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

Department of War: What’s new is so old
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Sep 2025
🖨️ Print Article
US War Department Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
US War Department Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

“War is only a cowardly escape 
from the problems of peace.” 
—Thomas Mann

“War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only
one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”
 —Major General Smedley D. Butler

Slaughtering Seneca, Seminole;
Slaughtering Creek, Choctaw, Mohawk, 
Cayuga, Blackfeet — like some demonic
Department Of War. It was always Department of War.

Slaughtering Sioux, Shawnee, Chickasaw; 
Slaughtering Chippewa, Lakota, Ohlone—
Like some demonic Department Of War. It was
Always Department of War.

Capturing bodies; and looting labor of Ashanti,
Fulani, Huasa, Wolof, Yoruba, Ibo, Kongo,
Mongo, Hutu, Zulu … Like some demonic
Department Of War. It was always Department of War.

Great oceans east and west.
Friendly neighbors north and 
South — Department of Defense 
Never made sense. It was always Department of War.

It was always Department Of War. Always 
Class war with Offal Office in War House!
Class war with Capitalist Hill! Class war with
White Supreme Courtesans in revealing black robes!

Does dull thud of boot heels goose-stepping down
D.C. streets to “Dixie” surprise you? Have you been
Attaching Fox-box electrodes to skull; stuffing pizza 
Hole; self-lobotomizing for decades on the La-Z-Boy?

It was always Department Of Cooked Books. Department Of Can’t
Pass An Audit. Department Of Greasy-Thumbed Grifters. Always
Department Of $500 hammers and $10 pencils billed as “impact
Fasteners,” and “portable hand-held transcribing devices” on our dime!

It was always ‘Luftwaffe’ dropping 2,000 lb. bombs on
Hospitals and homes. Making pools of blood bloom from babies’ heads —
And rechristening children, ‘Civilian Casualty,’ and ‘Collateral Damage’ 
With lethal lies.

It was always ‘Wehrmacht’ with nightmarish music of moans—
Hair-raising, heart-pounding shrieks. With unlimited capacity for
Cruelty and savagery— like cutting off fingers of fallen fighters 
For souvenirs … and urinating on their bodies …

It was always confederacy— champion of chains and whips. Blood-
Thirsty warfare state — unleashed on neighbor, inhabitant alike. It
Is also glorious, technicolor, dream! Will we rise, realizing it? Or,
Will we fall, presenting ‘Nobel War Prize’ to traitor-pedophile-Führer?

© 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.

Haiti Occupation
imperialism
Genocide
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.


Related Stories

Petros Bein
Internal Colonialism and the Reproduction of Capital
15 April 2026
The United States operates as an internal colonial system.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
SPEECH: Reporting the News in the Heartland of Empire, William Worthy, 1970
21 January 2026
“From journalists…the greatest need of the moment is sound analysis of the U.S.
Dr. Gerald Horne , Anthony Ballas
Shadowboxing with Ghosts: Whiteness, Jake Paul, and the Crisis of U.S. Imperialism
21 January 2026
Jake Paul’s ascent in boxing is a cultural symptom of an empire in decline.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Autocracy in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Eric D. Walrond, 1923
14 January 2026
“[T]he United States on March 31, 1917,...acquired the three Danish West Indian isles…subsequently rechristened “the Virgin Islands o
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The Domestic Global South and The Need for Climate and Environmental Internationalism
14 January 2026
True environmental liberation demands south-to-south solidarity against racial capitalism, linking the struggles of oppressed communi
We Charge Genocide
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Genocide Stalks the U.S.A., Paul Robeson, 1952
08 October 2025
“We, the people, charge genocide.”
Erica Caines
The Chicago Raid in Context: Connecting the Wars at Home and Abroad
08 October 2025
The fight against fascism is a fight against racism and capitalism.
Djibo Sobukwe
Malcolm X: Foundational Black Internationalism and the Anti-Imperialism of the Black Alliance for Peace
21 May 2025
Malcolm X didn’t just fight for Black liberation—he waged war on empire itself. As U.S.
Black Alliance For Peace
No Matter Who Sits in the White Peoples’ House, the War Being Waged by the U.S. Colonial/Capitalist Class Against the Black Colonized Working Class and All Oppressed Peoples and Nations Will Continue
20 November 2024
Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: United We Stand! Joint Struggles of Native Americans and African Americans in the Columbian Era, Jan Carew, 1995
16 October 2024
“The Seminoles had set a dangerous example, for if Blacks and Native Americans united everywhere in the

More Stories


  • Resumen English
    All with Cuba: Stand Against the Threat of Imperialist Aggression in April
    15 Apr 2026
    Condemnation of the U.S. blockade against Cuba must be translated into acts of solidarity to defend the nation that has done so much for the world.
  • x
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 10, 2026
    10 Apr 2026
    In this week’s segment we hear about Cuba, the challenges of Caribbean unity, and resistance to U.S. efforts to destroy the revolution. But we begin with Iran and discuss how its defense capabilities…
  • x
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Iran's Resistance Exposes U.S. Weakness
    10 Apr 2026
    Iran is a more formidable foe than the US anticipated. The U.S. goal of regime change failed because of Iran's military power and determination to defend itself. In Washington the "Secretary of War"…
  • x
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Cuban Revolution Survives U.S. Aggression
    10 Apr 2026
    The United States has attempted to defeat the Cuban revolution from its earliest days and for more than 60 years has embarked on sabotage, economic coercive measures, and now a three-month long…
  • Darius Edgerton
    Keep Those Dirty Gringo Paws Off Brazil!
    08 Apr 2026
    It’s up to Americans to stop the Trump administration from using U.S. power to strong‑arm Brazil and interfere in their elections.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us