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


  • Devastation in Durban
    New Frame
    Devastation in Durban
    26 Apr 2022
    The floods that have wreaked havoc in the shacklands of Durban, South Africa are another searing indictment of the social abandonment of the majority by a predatory political elite.
  •  Presentation of the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize by the International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace to Mr. John Philpot
    John Philpot
    Presentation of the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize by the International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace to Mr. John Philpot
    26 Apr 2022
    Canadian attorney John Philpot received the Victoroire Ingabire Umuhoza Prize for Democracy and Peace on March 19, 2022.  The prize is given in recognition of the Rwandan former political…
  • The Venezuela Coup 20 Years Later
    Dan Beeton
    The Venezuela Coup 20 Years Later
    26 Apr 2022
    The legacy of Venezuela’s short-lived 2002 coup d’etat, and the subsequent countercoup, endures for US-Latin American relations.
  • Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights
    22 Apr 2022
    Jaribu Hill is Director of the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights, which is hosting a workers memorial day webinar entitled “No one should have to die to make a living” on Saturday,…
  • The Spirit of Mandela Coalition
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Spirit of Mandela Coalition
    22 Apr 2022
    Jihad Abdulmumit is a coordinating committee member of the Spirit of Mandela Coalition , a campaign to bring international attention to U.S. violations of the human rights of black, brown, and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us