Fighting for Oak Flat/Chi Chil Bildagoteel
âNobody made a greater mistake than he
who did nothing because he could only do little.â
âEdmund Burke
I.
By the time I get to Phoenix
theyâll be risinââ
oh, resisting, planning and
OrganizinââŚ
Theyâll scoff at the judges
owned by the mineâ
and rally us âround an olâ
Apache shrineâŚ
By the time they make SF
weâll be waitinââ
In solidarity and agitatinââŚ
II.
Protect Oak FlatâChi Chil Bildagoteelâfrom the
âDoctrine of Discoveryâ dressed in Forest Service
uniforms. Dressed in war criminal McCain Brooks
Brothers suits; Black robes of Bassackwards Tribes-
men of Thom-ass Clarence-typeâfluent in Forked
Tongue; Facile tearing up treaties, temporary in-
junctions, preliminary restraining ordersâpen
point/gunpointâŚ
Apache Land! 1852 treaty never Amended;
Never rescindedâMust be defended against
copper barons of London/Sydneyâ
Extractorâs blind to sacred springs flowing profit-freeâŚ
Person Hoods who blew up aboriginal Australian rock
shelters; confess in corporate catechism that
Straight, no chaser, âfocuses on finding, mining,
processing the Earth's mineral resourcesâŚâ
Protect Oak FlatâChi Chil Bildagoteelâfrom
copper-coated vampires with wet dreams of sinking
fangs 7,000 feet deep in soil to hurry slurryâdrilling
and spillingâSpilling accidentally on purpose into river;
into aquifer; leaving their Eiffel Tower-sized bite mark
Apache Land! 1852 treaty never Amended;
Never rescindedâMust be defended against
copper barons of London/Sydneyâ
who give less than a mine tailingsâ damn
About acorns, cactus, yucca; About bobcats, black bears,
mountain lions and deer; About Apache prophets, prayers,
religious ritesâRemoved from Holy shareholdersâ wealthâ
The Gospel of GreedâŚ
Protect Oak FlatâChi Chil Bildagoteelâfrom hearingsâ
Hearings hearing whatâs been heard over and over and
over again: âBovine dung-Bovine dung-Bovine dung-
Bovine dungâBull bleep-Bull bleep-Bull bleep-Bull bleep-
Bull bleepââ or, the sweeter scented and sounding version:
âBlah-blah-blah-blahâŚâ
Inspired by the great Isaac Hayesâs version of the great Jim Webbâs
composition, âBy The Time I Get to Phoenix.â
Š 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund
PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT
On this African Liberation Day, we revisit Amiri Barakaâs 1972 communiquĂŠ calling for Black people to struggle for Pan-African unity while also registering our anger at the âpathology and traitorâŚ
The US is falsely accusing Ethiopia and Eritrea of hindering food aid and committing genocides in the ongoing war in Tigray.
Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh shared a birthday. They also shared an internationalist ideology, a commitment to liberation for all people, and a deep understanding of how racist structures operatedâŚ
The Black Alliance for Peace marks African Liberation Day with a statement condemning the latest US troop deployment to Somalia.
Boots on the ground in Buffalo
