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


  • Nigeria SARS Protests: Amnesty Warns of “Escalating Attacks” 
    BBC staff
    Nigeria SARS Protests: Amnesty Warns of “Escalating Attacks” 
    21 Oct 2020
    Protests mount against Africa’s most populous nation’s most feared police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
  • A Public Letter to Mayor Lightfoot: A Call for Leadership
    by Signatories from the Use of Force Community Working Group
    A Public Letter to Mayor Lightfoot: A Call for Leadership
    21 Oct 2020
    The Chicago Police Department’s new use-of-force policy input process is a sham, designed only to create the illusion of community engagement.
  • The NYPD Unleashes Its Most Brutal Cops On Protesters
    Ali Winston
    The NYPD Unleashes Its Most Brutal Cops On Protesters
    21 Oct 2020
    The police unit most likely to bust protesters’ heads is full of cops with long misconduct histories.
  •  Black Agenda Radio for Week of October 19, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of October 19, 2020
    19 Oct 2020
    Protests in Minneapolis Disrupted by Orange-Shirted “Collaborators” with Cops
  •  LGBTQ Newsletter Surveys Prison Conditions
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    LGBTQ Newsletter Surveys Prison Conditions
    19 Oct 2020
    The newsletter for the prison abolition organization Black and Pink sent out a 133-page questionnaire to incarcerated LGBTQ persons, earlier this year, so that “we can laser beam solutions to the n
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us