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


  • BAR Book Forum: Jamil W. Drake’s “To Know the Soul of a People”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jamil W. Drake’s “To Know the Soul of a People”
    03 Aug 2022
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Marisol LeBrón’s “Against Muerto Rico”
    03 Aug 2022
  • The United Nations designated the years 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent. But the project has not only been neglected, it has also focused on “recognition” instead of “reparations,” reinforcing the structural racism inherent in the liberal capitalist system.
    Mireille Fanon Mendes France
    The International Decade for People of African Descent : Who have these 10 years served?
    03 Aug 2022
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Africa Remains at the Center of a 21st Century Cold War
    03 Aug 2022
  • Final Declaration of the Workers’ Summit of the Americas
    The Workers' Summit of the Americas
    Final Declaration of the Workers’ Summit of the Americas
    03 Aug 2022
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us