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
  • omnibus

…In his head
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Mar 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head!

 

…In his head

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Headin’ downtown on the D train

The other day I overheard oration—

By a fella, to a fella, from a fella 51/50

“Mexicans takin’ our jobs; they hate

Our freedoms— but blurred lines,

Beyonce’s booty, NAACP Image

Awards, Robin Thicke & recovery

Jus’ roun’ the corner; smart phone,

Dr. Dre headphones lift me outta

Poverty; smart bombs protect my

Freedoms; I got 2,000 Facebook

Friends, a poke away, who gimme

My kidney & bone marrow transplant!”

 

Booming baritone thundering in

Harmony with the train, he continued

His melodious, rhythmic catechism,

“Since ’08 things been Great,” in his

Head, Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head! “Yes, we can,”

In his head, mo’ Black folks have

Homes since World War II, in his

Head! Mo’ Black wealth than ever

Before, in his head; fewer Black folk

Dyin’ fo’ they 70th, in his head; mo’

Black men goin’ to college than jail,

In his head, liars figure but figures

Don’t lie, in his head, in his head,

“Change we can believe in,” in his

Head, police stopped shootin’ us

Since that beer, in his head; we

Cool, long as Big Brother brown, in

His head! Oratory swelling like a

Dark cumulus cloud, lookin’ me

Dead in the eye, “This election the

Mos’ important election ever…”

 

“The rich say that every time,” I snapped.

He leapt up like a man possessed, banshee-

Rebel- wailing, “What, you ain’t votin’?

Nigger, get away from me, you is cra-aaa-zy!”

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved

 

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


More Stories


  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    United Nations Releases New Report on the Death of Former Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in 1961
    23 Oct 2024
    Apparent assassination and cover-up occurred during a critical period in African history.
  • Jon Jeter
    John Mearsheimer’s Folly: How Whites Agree to Misinterpret the World to Fulfill Their Racial Contract
    23 Oct 2024
    Systemic racism and reactionary violence are embedded into the foundation of the US political and social system, despite false claims of any sort of progress. Denying this reality is an act of mere…
  • Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    MOLEGHAF: Update on Armed Attacks in Port-au-Prince
    23 Oct 2024
    Western imperialist-backed paramilitary violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has escalated in the last year. As the conditions on the ground worsen, MOLEGHAF puts out this call to allies around the…
  • Jonathan Cook
    The West's Support for Israel's Genocide is Destroying the World as we Know it
    23 Oct 2024
    The old world is dying once again, but the US-Israel axis is wrong to suggest it is slaying monsters. It is the monster.
  • Lylla Younes
    Black Residents in Cancer Alley Try What May be a Last Legal Defense to Curb Toxic Pollution
    23 Oct 2024
    In St. James Parish, a zoning ordinance divides industrial development along racial lines.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us