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

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Apr 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky CBS 60 Minutes Interview (Photo: Eric Kerchner CBS)

                                                                                       Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……,

                                                                                 “If you don’t have a broken heart—

                                                                                                  get one…”

                                                                                     —Poet Jack Hirschman

 

QUIET ON THE SET. ROLL SOUND. Sound Rolling.  ROLL CAMERA. Camera Speed. MARKER. ACTION:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… What, are you stupid? Haven’t you heard of

stuntmen—special effects? These are actors. Great actors!

Studied under Stanislavsky. This is staged. A cast of

thousands. Why, this mass evacuation’s straight outta

Eisenstein! Actors were instructed to flashback on family

photos in their back packs. Think about tricycles, toys, stuffed

animals left be hind with baby books, keepsakes, clothes and

favorite foods…

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying…This ain’t no Amos & Andy operation

like Libya, Ethiopia, The Congo, or Aleppo. This is major—

Armorers; Grips; Gaffers; Casting Directors; Script Supervisors;

Catering Crew—special effects alone cost more than most films!

Surround sound’s realism’s off the chain… The bomb, huh? How

cool’s all the air conditioners hanging from blown out windows?

Almost got you believin’ the buildings are really damaged?

Almost got you believin' that’s really rubble, huh? Almost got

you believin’ rust’s real on those perforated cars; and crying and

moaning you’re hearing’s real? These are actors— Brilliant

actors—studied Shakespeare!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… Your dogs ain’t dead. They trained with Cesar Millan.

They’ll rise up running like Lassie, barking like Toto—partying Spuds

McKenzie-style—at the stentorian command, “Cut!”

Your photographer friend and the young journalist who frequented

the coffee shop ain’t dead. They’ll rise, hearing, “Cut!” and shooting

will Stop… Your loved ones ain’t dead. They’re professional. They’ll leap up for

Lunch; stuff bloody brain tissue back into their skulls; stuff guts

back in their bodies, scurry over to the Catering Crew, grab bites

between

Lunch and dinner with cast and crew—when the Director shouts: “Cut!”

Wow, isn’t this staged shit cool?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… Dig the dancing stormtroopers, the combat

Chippendales rootin’ rebels; dancin’ the De-nazify—must

be a musical? Springtime anyone?

Wait, watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric riding dragons, donkeys,

elephants, pandas and bears from history, while rattling off hat sizes of

czars and other minutiae! Watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric dangling

from dicks of dictators; sucking off oligarchs,strongmen, kleptocrats/state

capitalist clowns at the speed of sound— As a shirtless horseman gallops

into the sunset with bulging saddle bags for himself and The Nationalist

International…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

© 2022. 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 PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

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


More Stories


  • SPEECH: Last Words to the Nation, Salvadore Allende, 1973
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Last Words to the Nation, Salvadore Allende, 1973
    13 Sep 2023
    The September 11, 1973 overthrow of Chile’s Salvadore Allende offers lessons to Haiti, and the radical world.
  • Musings from the Margins # 3: The Crimes of the White West are Coming Home Again, Or as Malcom X Said, “The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost”
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Musings from the Margins # 3: The Crimes of the White West are Coming Home Again, Or as Malcom X Said, “The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost”
    13 Sep 2023
    Black Agenda Report Editor and Columnist Ajamu Baraka has thoughts on September 11, Haiti, white supremacy in Biden’s Ukraine policy, the criminalization of dissent, and other issues.
  • Dr. Gerald Horne Discusses Events in Africa
    Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley
    Dr. Gerald Horne Discusses Events in Africa
    13 Sep 2023
    Margaret Kimberley and Danny Haiphong spoke with Dr. Gerald Horne about events in Africa including the coup in Niger, U.S. interference in the Sahel region and ECOWAS, African nations assisting U.S.…
  • Cops, Colleges, and Counterinsurgency: An Interview with Dylan Rodriguez
    Dylan Rodríguez , Roberto Sirvent
    Cops, Colleges, and Counterinsurgency: An Interview with Dylan Rodriguez
    13 Sep 2023
    An interview with Dylan Rodriguez.
  • A Justice System That Is Not Fair and Just For Everyone Is Not Fair and Just For Anyone
    Jacqueline Luqman
    A Justice System That Is Not Fair and Just For Everyone Is Not Fair and Just For Anyone
    13 Sep 2023
    A Black Proud Boy gets the Black people treatment in court, Stop Cop City activists are punished for supporting the Atlanta Black community, and prosecutors indict on specious and politically…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us