by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
Blows and kicks are raining thick and fast, though many miss their mark their mark. But the intention of the 45th president is plainly to take us somewhere we really don't want to go, in a hurry or at all. Are we prepared to resist?
Boss Tweetâs Blitzkrieg
by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
I wake up in a cold sweat
Scrambling for the internetâ
What damage has daily doses of Shock and aweâblitzkriegâdone?
What salvoes were let loose
while we slept?
How badly
Bombed is the social safety net?
What rights are left?
Is blitzkrieg a 140 character shtikâ
Boss Tweetâs clever crafting; swift installation of Fascist framework, the Cheeto Bandito's handiwork?
Or, are unnamed players pullers of strings;
ALEC architects of orders and edictsâpens
Includedânarcissistâs signature required?
Bless the left, left behind holding their nosesâŚ
Debating a Devilâs disciple, apprentice FĂźhrer
And lilâ fella, funny mustache, jackboots, stiff
Salutes; versus Brooks Bros. suitsâŚ
(They dig definitions:
âOvert terroristic dictatorship
most reactionary,
most chauvinistic
most imperialist elements
of finance capitalâŚ
establishment of
Fascism reflects inability
of the ruling capitalist class
to maintain power by
Usual âdemocraticâ methodsâ)
Are we there?
Or should we, unsuspecting
Frogs, wait in the water, in the pot on the
stove, while you âunpackâ, nuance, contextualize
Complexities of class war waged by the 1%?
Are we there?
Or should we spend 2-4 yrs blood and
Treasure chasing corporate slogans
and longing for seats at the tableâ
When weâre on the menu?
Are we there?
Or is it only the offal office oozing orange pusâ
Or the whole bloody, rotten, yellow-taped, white supreme court, capitalist hill crime sceneâ
Where thugs make the law as they break the law?
Are we there?
Or is there a method to Michiganâs madness:
Flintâs poisoned water/overthrown elected government;
Whirlpoolâs cesspoolâgolf course coup in Benton Harbor;
Detroit under anti-democratic, corporate control?
Are we there?
Or should we continue passionate pleas to
Sociopathsâmoral messages to cold-blooded
Killers; treatises, eloquent arguments to
Madmen and women water-boarding, bombing the world?
Are we there?
Or is it some new âAlt/postâ patriarchyâ
From founding fathers, framers, doubling as
Murderers, torturers, land and wage thievesâ
pussy grabbers of grandmothers, granddaughters?
Are we there?
Are we ready to have a conversation on Race?
Race to Resist and rid ourselves of corporate
Killers poisoning the planetâs water, air, foodâ
Torching Mother Earthâ
Race to Unite in workplaces, schools, churchesâŚ
Training and organizing ourselves ASAP to
STOP
These mutha-fukkkas; or, perish as fools:
If this Race doesnât quicken the pulseâ
Check your embalming fluidâŚ
Raymond Nat Turner Š 2017 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist.
Find much more of his work at Http://upsurgejazz.com
Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest on the Black Liberation Media program, Saturdays with Renee, with Renee Johnston and Jared Ball. They discussed the issue of birthright citizenship in light ofâŚ
After two years of civil war, Sudan is now the site of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. However, as in most conflicts in the Global South, colonial and neocolonial history are a large partâŚ
Arrests of members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front are the latest in a decades-long effort to criminalize the left and to make examples of anyone who might fit the profile of being a "âŚ
An end-of-the-year radical Black reading list from the editors of The Black Agenda Review.
"Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
