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

Wizard of Oz redux— …and some casting questions…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
24 Aug 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Wizard of Oz redux—  …and some casting questions…

                                                                                                                     Wizard of Oz redux—

                                                                                                            …and some casting questions…

Suppose Hollywood hits you up
‘bout this big budget redo of
The Wizard of Oz? What if they
say it’s all your call…’cept this?

They say you must shoot in Uvalde
using locals. No big name stars. Do you say
“OK” when they say, “And you must cast the
Cops?” Or, do you ask—“What as?”

Angry Apple Tree? Crows in the Corn
Field? Ozmites? Tin Polishers? Horse
of Another Color? Almira Gulch’s bi
cycle?

Lullaby League? Lollipop Guild? Scare
crow? Sleepyheads? Munchkin Fiddlers?
Munchkin Soldiers? Munchkin Barristers?
Munchkin Mayor? Munchkin Coroner?

Hunk? Uncle Henry? Hickory? Toto?
Dorthy Gale? Aunt Em? Almira Gulch?
Professor Marvel? Tin Man? Glinda?
Wizard? Wicked Witch? Ruby Slippers?

Winged Monkeys instructed: “Take your Army
to the Haunted Forest and bring me those boys
and girls! Do what you want with the others—
They'll give you no trouble I promise you that?”

Winkies chanting, “O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!” into
radios in the school hallway? Hearing, “Poppies,
poppies, poppies” instead of some shooter’s
Pop-pop-pop-pops for some 70 minutes?

Are we leaving any characters out?

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

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 and PayPal.

Uvalde

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


More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    War Propaganda and the Fall of Syria
    11 Dec 2024
    A succession of U.S. presidents have been committed to regime change in Syria. That long-held goal has been achieved in part through a sustained campaign of war propaganda.
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    A Discussion with Ajamu Baraka on People(s)-Centered Human Rights, a Framework Born of Struggle and Crisis
    11 Dec 2024
    The Black Alliance for Peace just launched its North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights. Ajamu Baraka and Margaret Kimberley discussed why this project is so necessary.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: France and the Colonial Roots of Black Citizenship, Maboula Soumohoro, 2021
    11 Dec 2024
    “How do you fight racism in a land where racism obviously exists, the far right is ascendent, but race is not accepted as a category?”
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    From Relative “Peace” to Chaos: The First Phase of a New War Returns to Syria
    11 Dec 2024
    The fall of the Syrian government is being heralded by Western liberals and "leftists." The collapse is not the liberation that is being presented by the US and its corporate media partners.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    French Court Convicts French-Cameroonian Journalist Charles Onana of Speech Crime
    11 Dec 2024
    A French criminal court has convicted a journalist for writing dissident history about Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us