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

mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Jan 2021
🖨️ Print Article
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style

Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots,
overthrowing Black elected officials and
Massacring those that VOTED for them— 
Wilmington, North Carolina, 1898;
Kristallnacht came shooting, looting and burning;
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921; Rosewood, Florida, 1923;
Muslim Mosque # 27, L.A., 1962; came with scorched
earth for schoolchildren’s food from the Black Panther
Party Free Breakfast Program; for Fred Hampton’s home…

Kristallnacht came this time by bus, by train, by plane,
by car—storming Capitalist Hill with guns, knives, tasers,
mace, bear spray, retractable batons, brass knuckles and
Badges. Did it come fighting Slow-pitch-Mitch-Two-buck-
Chuck-Chancy-Nancy over mile-long food lines?
Over bellies beginning to bloat and sound like zoos?
Over tiny voices whining, “Daddy, I’m hungry”?

Kristallnacht came a thousand Sheriff Joes, Jim Clarks,
Bull Connors—bent badges, macabre tattoos celebrating
extrajudicial executions; a thousand ‘roid raging wild
Boers snorting thin blue lines of Third Reich ideology;
Kristallnacht came disguised as Mr. Magoo mistaking flagpoles and
Fire extinguishers for batons; tables for battering rams; Like cell-
phones morphing into guns in Black hands—and backs into bullseyes…

Kristallnacht came with confederate battle flags; came greeting 
Blue uniformed Black capitol cops as ‘Officer Nigger—‘ tail-gating 
Lynch mob, Georgia on its mind—Dead set on disenfranchising
Detroit’s 13th; New York’s 14th; Minneapolis’s 5th; Boston’s 7th;
St. Louis’1st; L.A.’s 37th/43rd; Oakland’s 13th; and declaring that
Bourgeois democracy’s officially over…

Kristallnacht came flying Delta and American Airlines over stage-
coach and buckboard—came plotting with congress members by
Internet, rather than telegraph; Kristallnacht came vaccinated
against the 21st Century—and engaged in hand-to-hand combat
with second/minute/hour hands to overthrow motion, change,
And development resembling 
streets of rainbow rebellion ‘cross the country; ‘round the world…

Kristallnacht came—though low Barr left town—and Grecian 
Formula 9/11 failed in Philly…
Kristallnacht came in “Trial by Combat” Count Ghouliani—
living on 9/11 blood—
The Count cut his fangs on drunken NYPD officers rioting and
urinating on Dinkins’ leadership. The Count knew reduction in 
force; horses; cordoned off perimeters; protest pens; L-Rad; kettling…

Kristallnacht came whistling dixie, “Supporting The Troops—” 
Came questioning “The War On Terror;” refuting “Defund the 
police—”
For who else can shatter glass, skulls and illusions like that…? 
Who?

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Kill Just For A Thrill…last days of Pompeo…

Just for a thrill 
they brought families more pain—
More white supremacist reign…

Just for a thrill
they made peoples’ lives one sad song
So a bunker boss might look ‘strong…’

Just for a thrill 
they’ve made men’s hearts stand still—
Paper matches snuffed at will…

Just for a thrill
he’d lynch 5 innocent boys—
Crush them like Cracker Jack toys…

Just for a thrill 
they have looped Emmett Till—
Black bodies/lame duck landfill…

Just for a thrill
they kill, kill and kill and kill—
Their swamp drains to a dunghill…

Just for a thrill
they kill with impunity—
Bloody herd immunity…

Just for a thrill
spreading lethal infection—
Joyriding lethal injection…

Just for a thrill
lowlife thugs killing for sport—
Earning dates at the World Court…
though they’re free to kill for fun—
The Peoples’ Will will be done…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

*Poet’s note: Inspired by the great Ray Charles’ version of the great Lil Hardin’s “Just For A Thrill.”

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com 

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.

More Stories


  • In Praise of "Whataboutism"
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    In Praise of "Whataboutism"
    09 Mar 2022
    The word "whataboutism" is used to silence and insult opponents of U.S. imperialism. It should be embraced as a means of revealing what is too often kept hidden.
  • Musings from the Margins
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Musings from the Margins
    09 Mar 2022
    U.S. determination to be the world's hegemon created the crisis in Ukraine. The impacts are felt by working people in this country, who must look outside for solidarity and leadership as…
  • ESSAY: Women's Organizations in the Caribbean Community from the 19th Century to Today, Rhoda Reddock, 1990.
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Women's Organizations in the Caribbean Community from the 19th Century to Today, Rhoda Reddock, 1990.
    09 Mar 2022
    International Women's Day has radical roots going back more than 100 years. Caribbean women have always played a pivotal role in political organizing.
  • Russia, Ukraine, and the Race Problem
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Russia, Ukraine, and the Race Problem
    09 Mar 2022
    The American public are inundated with anti-Russian war propaganda that is worse than in the days of the Red Scare.
  • Sanctions: A Sanctimonious Word for Economic Warfare and Outright Theft
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Sanctions: A Sanctimonious Word for Economic Warfare and Outright Theft
    09 Mar 2022
    The U.S. claims the right to sanction, to steal from other nations, with one-third of humanity suffering from these crimes. Sanctions are war by other means and cause great suffering…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us