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

…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


  • How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnist
    How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    01 Jul 2020
    Much of the nation may be repudiating white supremacy, but not Montgomery County, Maryland, which is paving over sacred  Black ground in an attempt to bury its own racist history.
  • Amiri Poem for Boss Tweet
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Amiri Poem for Boss Tweet
    01 Jul 2020
    Who tolt us ‘bout an unknown 19th of June— who the TikTok teens cast as buffoon? Who? Who say Douglass alive and doin’ good work— who turn the War House into a grifter perk? Who?
  • Is “Black Lives Matter” a Therapeutic Mantra for White Guilt?
    Mark P. Fancher
    Is “Black Lives Matter” a Therapeutic Mantra for White Guilt?
    01 Jul 2020
    Many who took to the streets were out there to engage in a form of mass group therapy.
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    01 Jul 2020
    This week community control of police and the failings of the Biden campaign were on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Nicole Fleetwood’s “Marking Time”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Nicole Fleetwood’s “Marking Time”
    01 Jul 2020
    Incarcerated activists have so many tools and skills to teach about resisting brutal regimes.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us