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

(OSCAR) Old Southern Californian Aryan Racketeers
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
25 Feb 2015
🖨️ Print Article

(OSCAR) Old Southern Californian Aryan Racketeers

by Raymond Nat Turner

Curtain rising, Black images

Fading, lost, stolen, strayed;

‘White’ suspense speeches

Read like corporate talking

Points, red carpet, 30 million

Viewers, Grand Jury True Bills—

Dice loaded, card’s marked,

Diversity smells like charcoal…

Well, “Hooray for Hollywood”

Never meant Black folk no good…

Get over opinions of color-

Blind ‘white’ men with

Bleached white plastic

Smiles, like you got over

Santa Claus, tooth fairies and

Taney’s Dred Scott script—

Oscar Micheaux’s the only

Oscar relevant, ignore pink-

Eyed lobbyists with detached

Retinas, jaundiced scammers

Legally blind, like monkeys on

Capitalist Hill, like sightless

Juries who saw Rodney as King-

Kong, “controlling the situation,”

Mike Brown as “Hulk Hogan

Bulking up, running through shots,”

Eric Garner as an irresponsible

Stuntman, holding his breath

After his scene was a wrap—

Well, “Hooray for Hollywood”

Never meant Black folk no good…

Quit crashing burning house

Parties, wincing at embers, and

Acrid smoke blinding teleprompter

Readers, missing the Hurricane and X

Denzel whipped up, Round Midnight

Dexter Gordon delivered, timelessly,

Soldier Story Adolph Caesar marshaled, masterfully…

…Selma?

Well, “Hooray for Hollywood”

Never meant Black folk no good…

So tap grapevines, pool pennies

Grown at grassroots; hand out

Statuettes resembling Robeson,

Josephine Baker, Ruby Dee and

Ossie Davis—call ‘em ‘Robies,’

‘Paulies,’ ‘Josies,’ ‘Rubies,’

‘Ossies—‘ just do it…

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at Raymond (at) upsurgejazz.com
Raymond Nat Turner © 2015 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Sportswashing: How Capitalism Kills the Game for Poor and Working Class People While Normalizing How Imperialism Oppresses and Kills Them
    17 Jun 2026
    A single working mother could once take her child to a Yankees game for $40, but today that money would not even cover the online service fees. Sporting events have been stolen from poor and working…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Booing Boss Tweet’s Cruel Reich Cult wherever they go
    17 Jun 2026
    "Booing Boss Tweet’s Cruel Reich Cult wherever they go" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence
  • 2026 Casa Ben Linder Bluefields Delegation
    Nicaragua and The Miseducation of the People of the United States
    17 Jun 2026
    Nicaragua is a living example of anti-imperialist resistance and people-centered development. The job of those in the U.S. is to fight the lies spread by the media and support this revolution through…
  • Hassan El Bial
    The Pentagon's Information War Comes Home
    17 Jun 2026
    The Pentagon is using censorship to control what Americans see as it carries out aggression around the world. However, censorship and war propaganda did not start with Trump or Hegseth.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    World Cup 2026: FIFA and the U.S.’s White Supremacist Colonial Partnership is already on Full Display
    17 Jun 2026
    FIFA has shown itself to be a colonial instrument that serves white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. Referees, players, and fans from non-white nations are being harassed, denied entry, and brutalized…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us