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


  • Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    BAP Backgrounder: Haiti Behind the Headlines
    13 Mar 2024
    The Black Alliance for Peace lays out the reality of the ongoing crisis in Haiti, rejecting the mainstream narrative of a crisis of "gangs".
  • MOLEGHAF
    MOLEGHAF Statement: A call for revolutionary forces to assemble
    13 Mar 2024
    MOLEGHAF calls for organization and unity among all revolutionary forces in Haiti to combat the capitalist glass and imperialist forces causing the ongoing crisis on the island.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    African Americans and the Cold War from Civil Rights to Black Power
    13 Mar 2024
    The end of the Second Imperialist War (World War II) did not usher in the end of colonialism and oppression for Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. The resistance of Pan-African movements…
  • Jeb Sprague , Kit Klarenburg
    Secret cable: CIA orchestrated Haiti’s 2004 coup
    13 Mar 2024
    A classified diplomatic cable obtained by The Grayzone reveals the role of a veteran CIA officer in violently overthrowing Haiti’s popular President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
  • Frank Chapman
    Frank Chapman Calls on Communities to Unite and Oppose Racist Attacks on Migrants
    13 Mar 2024
    Frank Chapman calls on Black and Brown communities in Chicago to unite in struggle against the forces that oppress us all.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us