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


  • Alex Saab, Venezuelan Political Prisoner on Trial in Miami, Refuses to “Sing”
    Roger D. Harris
    Alex Saab, Venezuelan Political Prisoner on Trial in Miami, Refuses to “Sing”
    14 Dec 2022
    Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab was kidnapped by the U.S. in 2020 and is still in custody. An evidentiary hearing is taking place to determine if the country that constantly speaks of a "rules based…
  • Invitations for a Seat at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Table Should Not Only Be Rejected, the Table Needs Turning Over!
    Black Alliance For Peace
    Invitations for a Seat at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Table Should Not Only Be Rejected, the Table Needs Turning Over!
    14 Dec 2022
    The 2022 U.S. African Leaders Summit is the latest effort by Washington to exert influence on a continent where it habitually thwarts democracy, sovereignty and independence for 54 nations. 
  • Rain of Sanctions Augurs U.S.-Prodded Regime Change in Haiti from Musseau to Montana
    Travis Ross
    Rain of Sanctions Augurs U.S.-Prodded Regime Change in Haiti from Musseau to Montana
    14 Dec 2022
    U.S. and Canadian sanctions against Haitians are a signal that a new Core Group regime change plot is underway.
  • Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy
    Dee Knight
    Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy
    14 Dec 2022
    A new book, Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy, analyses unilateral coercive measures, sanctions, which are war by other means waged by the U.S. against millions of people around the…
  • Israel and the Rise of Jewish Fascism
    Chris Hedges
    Israel and the Rise of Jewish Fascism
    14 Dec 2022
    The mask is being lifted from the face of Israel’s apartheid state, exposing a grinning death’s head that portends the obliteration of the few restraints against killing Palestinians.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us