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


  • Statement Issued by New World Mathaba: Brutal Attacks on Africans in Morocco Highlights Crisis in Africa
    New World Mathaba
    Statement Issued by New World Mathaba: Brutal Attacks on Africans in Morocco Highlights Crisis in Africa
    29 Jun 2022
    New World Mathaba issued this statement in protest of the deaths of African migrants at the hands of Moroccan security forces while attempting to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
  • Colombia Votes for Vivir Sabroso: Chronicle of an Historic Election
    Agustín Laó-Montes
    Colombia Votes for Vivir Sabroso: Chronicle of an Historic Election
    29 Jun 2022
    The election victory of Colombia's Historical Pact was the culmination of years of struggle in that country.
  • The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    29 Jun 2022
    The causes of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence are rarely taught in this country. The American colonists chafed under British rules limiting their settlements and feared they…
  • Belgium Returns Remains of Assassinated Congolese Leader Patrice Lumumba But What About Justice?
    Tanupriya Singh
    Belgium Returns Remains of Assassinated Congolese Leader Patrice Lumumba But What About Justice?
    29 Jun 2022
    Belgium has returned a gold crowned tooth of Patrice Lumumba to his family.
  • Russia-Africa Summit to Reconvene in Ethiopia During November-December
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Russia-Africa Summit to Reconvene in Ethiopia During November-December
    29 Jun 2022
    African nations have not succumbed to US/NATO pressure to condemn Russia. They maintain their sovereign rights by continuing relations with other nations as they see fit.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us