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


  • The US Is Determined to Drive a Wedge between Ethiopia and Eritrea
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    The US Is Determined to Drive a Wedge between Ethiopia and Eritrea
    23 Nov 2022
    The US seems willing to accept Ethiopia’s defeat of its former puppet, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), if it can just drive a wedge between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
  • Music in Montreal: Our song, “The Internationale!”
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Music in Montreal: Our song, “The Internationale!”
    23 Nov 2022
    Music in Montreal: Our song, “The Internationale!”
  • BAR Book Forum: Cristina M. Visperas’s Book, “Skin Theory”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Cristina M. Visperas’s Book, “Skin Theory”
    23 Nov 2022
    This week’s featured author is Cristina Mejia Visperas. Visperas is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Southern California. Her book is Skin Theory: Visual Culture and the…
  •  Haiti in the Caribbean: A Political Economy Perspective on the Urgent Crisis of Imperialism
    Tamanisha John
    Haiti in the Caribbean: A Political Economy Perspective on the Urgent Crisis of Imperialism
    23 Nov 2022
    If Haiti is "the poorest country in the hemisphere" it is because imperialist policies continue to impoverish and destabilize that nation. 
  •  Ethiopia Peace Deal: U.S. Proxy War By Other Means?
    Hermela Aregawi
    Ethiopia Peace Deal: U.S. Proxy War By Other Means?
    23 Nov 2022
    The people of Ethiopia are understandably relieved that a peace agreement now exists between their government and the TPLF. But aspects of the agreement may allow the U.S. to continue the conflict…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us