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

R2P: Responsibility To Protect
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
02 Feb 2022
šŸ–Øļø Print Article
Source: hedearnell.medium.com
Source: hedearnell.medium.com

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage,  

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ 

from high alert into harm’s way of your sidewalk  

sleeper cells—your encampments, tarps and tents 

sprung up like multi-colored mini-mushroom clouds 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage,  

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ from high alert to coordinates  

of borders between Berkeley and Oakland where you’re  

Amassed. 

He’s comin' boots on the ground—Special Forces—brave  

fighting men and women platoon/battalion, heavily-armed— Amish-style—ready to raise roofs and grow food… 

Capitalism’s putative leader knows the Golden State’s home to half his nation’s unhoused. And he’s hopping mad—R2P: Responsibility To Protect—humanitarian intervention—MAD! ā€œWhat lousy dictator would do this to his own people?!ā€ ā€œOwn people!ā€ he mumbles ā€œWill gas be next?!ā€ ā€œGas?!ā€ he babbles… 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage, 

Ol’ Schmo’s sounding Sam and Dave-ish— 

ā€œHold on, I’m comin’… 

Hold on, I’m cominā€™ā€¦ā€ from high alert, deploying good guys with nail-guns, hammers, saws, 2x4s, rebar, bricks and concrete— Weapons of Mass Construction—Build Back Better ain’t bosh! He’s comin’ ā€˜cause housing’s a human right; 

Comin’ to get bogged down in Structural Adjustments; 

Comin’ Slick Willy-ish: ā€œI feel your pain—it’s the economy stupid!ā€ Comin’ Drone Ranger-ish: with spare ā€œChange you can believe inā€¦ā€ If your eyes well up when handed your keys it’s OK; OK if you burst  into tears during your first shower in two years; OK to wake up in your  warm laundry-fresh bed babbling: ā€œSupport the troops!ā€ ā€œSupport the troops!ā€

It’s OK to let good guys with Weapons of Mass Construction board planes before babysitters, teachers, midwifes, nurses, doctors and dentists as you chant, ā€œThank you for your serviceā€ over and over… 

Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian 

Casualty-Collateral Damage—  

Spoiler alert: 

Ol’ Schmo’s changing his tune. He’s saying he 

Tolt you from da git—from da jump: ā€œNothing 

would fundamentally change…He’s saying he 

has a right to sing the Blues— a right to try to 

sound more and more like Lady Day each day: 

ā€œHush now, don’t explain… 

money waits in Ukraineā€¦ā€ 

 

Ā© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

 

War and Empire

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


More Stories


  • The Biden-Harris Administration is a Political Expression of the Empire’s Crisis of Legitimacy
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Biden-Harris Administration is a Political Expression of the Empire’s Crisis of Legitimacy
    19 Jan 2022
    The crisis of legitimacy is becoming more and more obvious. Joe Biden exemplifies oligarchic rule and a system in decline.
  • Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!
    19 Jan 2022
    Waiting for a Schmo: Theater of the Absurd!
  • from the site: https://www.lawfirm4immigrants.com/bidens-immigration-policy-2021/
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    The 700,000 Club: Joe Biden’s Deportation Frenzy
    19 Jan 2022
    In under a year, the Biden regime has detained and deported more asylum seekers than his predecessor, demonstrating that there is an alignment among the US political elites – of both parties –
  • BAR Book Forum: Dylan Rodriguez’s Book, ā€œWhite Reconstructionā€
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Dylan Rodriguez’s Book, ā€œWhite Reconstructionā€
    19 Jan 2022
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    ā€œPan African Solidarity is Key to Fighting Against Western Dominancesā€: An Interview with Kamau Franklin of Community Movement Builders
    19 Jan 2022
    The first year of the Biden presidency proceeds as one would expect from a man who always represented the most retrograde wing of the democratic party.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us