask over and over: “Where you going/coming from?????”
R’s for Routine traffic stop Tourettes—Routine potty-mouth ‘field interrogations’
S’s for “Stand down!” The command: Do not STOP murderous knees and arms at work!
T’s for Trauma/Toxic-masculinity—universal viral load—infecting fascists…
U’s for Useless in Uvalde—lovely children and their teachers needlessly died…
V’s for Violence: shopworn ‘service’/product peddled by policing pimps…
W’s for War on the poor; War on the working-class
X’s for X-rays exercising 1st Amendment rights: Assembling/Speaking out.
Y’s for Yearly/tally of blu klux killings normalized as ‘civilized’
Z’s for Zoos barbaric, bestial ‘corrections’ nazis keep for love of money…
© 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.
Ann Garrison ends her reporting from the Horn of Africa with updates on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the conflict between Ethiopia and the TPLF.
Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
BAR Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose discuss community organizing, Black Queer Feminism, the struggle for police and prison abolition, and an end to militarism.
"From May 26 to May 31, I was in Cali, Colombia serving as an election observer with an international delegation of mostly Black women. This is a preliminary report."
The Historic Pact candidates Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez won the first round of the Colombian presidential election but now face conservative candidates in a June 19 runoff.
