Somebody Blew Up America

January 13, 2024
6 mins read

A Poem
 
 
Saturday, June 18, 2007.
 
 
By Amiri Baraka
 
(All right  thinking people oppose terrorism both domestic and international… But one should not be used to cover the other)
 
They say it’s some terrorist, some          barbaric                           A Rab, in    Afghanistan It wasn’t our American terrorists It wasn’t the Klan or the Skin heads Or the them that blows up nigger Churches, or reincarnates us on Death Row It wasn’t Trent Lott Or David Duke or Giuliani Or Schundler, Helms retiring
 
It wasn’t the gonorrhea in costume the white sheet diseases That have murdered black people Terrorized reason and sanity Most of  humanity, as they pleases
 
They say (who say? Who do the saying Who is them paying Who tell the lies Who in disguise Who had the slaves Who got the bux out the Bucks
 
Who got fat from plantations Who genocided Indians Tried to waste the  Black nation
 
Who live on Wall Street    The first plantation Who cut your nuts off Who rape your ma Who lynched your pa
 
Who got the tar, who got the feathers Who had the match, who set the fires Who killed and hired Who say they God & still be the Devil
 
Who the biggest only Who the  most goodest Who do Jesus resemble
 
Who created everything Who  the smartest Who  the greatest Who  the richest Who say you ugly and they  the goodlookingest
 
Who define art Who define science
Who made the bombs Who made the guns
 
Who bought the  slaves, who sold them
 
Who called you them names Who say Dahmer wasn’t insane          Who/  Who /  Who/
 
Who stole Puerto Rico Who stole the Indies, the Philipines, Manhattan
 Australia & The Hebrides Who forced opium on the Chinese
 
Who own them buildings Who got the money Who think you funny Who locked you up Who own the papers
 
Who owned the slave ship Who run the army
 
Who the  fake president Who  the ruler Who  the banker                    Who/ Who/ Who/
 
Who own the mine Who twist your mind Who  got bread Who need peace Who you think need war
 
Who own the oil Who do no toil Who own the soil Who is not a nigger Who is so great ain’t nobody bigger
 
Who own  this city
 
Who own the air Who own the water
 
Who own your crib Who rob and steal and cheat and murder        and make lies the truth Who call you uncouth
 
Who live in the biggest house Who do the biggest crime Who go on vacation anytime
 
Who killed the most niggers Who killed the most Jews Who killed the most Italians Who killed the most Irish Who killed the most Africans Who killed the most Japanese Who killed the most Latinos
 
 Who/Who/Who
 
Who own the ocean
 
Who own the airplanes Who own the malls Who own  television Who own  radio
 
Who own what ain’t even known to be owned Who own the owners that ain’t the real owners
 
Who own the suburbs Who suck the cities Who make the laws
 
Who  made  Bush  president Who believe the confederate flag need to be flying Who talk about democracy and be lying     WHO/ WHO/ WHOWHO/
 
Who  the Beast in Revelations Who  666 Who decide    Jesus get crucified
 
Who  the Devil on the real side Who got rich from Armenian genocide
 
Who  the biggest terrorist Who change the bible Who killed the most people Who do the most evil Who don’t worry about survival
 
Who have the colonies Who stole the most land Who rule the world Who say they good but only do evil Who  the biggest executioner
 
   Who/Who/Who    
 
Who own the oil Who want more oil Who told you what you think that later you find out a lie Who/ Who/ ???
 
Who fount Bin Laden, maybe they Satan Who pay the CIA, Who knew the bomb was gonna blow Who know why the  terrorists    Learned to fly in Florida, San Diego
 
Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion    And cracking they sides at the notion
 
Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain’t goin’ nowhere
 
Who make the credit cards Who get the biggest tax cut Who walked out of the Conference    Against Racism Who killed Malcolm, Kennedy & his Brother Who killed Dr King, Who would want such a thing?    Are they linked to the murder of Lincoln?
 
Who invaded Grenada Who made money from apartheid Who keep the Irish a colony Who overthrow Chile and Nicaragua later
 
Who killed David Sibeko,  Chris Hani,     the same ones who killed Biko, Cabral,        Neruda, Allende, Che Guevara, Sandino,
 
Who killed Kabila, the ones who wasted Lumumba, Mondlane , Betty Shabazz, Princess Margaret, Ralph Featherstone, Little Bobby
 
Who locked up Mandela, Dhoruba, Geronimo, Assata, Mumia,Garvey, Dashiell Hammett, Alphaeus Hutton
 
Who killed Huey Newton, Fred Hampton,     MedgarEvers, Mikey Smith, Walter Rodney, Was it the ones who tried to poison Fidel Who tried to keep the Vietnamese Oppressed
 
Who put a price on Lenin’s head
 
Who put the Jews in ovens,      and who helped them   do it Who said “America First”         and ok’d  the yellow stars
                                                WHO/WHO/   Who killed Rosa Luxembourg, Liebneckt Who murdered the Rosenbergs    And all the good people iced,    tortured , assassinated, vanished
 
Who got rich from Algeria, Libya, Haiti,    Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon,    Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine,
 
Who cut off peoples hands in the Congo Who invented Aids Who put the germs    In the Indians’ blankets Who thought up “The Trail of Tears”
 
Who blew up the Maine & started the Spanish American War Who got Sharon back in Power Who backed Batista, Hitler, Bilbo,       Chiang kai Chek                      
 
 who WHO   W H O/
 
Who decided Affirmative Action had to go   Reconstruction, The New Deal, The New   Frontier, The Great Society,
 
Who do Tom Ass Clarence Work for Who doo doo come out the Colon’s mouth Who know what kind of Skeeza is a Condoleeza Who pay Connelly to be a wooden negro Who give Genius Awards to Homo Locus        Subsidere
 
Who overthrew Nkrumah,  Bishop, Who poison Robeson,         who try to put DuBois in Jail Who frame Rap Jamil al Amin, Who frame the Rosenbergs, Garvey,          The Scottsboro Boys,      The Hollywood Ten
 
Who set the Reichstag Fire
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers    To stay home that day Why did Sharon stay away                    ?                                           / Who,Who, Who/
                         explosion of Owl the newspaper say the devil face cd be seen       Who  WHO     Who WHO
 
Who make money from war Who make dough from fear and lies Who want the world like it is Who want the world to be ruled by imperialism and national oppression and terror    violence, and hunger and poverty.
 
Who is the ruler of Hell? Who is the most powerful  
Who you know ever Seen God?
 
But everybody seen The Devil  
Like an Owl exploding In your life in your brain in your self Like an Owl who know the devil All night, all day if you listen, Like an Owl Exploding in fire. We hear the questions rise In terrible flame like the whistle of a crazy dog
 
Like the acid vomit of the fire of Hell Who and Who and WHO (+) who who ^     Whoooo and Whooooooooooooooooooooo!
 
Amiri Baraka is a poet, writer and one of the founding members  of the Black Arts Movement. He will be appearing in London on July 5, 2007, at the South Bank Centre as part of the city’s first Literature Festival.
 
Please e-mail comments to comments@thenewblackmagazine.com

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