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
đŸ–šïž 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— 

“Hold on, I’m comin’
 

Hold on, I’m comin’
” 

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— 

“Hold on, I’m comin’
 

Hold on, I’m comin’
” 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! “What lousy dictator would do this to his own people?!” “Own people!” he mumbles “Will gas be next?!” “Gas?!” he babbles
 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage, 

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

“Hold on, I’m comin’
 

Hold on, I’m comin’
” 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’ ‘cause housing’s a human right; 

Comin’ to get bogged down in Structural Adjustments; 

Comin’ Slick Willy-ish: “I feel your pain—it’s the economy stupid!” Comin’ Drone Ranger-ish: with spare “Change you can believe in
” 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: “Support the troops!” “Support the troops!”

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, “Thank you for your service” 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: “Nothing 

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: 

“Hush now, don’t explain
 

money waits in Ukraine
” 

 

© 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


  • BAP Haiti/Americas Team Condemns the Dina Boluarte Coup Regime’s Violent Repression of Protesters in PerĂș
    Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    BAP Haiti/Americas Team Condemns the Dina Boluarte Coup Regime’s Violent Repression of Protesters in PerĂș
    18 Jan 2023
    The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the Dina Boluarte Coup Regime’s Violent Repression of Protesters in PerĂș .
  • Is the promise of 30,000 visas a Trojan horse?
    Kim Ives
    Is the promise of 30,000 visas a Trojan horse?
    18 Jan 2023
    Washington's announcement that 30,000 new visas would be made available to Haitians raised more questions than it answered.
  • Africa in Review 2022, III: Mounting Challenges Require Long Term Solutions
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Africa in Review 2022, III: Mounting Challenges Require Long Term Solutions
    18 Jan 2023
    Peace accord in Ethiopia, COP27 at Sharm-el-Sheikh and the second continental public health summit portend much for the coming years.
  • Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    Ben Norton
    Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    18 Jan 2023
    Former DIA analyst Ana BelĂ©n Montes was imprisoned for 20 years for sharing intelligence with Cuba that helped it prevent US attacks and sabotage. Upon being released, she condemned the “suffocating

  • Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    13 Jan 2023
    This week we have an update on the FBI raid and impending indictments against members of the Uhuru Movement, discuss what Damar Hamlin teaches us about the business of football, and discover that

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us