Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem
(For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
Gathering witnesses bearing beautiful collisions—
Kansas City, New Orleans, Harlem—in Harlem. Only
Harlem fetes YardBird in Marcus Garvey Park. Only
Harlem has Big Easy Chief of Congo Nation do the
honors. It’s still a COVID 19 scene and Black masking’s
an act of communal resistance…
It’s still a COVID 19 scene and the virus’s variations
are playing “Giant Steps” within Monk’s complicated
compositions. It’s still a COVID 19 scene and greed
driven confederate governors are playing with lives;
Playing simple songs sounding like “Mississippi Hot-
dog”/“Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars and Bars…”
Spy Boys check Jazz Tribe temps and statuses.
They buy Big Chief time to procure and secure
Suspenders; adjust his invisible headdress and
prepare sacred songs for meeting The Peoples’ Tribe.
Charlie Parker’s music’s magic—Blues magnet gathering
grassroots, salt of the earth—Harlem’s finest—like
shavings of steel hardened by white heat and hammer
A drizzle decrescendos and morphs into the perfect
prelude, into micro climate mist—handing humidity a
rare defeat. The weather’s a bittersweet reminder of
Impermanence. Change—spiraling lower to higher—birth
to death; reminding us who are “Just Friends,” “Now’s
The Time” to connect—this evening’s the only time we own…
Older gentlemen—second wave Jitterbugs—with
muscle memory of Lindy Hop to Bebop honor the
Moment. They select skilled younger partners to
Swing, spin, twirl; showing off middle year bodies
more beautiful than perfect: cleavage, calves and
sculpted thighs revealed as colorful knee-high skirts rise
Maybe they couldn’t keep Malcolm alive or hold on to
Houses grandparents paid off. But tonight they hold
on to one another—hold on to Charlie Parker—Bird
with strings attached…
Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund
PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT
© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
The climate emergency won't end because of heartfelt pleas to the people and the interests who created the crisis. Ecocide will stop when capitalism ends.
To mark the last days of Black August, we reprint below Freedomways’ 1975 editorial about Joanne Little, a Black woman indicted for killing her white prison guard and would-be rapist.
Somali nationalists claim victory and raise the Somali flag above the city of Las Anod.
Counter-insurgency and Black Studies: An Interview with Tea Troutman
The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and a new song are reminders that a strong hatred of the poor continues in the U.S.
