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 NED's Role in Undermining Democracy in Haiti
    Travis Ross
    The NED's Role in Undermining Democracy in Haiti
    26 Oct 2022
    The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is the soft power arm of the CIA. Its operations in Haiti have played a large role in undermining sovereignty.
  • The Rot of LA’s Neoliberal Democratic Party Politics
    Quetzal Cáceres
    The Rot of LA’s Neoliberal Democratic Party Politics
    26 Oct 2022
    The recording of racist remarks by Los Angeles politicians is the tip of a neo-liberal iceberg of political corruption, and the Black political class are of no use to their constituents.
  • An Inversion of Truth: the TPLF and its Commitment to Peace
    Dr. Fikrejesus Amahazion
    An Inversion of Truth: the TPLF and its Commitment to Peace
    26 Oct 2022
    The conflict between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF has been marked by a well coordinated disinformation campaign. The effectiveness of that campaign should not forgotten, even as the parties…
  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42
    US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42
    26 Oct 2022
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42 focuses on the role of AFRICOM in creating coups across the continent and speaks with Ameth Lô, who is a member of the Group for Research and…
  • Nuclear High Noon in Europe
    Scott Ritter
    Nuclear High Noon in Europe
    26 Oct 2022
    Now is the time for Biden to clarify U.S. nuclear doctrine. But he remains silent.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us