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


  • Decolonize Palestine
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    South Africa's ICJ Case Revitalizes the Struggle for Liberation
    09 Feb 2024
    Rawan Masri joins us to talk about events in Palestine, and her recent visit to South Africa when South Africa filed its charge of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
  • El Jones
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Pro-Palestine and Anti-Zionist Speech Censored and Criminalized in Canada
    09 Feb 2024
    El Jones joins us from Canada to discuss the censorship and criminalization of pro-Palestinian and anti-zionist opinions and the challenges she and others faced having their…
  • Katal logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New York City Council Brings Accountability to NYPD and City Jails
    09 Feb 2024
    We are joined by Melanie Dominguez, lead organizer for the Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice in New York. She explains the importance of two new important pieces of legislation to the…
  • Joe Biden and Jim Clyburn
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Democrats and the Mediocre Black Misleaders
    07 Feb 2024
    The Democrats offer nothing but fake opposition and the duopoly is splitting. The chosen Black spokespeople are predictably hacks who get paid to spout meaningless drivel.
  • National Planning Conference
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DECLARATION: A DECLARATION AGAINST IMPERIALISM, Adopted at the National Planning Conference PULL THE COVERS OFF IMPERIALISM PROJECT Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1975
    07 Feb 2024
    A 1975 “Declaration Against Imperialism” provides a blueprint for the anti-imperialist Black Studies of the future.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us