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


  • Freedom Ride: How Not to Celebrate Juneteenth
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Ride: How Not to Celebrate Juneteenth
    16 Jun 2021
    Juneteenth has become the latest iteration of liberal capture of Black politics, opportunistic virtue signaling, and the intentional misrepresentation of America’s history.
  • Independent Media is Political, Too: A Defense of “State” or Publicly-Funded Media
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Independent Media is Political, Too: A Defense of “State” or Publicly-Funded Media
    16 Jun 2021
    It is imperative for independent journalism to serve as the media arm of a movement that opposes the privatization of information and works toward the development of a public media apparatus.
  • REPORT: Murdering Women in Nigeria, Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, May 1930
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REPORT: Murdering Women in Nigeria, Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, May 1930
    16 Jun 2021
    British colonial officials turned their guns on women in two Nigerian towns in the 1920s, to put down protests against “head” taxes and levies on market stalls, killing scores. 
  • Ethiopia: Tribalism versus National Consciousness
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Ethiopia: Tribalism versus National Consciousness
    16 Jun 2021
    Ethiopians struggle to forge a national consciousness that supersedes ethnic tribalism, while international human rights NGOs discuss their "responsibility to protect" them, writes Ann Garriso
  • The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
    16 Jun 2021
    “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 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us