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


  • Peoples Dispatch
    Political deportation of Kanak leaders sparks more protests in New Caledonia
    26 Jun 2024
    The arrest and deportation of several prominent Kanak leaders have reignited widespread protests in New Caledonia.
  • Julian Assange
    The Real News Network , Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Trump Team Turns On Wikileaks Co-Founder Julian Assange
    26 Jun 2024
    Julian Assange accepted a plea deal in exchange for his freedom from the bipartisan effort to keep him imprisoned and to charge him with a crime for publishing material the state wants to keep a…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 21, 2024
    21 Jun 2024
    This week, we learn about a lawsuit by Black and Latino residents over the redrawing of an electoral district map that leaves them without representation. We discuss New York State's…
  • Tulsa newspaper
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Tulsa Massacre Instigated by White Supremacist Media
    21 Jun 2024
    We are joined by Joe Torres to discuss the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the media’s role in instigating the atrocity.
  • Galveston, Texas
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black and Latino Voters in Galveston County Texas Fight for Voting Rights
    21 Jun 2024
    Yurij Rudensky joins us to discuss a lawsuit against Galveston County, Texas, brought by Black and Latino residents over its racially discriminatory district map.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us