Rhythms of red, white, blue ‘party’
lights flashing beneath screaming
sirens; The rush of warm crimson
drawing 2, 4, 6, 8, 10—and then some…
Robotic legs, arms—possessed—
punching, kicking a fetal fraction—
prone red shirt; black face; fractured
eye socket, exploding eyeball; broken
ribs drowning in swarming blue savagery:
The viral video sparks flashbacks to a few
of my… narrow escapes…
“Keep still, punk, or I’ll bust
your damn head open!”
13 year-old reaching for wallet,
complying with ID ‘command…’
“You been runnin’, haven’t you, boy?”
15 year-old jogging to get home before
Curfew; before cuffing and seating in
black and white backseat…
“Someone robbed a store down the street—
your jacket and cap match the description;”
Gun in gut of a
20 year-old strolling home from library…
Back to the viral video—
infested with dozens of loitering,
swaggering, threatening gun-thugs
Ambling, dawdling, strutting,
prancing, parading, promenading,
putzing ‘bout—on our clock—blocking
Residents from their neighbor’s slowly
fading cries for help…
Are we financing the framers—“Finding
Fathers—“ finding evidence locker guns,
knives, drugs—magically appearing at
shootings—or in poor peoples’ pockets?
Are we funding the epithets fired through
donut holes—like ‘rubber’ bullets shred-
ding the1st Amendment?
Are we subsidizing six-figure salaries and health-
care for killers masquerading as ‘peace’ officers?
Are we paying pensions for the privilege of ’10-
ring’ targeting on lethal 9-1-1 calls?
Are we suckers and losers, bankrolling blu klux
klansmen—death squads slaughtering 1,000 a year—
Sucking up .50 cents of our every dollar?
Are we underwriting Rotten Orchard bad
apples protecting/serving the1%? Are we
bankrolling badges breaking bones—“earning
ink—” on our dime?
Are we bankrolling Banditos, Riders, Regulators,
Executioners, Vikings, Spartans, Grim Reapers,
Jump Out Boy-white supremacist dinosaurs—use-
less as milk pails beneath bulls?
The Gloves Davis, Foot Doctor Siapnos, Choker
Vasquezs, Clubber Williamses of the world?
Are we blinded by Blue Ribbon Commissions
crooning “Body-Cam” and “Better Training
Blues,” professing to teach Al Capone etiquette;
Andrew Jackson Native American Medicine—
Hitler Torah?
Or, are we ready to return thin blu lines of inked
arms, bent badges to 1850s enclaves—Abolishing,
Dismantling, disassembling, de-
constructing ‘collective’ EXTORTION agreements?
© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .
COMMENTS?
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport
Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com
Black and brown volunteers were considered both “essential” and “dispensable” in past disease-ridden US conflicts, just as they are in today’s Covid crisis.
Immigrants that moved to Britain as children were deported to Jamaica as “foreign criminals.”
The celebration of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste reflects the continued priority of elite preferences over the needs and struggles of ordinary people.
A significant portion of sports franchise wealth can be traced directly to the oppression and displacement of Black and Brown bodies.
To understand why COVID-19 killed so many young Black men, you need to know the legend of John Henry. “Covid-19 is a new gear in an old machine.”
