Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots,
overthrowing Black elected officials and
Massacring those that VOTED for them—
Wilmington, North Carolina, 1898;
Kristallnacht came shooting, looting and burning;
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921; Rosewood, Florida, 1923;
Muslim Mosque # 27, L.A., 1962; came with scorched
earth for schoolchildren’s food from the Black Panther
Party Free Breakfast Program; for Fred Hampton’s home…
Kristallnacht came this time by bus, by train, by plane,
by car—storming Capitalist Hill with guns, knives, tasers,
mace, bear spray, retractable batons, brass knuckles and
Badges. Did it come fighting Slow-pitch-Mitch-Two-buck-
Chuck-Chancy-Nancy over mile-long food lines?
Over bellies beginning to bloat and sound like zoos?
Over tiny voices whining, “Daddy, I’m hungry”?
Kristallnacht came a thousand Sheriff Joes, Jim Clarks,
Bull Connors—bent badges, macabre tattoos celebrating
extrajudicial executions; a thousand ‘roid raging wild
Boers snorting thin blue lines of Third Reich ideology;
Kristallnacht came disguised as Mr. Magoo mistaking flagpoles and
Fire extinguishers for batons; tables for battering rams; Like cell-
phones morphing into guns in Black hands—and backs into bullseyes…
Kristallnacht came with confederate battle flags; came greeting
Blue uniformed Black capitol cops as ‘Officer Nigger—‘ tail-gating
Lynch mob, Georgia on its mind—Dead set on disenfranchising
Detroit’s 13th; New York’s 14th; Minneapolis’s 5th; Boston’s 7th;
St. Louis’1st; L.A.’s 37th/43rd; Oakland’s 13th; and declaring that
Bourgeois democracy’s officially over…
Kristallnacht came flying Delta and American Airlines over stage-
coach and buckboard—came plotting with congress members by
Internet, rather than telegraph; Kristallnacht came vaccinated
against the 21st Century—and engaged in hand-to-hand combat
with second/minute/hour hands to overthrow motion, change,
And development resembling
streets of rainbow rebellion ‘cross the country; ‘round the world…
Kristallnacht came—though low Barr left town—and Grecian
Formula 9/11 failed in Philly…
Kristallnacht came in “Trial by Combat” Count Ghouliani—
living on 9/11 blood—
The Count cut his fangs on drunken NYPD officers rioting and
urinating on Dinkins’ leadership. The Count knew reduction in
force; horses; cordoned off perimeters; protest pens; L-Rad; kettling…
Kristallnacht came whistling dixie, “Supporting The Troops—”
Came questioning “The War On Terror;” refuting “Defund the
police—”
For who else can shatter glass, skulls and illusions like that…?
Who?
© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Kill Just For A Thrill…last days of Pompeo…
Just for a thrill
they brought families more pain—
More white supremacist reign…
Just for a thrill
they made peoples’ lives one sad song
So a bunker boss might look ‘strong…’
Just for a thrill
they’ve made men’s hearts stand still—
Paper matches snuffed at will…
Just for a thrill
he’d lynch 5 innocent boys—
Crush them like Cracker Jack toys…
Just for a thrill
they have looped Emmett Till—
Black bodies/lame duck landfill…
Just for a thrill
they kill, kill and kill and kill—
Their swamp drains to a dunghill…
Just for a thrill
they kill with impunity—
Bloody herd immunity…
Just for a thrill
spreading lethal infection—
Joyriding lethal injection…
Just for a thrill
lowlife thugs killing for sport—
Earning dates at the World Court…
though they’re free to kill for fun—
The Peoples’ Will will be done…
© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
*Poet’s note: Inspired by the great Ray Charles’ version of the great Lil Hardin’s “Just For A Thrill.”
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
Haiti Action Committee is honored to share the keynote address given by Haiti’s former First Lady Mildred Aristide at the April 8th, 2025 Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights: Truth, Solidarity and…
Roughly a third of the people who were arrested by LAPD in the city of Los Angeles for cannabis-related offenses since 2020 were arrested in Westchester. Nearly all of those arrests happened at Los…
Israel is intensifying its genocidal assault on Gaza—starving civilians, bombing hospitals, and burning journalists alive. Yet amid the devastation, Palestinians persist in acts of defiant resistance.
President Daniel Noboa is accused of stealing Ecuador’s election. He’s now poised to consolidate control of a system that has benefitted cartels and multinational corporations – including his family…
In this week’s segment, we hear about a new effort to have an independent, socialist candidate on the ballot in New York City’s upcoming mayoral race. But first, we speak to an academic about the…
