Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olā Schmoās sounding Sam and Dave-ishā
āHold on, Iām comināā¦
Hold on, Iām comināā¦ā
from high alert into harmās way of your sidewalk
sleeper cellsāyour encampments, tarps and tents
sprung up like multi-colored mini-mushroom clouds
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olā Schmoās sounding Sam and Dave-ishā
āHold on, Iām comināā¦
Hold on, Iām comināā¦ā from high alert to coordinates
of borders between Berkeley and Oakland where youāre
Amassed.
Heās comin' boots on the groundāSpecial Forcesābrave
fighting men and women platoon/battalion, heavily-armedā Amish-styleāready to raise roofs and grow foodā¦
Capitalismās putative leader knows the Golden Stateās home to half his nationās unhoused. And heās hopping madāR2P: Responsibility To Protectāhumanitarian interventionāMAD! āWhat lousy dictator would do this to his own people?!ā āOwn people!ā he mumbles āWill gas be next?!ā āGas?!ā he babblesā¦
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olā Schmoās sounding Sam and Dave-ishā
āHold on, Iām comināā¦
Hold on, Iām comināā¦ā from high alert, deploying good guys with nail-guns, hammers, saws, 2x4s, rebar, bricks and concreteā Weapons of Mass ConstructionāBuild Back Better aināt bosh! Heās cominā ācause housingās a human right;
Cominā to get bogged down in Structural Adjustments;
Cominā Slick Willy-ish: āI feel your paināitās the economy stupid!ā Cominā Drone Ranger-ish: with spare āChange you can believe inā¦ā If your eyes well up when handed your keys itās 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: āSupport the troops!ā āSupport the troops!ā
Itās OK to let good guys with Weapons of Mass Construction board planes before babysitters, teachers, midwifes, nurses, doctors and dentists as you chant, āThank you for your serviceā over and overā¦
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damageā
Spoiler alert:
Olā Schmoās changing his tune. Heās saying he
Tolt you from da gitāfrom da jump: āNothing
would fundamentally changeā¦Heās saying he
has a right to sing the Bluesā a right to try to
sound more and more like Lady Day each day:
āHush now, donāt explainā¦
money waits in Ukraineā¦ā
Ā© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Shani Robinson taught in the Atlanta, Georgia public school system.
Dr. Nicole Price is the Forbes Books author of Spark The Heart: Engineering Empathy In Your Organization.
Nick Encalada-Malinowski is Director of the Civil Rights Union campaign at Vocal-NY.
The climate emergency won't end because of heartfelt pleas to the people and the interests who created the crisis. Ecocide will stop when capitalism ends.
To mark the last days of Black August, we reprint below Freedomwaysā 1975 editorial about Joanne Little, a Black woman indicted for killing her white prison guard and would-be rapist.
