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


  • close-up image of Frank Chapman in a checkered shirt
    Frank Chapman
    A Word on the Meaning of Political Self-Empowerment for Our Movement
    13 Dec 2023
    Frank Chapman wrote this statement to call for unity in struggle by Black, Latino and working-class communities.
  • Jill Stein campaign
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Dr. Jill Stein: A Ballot Challenge to the Crimes of Empire
    06 Dec 2023
    Dr. Jill Stein stepped up to compete for the Green Party presidential nomination after Dr. Cornel West decided to run as an independent. Ann Garrison spoke to her for Pacifica Radio’s “Capitalism,…
  • Alan Pelaez Lopez
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Alan Pelaez Lopez’s Book, “When Language Broke Open”
    06 Dec 2023
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Alan Pelaez Lopez. Dr. Lopez is an assistant professor at the University of…
  • An Afghan boy mourns next to a grave of his little brother who died due to an earthquake.
    Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network Afghanistan Committee
    Afghanistan News Update #20
    06 Dec 2023
    The latest Black Alliance for Peace Afghanistan update provides an overview of the worsening conditions in the country since the US/NATO withdrawal
  • Screenshot of Electronic Intifada video
    Ali Abunimah
    Watch: Debunking Israel's "Mass Rape" Propaganda
    06 Dec 2023
    This is a deceptive campaign based not on evidence but an appeal to racist notions that Palestinians are inherently violent and cruel.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us