“Fascism, by its very nature, must be
anti-rationale and anti-humane.”
—I.F. Stone
Not even semiautomatic “thoughts and prayers”
Fired, as black boxes, and burned bodies of
Beloveds are fished from icy waters of the
Potomac … And notification of next of kin trudges on …
Strong embraces … for bloodshot eyes?
Compassionate hugs leaning into shattered hearts?
Comforting words … soothing souls in shock?
Humble head bowed in prayer with parents?
None of this. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Bupkis.
From the reigning Champions of Cruelty. Nothing.
Nada. Zilch. Zero. Bupkis from moneyed men with
Empty, mustard seed-sized hatred-filled hearts …
Nothing, except an absurd salad of words served
Piping hot on high fructose corn syrup talking points;
And fermented elephant excrement. Nothing, except
Leftovers from tattered menus mimicking ancient agendas …
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Must’ve been the Blackhawk Helicopter—
Or, was it an Apache? Dumb-assed Indians!
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been monkey-ass Soul Plane Snoop Dogg
Pilots flying civilian aircraft into military airspace?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been woke, chicken wing Tuskegee
Airmen? Never could fly like white pilots!
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Must’ve been Mexican and Haitian pilots—
Eating the dogs instead of flying the plane?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been transgender air traffic controllers—
Switching off radar for Gay-dar?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Reagan knew! Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Fired lazy-assed DEI air traffic controllers—
For the best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been Black flight attendants filing their nails,
Instead of calmly telling passengers, “We’re gonna die …”
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Negroes blew up two very fine Boeing Max jets!
And blew the door off another over the Northwest—
Must’ve been a Black flight attendant opening the door
In flight?
© 2025. 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.
For the past 30 years, no matter which party has been in power, the US economy has produced more and more “bad” jobs – because the Race to the Bottom is ruling class policy.
It is true now just as when Glen Ford wrote these words in 2019. In any alliance with corporate oppression and militarism, Black America squanders reservoirs of respect among the Earth’s peoples.…
The U.S. has used its influence to steal another country’s oil revenues. Venezuela is in the crosshairs because it dares to be socialist in the hemisphere the U.S. claims as it’s “backyard.”
The late Glen Ford would probably refer to events in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and elsewhere as the “blowback” from France’s colonial past.
“The structural crisis of capitalism in its neoliberal form has created a legitimacy crisis for the capitalist rulers, making the use of force a permanent strategy for maintaining their dominance.”
