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

The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
16 Jun 2021
🖨️ Print Article
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people—
‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 
off summer skyscrapers; ricocheting off resistance 
Millenia righteous… Centuries overdue…
So, what the bleep is Joe Munchkin? Another Mitch The
Witch For The Rich? Kentucky turtle Kabuki Theater
foil? Another Chamber of Commerce shill cross-dressing
as corporate lobbyist…Stalling Tom Thumb legislation?

We wade $campaign promise marsh; $election swamp lies.
We vault War House walls of words; leap Capitalist Hill
Money worship moats; and White Supreme Court quick-
sand—chambers of tilted tables, marked cards, loaded dice.
We evade Jim Crow jurists, hoodless klan in black robes 

We elude endless war, warmongering-war-profiteering, 
junk metal-chested generals—slimy senators, corrupt 
congressmen in tow. We navigate gauntlets of these
Gaslighting grifters…Thickets of thieves, thugs, torturers,
informants, flunkies, lackeys…Flippant filibusters running
on alcohol, protocol and Geritol. And we foil fossil fools
poisoning the planet. We behave like super heroes ‘cause
We can’t breathe no mo’ homelessness, poverty, low wealth, 
poor health, prison slavery, kidnapping and caging children

We know their f$%#ing pronouns— Now,“Say their names,”
bynames and aliases. Say their sobriquets as slavers; their
Epithets as exploiters/extractors; monikers as massacrers.
Say their bloody noms de guerre; and handles for henchmen.

“Say their names:” low level Bassackwards Tribesmen of the
Strong-arm Williams-Thom-ass Clarence-type. Bassackwards 
Tribesmen led by Rice Warrior Wenches, Drone Ranger, Ladee Blu,
Unca Jim, Raytheon’s Craven Raven—Sharlaton/See Eye Sebben ilk

“Say their names:” Insolent Slick Willy sects; low Barr/Boss Tweet
bottom feeders, draining the swamp of its dignity. “Say their names:”
Scornful Schmuck Cheney/Schmo Biden war criminal apartheid
state enablers. “Say their names:” Uncivil to children senator Sci-Fi,
Beauregard, Rumy-like Lead Lady, Chuck Tumor/Chancy Nancy/Joe 
Munchkin scribblers of… “Nothing will fundamentally change…”

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

poetry

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


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the "America COMPETES Act"
    Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the "America COMPETES Act"
    09 Feb 2022
    The America COMPETES Act passed by the House of Representatives is a futile effort to "contain" China, and a de facto attack on that country.
  • How Lebanon Exploits Migrant Workers
    Tessa Fox
    How Lebanon Exploits Migrant Workers
    09 Feb 2022
    The kafala system allows residents to bring workers into Lebanon, where they are often abused and overworked with no recourse to protection under labor laws.
  • SPEECH: (Re)Centring African Epistemologies: An Intellectual Journey, Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, 2021
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: (Re)Centring African Epistemologies: An Intellectual Journey, Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, 2021.
    09 Feb 2022
    Nigerian scholar Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí’s speech upon acceptance of the African Studies Association’s Distinguished Africanist Award offers an important reminder of the role of racist and sexist hie
  • The current crisis in Ukraine had its beginnings in 2014, when the U.S. allied itself with right wing, white supremacist forces to overthrow an elected government. Supposed leftists in this country were largely silent about the danger and were themselves supportive of white supremacist politics carried out by the U.S. and its NATO partners. 
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Left-Right White Solidarity Basis of Support for U.S./EU/NATO Wars on Global Humanity
    09 Feb 2022
    The current crisis in Ukraine had its beginnings in 2014, when the U.S. allied itself with right wing, white supremacist forces to overthrow an elected government.
  • Eight times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons Since WWII
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eight times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons Since WWII
    09 Feb 2022
    U.S. accusations of human rights abuses elsewhere ring hollow.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us