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

Bye, Big Sis
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
11 May 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Bye, Big Sis

                                                                                                          Bye, Big Sis

Cred befo’ ‘Ree cried: R-E-S-P-E-C-T for

the record; Feminist befo’ we knew its name

pre-Panther Radical, Mama Harriet-style, you

packed that Luger before there was unpacking,

centering, contextualizing.

You trained with brothers who became BPP

fore there was intersectionality.

You spoke Spanish; Swahili; handled your French;

Italian; German; Arabic—crossing teas; dotting eyes…

But Caffie wrenched the gun from your hand—

putting her children in your hands—weaponizing

Us, instead of losing you—shooting some cop.

Made you magnificent mentor ‘stead of middling martyr— Community-building big

sis; ‘stead of forgotten #????????

We, younger brothers and sisters, stared as you strode lioness-like through sun shards

on “The Stem—”

Bunchy’s beloved Central Avenue! We watched

how you navigated an apartheid City of Angels—

Ruled by devils. Cuz we longed to make you proud…

We, younger brothers and sisters, watched as you walked the world down in wondrous

ways, from the feet of Elder/soldiers who’d fled up south from Hell.

We watched you seize the time as elder/soldier—

beautiful, statuesque, warrior woman—baddest,

blackest ‘fro this side of Angela. You came equipped! Skillsets/talents taking you

‘round the world in its wine,  weed, drums, dance, food, fashion funky-ness— even Porkchop torture! Your po’ kidneys/Pay or Die Disease-‘care!’

We, younger brothers and sisters, watched as you birthed Black beauty into our chalky

worlds. Our first live theater. Sitting in the dark. Eyes bugged out; hot young minds

blown… You on stage

Baldwin’s words in your mouth! You: Sister Boxer. Whitman Mayo: Brother

Boxer/your husband. We: Your Amen Cornerfor life…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Los Angeles
Black Panther Party

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


Related Stories

​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Black Radicalism and the Return of the “Subversive Negro”
16 September 2026
NSPM-7 and the State Department's international campaign against "far-left political terrorism" represent new and more dangerous form
Michael Steven Smith
Meet the Radical Legal Collective That Won Justice for Fred Hampton and Continues Fighting to This Day
09 September 2026
Longtime attorney Flint Taylor’s new book tells the story of the People’s Law Collective, which grew out of the radical movements of the late 1
Karin Stanford
Afterlife of a Hijacker
11 August 2026
Former Black Panther Deputy Minister of Defense Byron Booth's journey from Compton to Cuba, Algiers to Lagos, reveals the global reac
Adam Mahoney
From Watts to D.C.: How 500 Black Neighborhoods Vanished in 45 Years
02 July 2025
America’s gentrified neighborhoods have lost 500,000 Black people, while gaining residents of every other race, a study finds.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Southern Panther Malik Rahim
14 May 2025
In “A Southern Panther,” movement elder Malik Rahim talks about his lifetime of battling ra
Lexis-Olivier Ray
Black People Make Up 75% Of All Weed Arrests At LAX, Data Shows
16 April 2025
Roughly a third of the people who were arrested by LAPD in the city of Los Angeles for cannabis-related offenses since 2020 were arrested in We
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The fire this time … (as Amiri tolt me)
29 January 2025
“Scratch a lie—find a thief !”
NY Panther 21
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
55th Anniversary of the NY Panther 21 Case
03 April 2024
The trial of the New York Panther 21 was the moment in the Black liberation movement that ushered in an era of intensified state repressio
Saturday Mornings
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Saturday Mornings
29 March 2023
                                         
Eddie Conway Tribute
Mali Collins
Eddie Conway Tribute
15 March 2023
The late Eddie Conway was a young member of the Black Panther Party who was framed for the killing of a police officer and spent more

More Stories


  • Closed store sign
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gary, Indiana Struggles for Two Weeks Without Electricity
    28 Aug 2026
    Akili Shakur is a revolutionary activist and the wife of political prisoner Shaka Shakur. She joins us from Gary, Indiana, where some residents have been without power for more than two weeks after…
  • x
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Dhoruba bin-Wahad , Kelonji Changa
    The Guardian Open Letter Exposed: Margaret Kimberley & Dhoruba Bin Wahad Speak Out
    26 Aug 2026
    In this special broadcast, BAR Senior Columnist and Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley and Black Panther Veteran Dhoruba Bin Wahad offer an uncompromising, sharp critique of the anti-Iranian open…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner Meeting Reveals Ugly Truths About U.S. Politics
    26 Aug 2026
    If the Democratic Party prevails in the midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries will become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. But his decision to meet with Jared Kushner was a textbook case of…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights Critique of “An Open Letter to Iran’s Political Prisoners”
    26 Aug 2026
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework rejects the liberal abstraction that makes a false symmetry between Iranian authoritarianism and U.S. imperialism, which obscures the fact that one is a…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The CIA and Studies on Guerrilla Warfare, Robert Molteno, 1979
    26 Aug 2026
    “In the period since 1969, one can detect the same old close ties between right-wing U.S. academics, think tanks, foundations, and the U.S. Government…”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us