“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.
What benefits do Black folk get by endorsing or participating in the white man’s war? Revisiting an anti-war statement by Langston Hughes.
The U.S. does not respect the right to health care, housing, employment, or education while making war on the rest of the world. What does the idea of human rights amount to in this country?
From culture wars to identity politics, it's easy to get sucked into toxic rhetoric and forget the reality of racism staring the US in the face.
Rwanda and Uganda continue their plunder and destabilization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as proxies of the United States.
Where do they all come from???
