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


  • Congressional Black Caucus Continues Its Downward Spiral
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Congressional Black Caucus Continues Its Downward Spiral
    05 Oct 2022
    The Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference returned with dubious corporate sponsorships and obedience to the democratic party. Joe Biden received a warm welcome which is logical…
  • ESSAY: A Case of Mistaken Identity: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture, Ernesto Sagás, 1993
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: A Case of Mistaken Identity: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture, Ernesto Sagás, 1993
    05 Oct 2022
    On the history and origins of anti-Haitian sentiment in the Dominican Republic.
  • Combat Nihilism: Revolutionary Optimism in the Age of U.S. Imperial Decline
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Combat Nihilism: Revolutionary Optimism in the Age of U.S. Imperial Decline
    05 Oct 2022
    Optimism would seem to be counter intuitive given the many crises facing millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. But optimism backed up by revolutionary thinking is just what is…
  • Brazil’s Haitian Training Ground
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Brazil’s Haitian Training Ground
    05 Oct 2022
    Brazil is setting up for a run-off election between right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and “leftist” former President Lula da Silva.
  • For African Americans, Employing a Radical Internationalist Perspective is not a Luxury, But a Necessity
    Dr. Gerald Horne
    For African Americans, Employing a Radical Internationalist Perspective is not a Luxury, But a Necessity
    05 Oct 2022
    Black people in this country must reconnect with the internationalist tradition in order to understand the crises taking place around the world and in the U.S. Domestic and international…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us