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

Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
17 Dec 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Horace Silver
Medu Art Ensemble, Culture and Resistance Symposium and Festival of the Arts, 1982.

Harmony of a hug,
Rhythm of a rose,
Melody in the mirror

We are an army of artists
Merchants of life,
Beauty's our bomb,
Love its shrapnel…

We are an army of artists
Infantry on feet of celebration,
Toes polishing
Hardwood floors with perspiration

We are an army of artists
Brandishing sticks and brushes,
Softening up enemies with
Strokes and notes,
Partisans wielding pastels,
Oils and acrylics—
Connecting dots, hitting spots
On canvas and paper

We are an army of artists
Foreign fighters, formerly known
As Dukes, Counts, Birds and Pops—
Militant magi weaving dreams in
Azure skies, etching prayers
In mirrors with our acid tears

We are an army of artists
Asymmetrical warriors,
Mopping up murals
Gracing broken-down buildings—
Enemy combatants crying clear
Lacquer on contrabasses,
Snipers shooting sunlight into
Hearts held hostage by the 1%
Ellingtonia is our tonic…
For subdominant dreams

We are an army of artists
Dangerously unselfish,
Enemies of ignorance
Drumming to different dancers—
Staging attacks in theaters
Exploding in applause!

© 2010. 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.

poetry
Art
resistance

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
JoeSam art
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
24 January 2024
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
BAR Book Forum: Jennifer S. Ponce de León’s “Another Aesthetics Is Possible”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jennifer S. Ponce de León’s “Another Aesthetics Is Possible”
07 December 2021
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Reese Piece…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Reese Piece…
15 April 2021
Salute to City of Angels’ son! He wrote, he wrote, he wrote And he wrote… Ramparts, The Progressive, The
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
27 January 2021
Everybody’s wild ‘bout this ‘new’ dance craze— this lewd, crude dance called “The 1st 100 Daze…”
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
20 January 2021
Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots, overthrowing Black elected officials and Massacring those that VOTED for them— 
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
13 January 2021
“It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation

More Stories


  • Libyan workers celebrating the blockade on American ships
    Essam Elkorghli
    When Arab Workers Stood Against Zionism
    17 Jan 2024
    In the 1960s Arab workers united and resisted reactionary regimes and the state of Israel.
  • Protest at Mother Emanuel AME Church
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Righteous Protest Was Drowned Out As Empire Was Worshipped At Mother Emanuel AME Church
    17 Jan 2024
    The controversy surrounding Joe Biden being interrupted at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina resulted from his cynical use of a Black church for political purposes.
  • Draymond Green
    Gus Griffin
    Draymond Green and the Israeli Defense Force: Bullies of a Feather….
    17 Jan 2024
    As Draymond Green continues his pattern of bullying behavior in the NBA, he has also aligned himself with a genocidal bully on the global stage.
  • President Hage G. Geingob of the Republic of Namibia addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
    Presidency of the Republic of Namibia
    Namibia Rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State Against Innocent Civilians in Gaza
    17 Jan 2024
    Namibia issues a statement in response to Germany's declaration of support of Israel during the hearing at the International Court of Justice and its intention to intervene on that nation's behalf.…
  • Three protesters at Mother Emanuel AME Church
    Free Palestine Charleston
    President Biden Campaign Disruption in Charleston
    17 Jan 2024
    A statement from Free Palestine Charleston regarding their recent protest against Joe Biden's ongoing genocide in Palestine while he spoke at Mother Emanuel AME Church.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us