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

Anthem of Banksters & War Profiteers
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Sep 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Why does San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick choose to sit when the Star Spangled Banner is played before football games? Evidently he is one of many who know the real intention and import behind those bombs bursting in air...

Anthem of Banksters & War Profiteers…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

“I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”
—Marine General Smedley Butler at his retirement, 1933

I.

No Iroquois or Seminole National Anthem,

No Hawaiian or Mexican National Anthem,

Before bombers fly over stadiums schools and

social services were sacrificed for on altars of austerity;

No Ohlone or Navajo National Anthem,

No Iroquois or Seminole National Anthem,

No Hawaiian or Mexican National Anthem,

Before rockets red glare/bombs bursting in air

Over Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Bosnia, Libya,

Panama, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen…and

Others, soon to be announced…

II.

The bleeding baby with blown off arms and stumps for legs

Dies in a ‘surgically struck’ hospital while you drain kegs?

Commander’s quarterback, bloody band wrapping his wrist,

Running old red zone, war-profiteer plays from his kill list?

Are other peoples’ children ‘collateral damage expendable—

Like leftovers lost when your fridge became undependable?

Why’s the fight for ‘our freedom’ usually where there’s oil?

Why’s it where mineral wealth’s buried beneath foreign soil?

How about freedom fighting without tanks, planes and boats—

Freeing: Fitzgerald, Peltier, Gilbert, Bell, Jamal, Shoatz…?

Ain’t ‘Incarceration Nation’ Slave State, by its other name—

Ain’t it the darker side of a barbaric, brain-damaging game?

Black players: interception, sack, fumble, loss from N-word

Inches from lynching by the intoxicated mob, the racist herd—

Of Hitler-loving, hair-trigger thugs, masquerading as fans…

Always seconds away from true team colors of their klan’s!

Raymond Nat Turner Š 2016 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in China
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in China
    24 May 2023
    Eritrea can chart an exciting new development path through mutually respectful collaboration with China.
  • Governor Woke Smoke's $campaign: singing Dr. Goebbels Greatest Hits
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Governor Woke Smoke's $campaign: singing Dr. Goebbels Greatest Hits
    24 May 2023
                                                         
  • BAR Book Forum: Marzia Milazzo’s Book, “Colorblind Tools”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Marzia Milazzo’s Book, “Colorblind Tools”
    24 May 2023
    This week’s featured author is Marzia Milazzo. Milazzo is an associate professor of English at the University of Johannesburg. Her book is Colorblind Tools: Global Technologies of Racial Power.
  • Approval of US Troops to Train Peruvian Armed Forces Proves US Behind Coup
    Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Approval of US Troops to Train Peruvian Armed Forces Proves US Behind Coup
    24 May 2023
    US SOUTHCOM is strengthening ties with Peru's coup government by training that country's military and police force.
  • US Post-9/11 Wars Caused 4.5 million Deaths, Displaced 38-60 Million People, Study Shows
    Ben Norton
    US Post-9/11 Wars Caused 4.5 million Deaths, Displaced 38-60 Million People, Study Shows
    24 May 2023
    Wars the US waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan following September 11, 2001 caused at least 4.5 million deaths and displaced 38 to 60 million people, with 7.6 million children…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us