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

R2P: Responsibility To Protect
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
02 Feb 2022
šŸ–Øļø Print Article
Source: hedearnell.medium.com
Source: hedearnell.medium.com

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage,  

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ 

from high alert into harm’s way of your sidewalk  

sleeper cells—your encampments, tarps and tents 

sprung up like multi-colored mini-mushroom clouds 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage,  

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ from high alert to coordinates  

of borders between Berkeley and Oakland where you’re  

Amassed. 

He’s comin' boots on the ground—Special Forces—brave  

fighting men and women platoon/battalion, heavily-armed— Amish-style—ready to raise roofs and grow food… 

Capitalism’s putative leader knows the Golden State’s home to half his nation’s unhoused. And he’s hopping mad—R2P: Responsibility To Protect—humanitarian intervention—MAD! ā€œWhat lousy dictator would do this to his own people?!ā€ ā€œOwn people!ā€ he mumbles ā€œWill gas be next?!ā€ ā€œGas?!ā€ he babbles… 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage, 

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ from high alert, deploying good guys with nail-guns, hammers, saws, 2x4s, rebar, bricks and concrete— Weapons of Mass Construction—Build Back Better ain’t bosh! He’s comin’ ā€˜cause housing’s a human right; 

Comin’ to get bogged down in Structural Adjustments; 

Comin’ Slick Willy-ish: ā€œI feel your pain—it’s the economy stupid!ā€ Comin’ Drone Ranger-ish: with spare ā€œChange you can believe inā€¦ā€ If your eyes well up when handed your keys it’s OK; OK if you burst  into tears during your first shower in two years; OK to wake up in your  warm laundry-fresh bed babbling: ā€œSupport the troops!ā€ ā€œSupport the troops!ā€

It’s OK to let good guys with Weapons of Mass Construction board planes before babysitters, teachers, midwifes, nurses, doctors and dentists as you chant, ā€œThank you for your serviceā€ over and over… 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage—  

Spoiler alert: 

Ol’ Schmo’s changing his tune. He’s saying he 

Tolt you from da git—from da jump: ā€œNothing 

would fundamentally change…He’s saying he 

has a right to sing the Blues— a right to try to 

sound more and more like Lady Day each day: 

ā€œHush now, don’t explain… 

money waits in Ukraineā€¦ā€ 

 

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

 

War and Empire

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


More Stories


  • CurbFest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Curbfest for Political Prisoners
    06 Sep 2024
    We are joined by Jasiri Fahali Kiyamaa, an organizer of Curbfest, an event advocating for political prisoners. New York City's Curbfest will take place on Saturday, September 7, 2024 in Brooklyn.
  • Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley , Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Glen Ford: Say Political Prisoners Names While They Still Live
    06 Sep 2024
    In 2020 our late comrade Glen Ford spoke at a Black is Back Coalition video conference on political prisoners. In these excerpts of his remarks, he discussed the need to understand the political…
  • Ridesharing
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Tennessee Ride Share Workers Protest Uber and Lyft Labor Practices
    06 Sep 2024
    We are joined by Cecilia Prado, the Chairperson of A Luta Sigue who is working with the drivers to organize the Tennessee Drivers Union strike and others on labor organizing in Nashville and Memphis…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 6, 2024
    06 Sep 2024
    In this week’s segment we hear about the exploitation of ride share workers and a labor action in Tennessee, a state hostile to worker organizing. But first we discuss organizing on behalf of…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    AOC and the Desperate Democrats Attempt to Undermine the Greens
    04 Sep 2024
    The incessant and increasingly harsh attacks on the Green Party are indicators of its appeal to millions of people. Democrats engage in political fakery and smear campaigns against the greens because…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us