by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
In the long presidential campaign, a racist clown can run a war criminal can win. With eighty-some days till election day our poet in residence surveys the electoral landscape.
Operation Kool-Aid: 2yr Long PSYOP
AKA $campaigns & $elections…
by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
Would we let Jel-Low Puddin’ Man
Bartend our daughters’ Quinceañeras,
Bat Mitzvahs or Sweet Sixteen sets—
Why do we guzzle corporate Kool-Aid?
Why do we eat up e coli campaign promises?
Why smoke crack chants, U-S-A,U-S-A,U-S-A
Narcotizing death rattle of empire biting the dust?
Why are we hypnotized by Parkinson saber rattling?
Why buy the GROSS National Product of death?
Is it because head-fixers, morale mechanics, bullhorn
brigades, loudspeaker teams, echo chamber crews, lob
psychological smoke bombs jamming our brain waves
with fear, followed by loud instructions to surrender?
“Another right-wing rebel’s hat’s in the ring; a bogey-
man might run; but a war criminal can win; Iowa’s five
weeks away!” Are $campaigns & $elections trailers to
Sequels: Lethal Weapon .45 or 2-yIs it because head-fixers, morale mechanics, bullhorn
brigades, loudspeaker teams, echo chamber crews, lob
psychological smoke bombs jamming our brain waves
with fear, followed by loud instructions to surrender?
“Another right-wing rebel’s hat’s in the ring; a bogey-
man might run; but a war criminal can win; Iowa’s five
weeks away!” Are $campaigns & $elections trailers to
Sequels: Lethal Weapon .45 or 2-year-long lobotomies?
Is it because real votes were cast leaden long ago, polling
places below balconies of motels, in book depositories, on
grassy knolls, above stages in ballrooms, in kitchen pantries
of hotels, Mississippi driveways, Chicago bedrooms, ballots
called ‘wet work’ …retarding revolution decades, centuries...?
Imagine John Lennon coaching Cultural Workers; Imagine Malcolm
Mentoring movements in his 90s; King counseling anti-war activists;
Medgar mentoring Mississippi Rising, Imagine a sixty-something, real
Chicago Community organizer—not named Lucy Parsons…
Raymond nat Turner is an acclaimed bicoastal poet and performance artist. You can find more of his work at http://uspsurgejazz.com
Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 All Rights Reserved
"State of the Union—or state of Capitalist decay?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
A class consciousness among the working masses, one that takes the issue of race seriously, is critical at this moment. Still, the democrats are working to disrupt this effort to organize against the…
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Atiya Husain. Husain is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Williams College…
The Black Radical Tradition is the rich legacy passed down by revolutionaries. It is an important tool today as we struggle to turn the Americas into a Zone of Peace.
The trial of former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, the victim of a 2022 lawfare-style coup, has begun. The legal process used against him is a sham covering up the human rights abuses…
