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


  • What isn’t in Judas and The Black Messiah is Just as Important as What is
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    What isn’t in Judas and The Black Messiah is Just as Important as What is
    17 Feb 2021
    Hollywood is big, mostly white, capitalist business, so it’s no surprise that its new film on Fred Hampton provides little information on Black Panther politics and history.
  • MANIFESTO: Ten Commandments of Democracy in Haiti, September 25, 1991
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: Ten Commandments of Democracy in Haiti, September 25, 1991
    17 Feb 2021
    Almost 20 years ago, the president elected by Haiti’s poor majority gave the United Nations a lesson in the meaning of democracy for historically oppressed peoples.
  • What did low Barr know?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    What did low Barr know?
    17 Feb 2021
    Liars, liars your loaded dice/tilted table theater’s on fire— But prosecutors and gas-lighting lawyers concur on  Empire… 
  • Kizito Mihigo and the Struggle for Rwandan Truth and Reconciliation
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Kizito Mihigo and the Struggle for Rwandan Truth and Reconciliation
    17 Feb 2021
    Rwandans around the world celebrate the life of the nation’s most popular singer, apparently killed for opposing Paul Kagame’s ethnic and military dictatorship, writes Ann Garrison.
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    17 Feb 2021
    This week color-blindness on the left and the Black Misleadership Class were on your minds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us