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
The failure of the capitalist state to provide the people with elementary protections of their fundamental human rights renders the capitalist state illegitimate.
It’s capitalism, baby…
Corporate America and white supremacists have waged merciless war against the Black megapolis that dared to nurture revolutionaries and great music.
This week readers were thinking about the myths of racial progress, finance capital and primaries, the pandemic in Haiti, and the possibilities of revolution.
We need to understand mutual aid work as part and parcel to the work of all radical organizing.
