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

State of the Union—or state of Capitalist decay?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Mar 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Donald Trump State of the Union
Photo: ABC News

“Every man for himself
and the devil take the hindmost.”

Something’s soothing, lobotomizing, about the snotty
Voice flooding from Fox-boxes. Something’s
Lobotomizing about an ignorant comedian coming to
Kill—but bombing—yet, still killing …

Something’s soothing about Jumping Jack Fascists—
Springing up at every absurd utterance and
Thunder of rattling rubbish. Their hand bones
Fracturing from clapping so damn loud—so long …

Something’s soothing about Jumping Jack Fascists
Springing up like they got the Holy Ghost! Fits of
Ecstasy applauding poor people used as props—
Mascots—human shields for class war’s unpopular policies

Something’s soothing about Jumping Jack Fascists
Springing up, sane-washing a lipsticked pig. And face-
Lifting lies about capitalism’s impossible promises to
The People …

Forked tongue tour de force— False from beginning to
End. 1hour, 40 minute Mussolini masterpiece. Il DOGE
Smashed Dr. Goebbels’ Guinness Book of Records for
Orwellian wizardry: misinformation/disinformation/1/2 truths/big lies.

Barren make believe desert. Echo chamber of hollow mockery—
Hypocrisy, humbuggery/thuggery, treachery, treason, truth-less-
Ness and alternative facts where up is down. Bad’s good. Worse
Is better. Woke's worrisome/and straw’s spun orange into fools gold …

Leaning in, listening to bosh-laden blizzards of fabrications—
Falsifications— bleached bone white lies—but not eating the
Dogma does cause trauma. Trauma of two car crashes;
Three boxing matches; And four NFL and hockey games …

Blitzkrieg! Warp speed war on the working-class—
Moving fast! Breaking things! Things shoe leather, steel spines,
Blood and grit won working people long, long ago.
Things we long to make more muscular, more robust. And for all …

© 2025. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

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 and PayPal.

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


More Stories


  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Anti-Imperialist Imperative: Confronting Globalized Fascism
    18 Feb 2026
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, gave this presentation at the U.S. Peace Council Webinar on Iran.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    A Final Solution to The Human Surplus Problem (Or, How the End of EPA’s Endangerment Finding Also Ends the Farce of Trump “Populism”)
    18 Feb 2026
    Trump's EPA denies that greenhouse gases endanger public health. It is destroying public health protections and confirms that environmental policy serves corporate interests exclusively.
  • Booker Omole
    Statement on Zionist Plans to Create a Mini-State in Kenya and the Lessons from History
    18 Feb 2026
    In 1903, Britain offered Kenyan land to Zionist settlers. That scheme failed. Now, a new attempt is underway in Nakuru.
  • Black Alliance for Peace Nashville Citywide Alliance
    Community Control: No to Privatization & No to the National Guard
    18 Feb 2026
    The militarization of disaster response is an indication that public infrastructure is not a governmental priority. The deployment of the National Guard to aid in times of emergency demonstrates a…
  • Michael Leonardi
    Cyclone Harry’s Mediterranean Massacre: At Least 1,000 Migrants Lost at Sea, Fortress Europe’s Deadly Legacy
    18 Feb 2026
    The Mediterranean is now the planet's deadliest migration corridor. Cyclone Harry exposed how European policies, not just storms, are driving the death toll.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us