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

How will we pay for it?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Jan 2022
🖨️ Print Article
How will we pay for it?
M. Wuerker POLITICO Universal Uclick

                                                                                            How will we pay for it?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
59 missile shooting spree—
$110, 000 a pop?
Mother Of All Bombs?
A boondoggle bomber?
800 bases in faraway places?
States with more warheads than congress members? A modern-medieval torture
chamber on foreign soil? A weapons lab disguised as an apartheid state?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
Surgical strikes on hospitals—
renaming babies Collateral Damage?
Orders to “Light ‘em up!”?
Lethal gifts dropped on wedding parties?
‘Taking out’ other nations’ generals?
Swapping strongmen for wrong men?

How will we pay for it?
How will we pay for it:
Drinking water juiced with jet fuel?
Freedom to breathe blue-black air?
Fracking fluid flavored springs?
Freedom of fires gorging themselves year round?
Freedom of floods to wash away labor’s fruits?

It’s not neurosurgery or rocket science—
and I’m no genius but— I know-I know
I know-I know-I know-I know-I know-I know…
I know-I know-I know-I know-I know-I know…
Tents, tarps, cardboard mattresses—cancer,
Diabetes, tooth decay are one way we pay—
Feel free to fill in anything I’ve missed…
 

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;  BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at:  

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

Military Industrial Complex

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Biden has Money for War, but Not for the Poor
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Biden has Money for War, but Not for the Poor
23 March 2022
Joe Biden and congress have plenty of money for the military industrial complex, but only austerity for the people.
US War Lobby Fuels Conflict in Russia, Ukraine, and Syria: Ex-Pentagon Advisor
Aaron Maté
US War Lobby Fuels Conflict in Russia, Ukraine, and Syria: Ex-Pentagon Advisor
12 January 2022
A former senior advisor at the Pentagon confirms what was obvious to those who pay attention.
Raytheon’s Raven caws “War—Evermore!” Not wind beneath Negroz wings…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raytheon’s Raven caws “War—Evermore!” Not wind beneath Negroz wings…
29 September 2021
Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty
Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  
Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty
01 September 2021
The U.S.

More Stories


  • Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Why Barack Obama is the More Effective Evil
    24 Jul 2024
    Barack Obama earned the moniker of the "lesser evil" despite his evil deeds that, in many cases, were much more successful than those positioned as the greater threat. His image as the first African-…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    2000 lb. Bombastic Blitzkrieg-Klan Rally on Capitalist Hill (For Genocide and War-profiteering)
    24 Jul 2024
    "2000 lb. Bombastic Blitzkrieg-Klan Rally on Capitalist Hill (For Genocide and War-profiteering)" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Cira Pascual Marquina
    Bolivarian Diplomacy vs. the Monroe Doctrine: A Conversation with Carlos Ron (Part I)
    24 Jul 2024
    Venezuela’s upcoming presidential election raises the issue of US meddling in Latin America.
  • Ammiel Alcalay
    Even the US Propaganda Machine Can't Whitewash Biden's Sordid Record
    24 Jul 2024
    Sentimental tributes pour in for Biden. But from enabling genocide in Gaza to supporting the US's rich at the expense of the poor, he leaves a trail of human and economic carnage.
  • Joseph Massad
    Why blaming the Israel lobby for western Middle East policies is misguided
    23 Jul 2024
    The claim that the Israel lobby controls US policy in the Middle East amounts to absolving the US of responsibility for its imperialist policies in the Arab world.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us