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


  • MANIFESTO: The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands and Anti-Depression Platform, 1971Ā 
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands and Anti-Depression Platform, 1971Ā 
    18 Aug 2021
    Black August: Remembering the Attica prisoner demands as the 50th anniversary approaches.
  • Tigrayans Speak Out in Support of Ethiopia and Prime Minister Abiy, not the TPLFĀ 
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Tigrayans Speak Out in Support of Ethiopia and Prime Minister Abiy, not the TPLFĀ 
    18 Aug 2021
    A Tigrayan speaks in support of the Ethiopian government.
  • Counter Western Bias Against China by Remembering Peter Norman’s Solidarity
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Counter Western Bias Against China by Remembering Peter Norman’s Solidarity
    18 Aug 2021
    International media engaged in Sinophobic rhetoric during the recent Olympic games in Tokyo.
  • BAR Book Forum: Sarah Jane Cervenak’s Book, ā€œBlack Gatheringā€Ā 
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Sarah Jane Cervenak’s Book, ā€œBlack Gatheringā€Ā 
    18 Aug 2021
    Creating alternative spaces for Black people to gather free from interruption or regulation.
  • BAR Book Forum: Da’Shaun Harrison’s Book, ā€œBelly of the Beastā€
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Da’Shaun Harrison’s Book, ā€œBelly of the Beastā€
    18 Aug 2021
    The politics of fat shaming is tied to anti-Black racism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us