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

Birmingham On The Hudson
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Aug 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

“Another generation of Gordon Gekkos

Parasitic, psycho, thug CEOs

Funny money men, where anything goes

Republi-crats and Demo-con echoes”

 

Birmingham On The Hudson

by Raymond Nat Turner

Jazz Ballad Chorus

Headed for CUNY with dreams and hope

'Til gettin' swept up in Rope-and-Grope

Tuggin' down his testes on the street

Body-slammed, cursed and browbeat 

Meeting N-Y's finest's fists and feets

Given blurred vision of hoods and sheets

Bruised, bloodied victim of violent scam--

The Hudson banks on Birmingham

The Hudson banks on Birmingham.... 

Hip Hop Feel

Bull Kelly cut fire hoses and cattle prods

For Glockmiesters runnin' in death squads

Protecting and serving corporate masters

The privilege and supremacy of alabasters 

Guarding Merrill-Lynch and Killer Coke

Fighting crime's mirrors and smoke

Drivin' out the poor from dusk to dark

Like smashing Spring in Zucotti Park

 

After the Schultzes seized Native Land

Manhattan real estate rose in demand

They cashed the stolen land into rent

Maintained violently by the 1%

 

In this Age Of Metastasized Cash-ism

Wall Street's Kleptocratic Stash-ism

Mayor Bilbo's businesses blooming brisk

His real estate-driven Stop-and-Frisk

American-styled apartheid pass law

Bilbo's Gestapo's a blue cat's-paw

 

After the Schultzes seized Native Land

Manhattan real estate rose in demand

They cashed the stolen land into rent

Maintained violently by the 1%

 

Another generation of Gordon Gekkos

Parasitic, psycho, thug CEOs

Funny money men, where anything goes

Republi-crats and Demo-con echoes

Putting our lives and health at risk

Run these cons through Stop-and-Frisk

Provocateurs and pundits in cahoots

Will look hip in orange jumpsuits!

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at Raymond (at) upsurgejazz.com.

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2012 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


  • Ujima’s Plan to Transcend Neoliberalism in Maryland
    Phillip Clark
    Ujima’s Plan to Transcend Neoliberalism in Maryland
    23 Nov 2022
    The Ujima People's Progress Party is organizing outside of the duopoly in an effort to gain true political representation for Black working people. 
  • Widespread Panic as Anti-Haitian Decree Goes into Effect in Dominican Republic
    Carlos Edill Berríos Polanco
    Widespread Panic as Anti-Haitian Decree Goes into Effect in Dominican Republic
    23 Nov 2022
    In the Dominican Republic, Haitian migrants or any dark-skinned Black person can be arrested, have their belongings seized, and be deported from that country. Anti-Haitian sentiment and legislation…
  • After Bolsonaro, Can Brazil Move Beyond Neoliberalism and Toward Greater Global Cooperation?
    Richard Matousek
    After Bolsonaro, Can Brazil Move Beyond Neoliberalism and Toward Greater Global Cooperation?
    23 Nov 2022
    Lula da Silva's return to the Brazilian presidency is seen as a victory for the left. But he will have to struggle against forces who want to continue neo-liberal policies.
  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43
    US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43
    23 Nov 2022
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43 includes an interview with a representative of the Revolutionary Socialist League of Kenya and as always, the latest analysis and reporting on…
  • Medical Care as a Political Weapon: Reflections on Frantz Fanon’s Treatment and Death from Cancer in Amerika
    Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson
    Medical Care as a Political Weapon: Reflections on Frantz Fanon’s Treatment and Death from Cancer in Amerika
    23 Nov 2022
    Frantz Fanon was a fierce critic of the U.S., but he spent the last weeks of his life in Washington DC, where he hoped to be treated for leukemia. Medical care can be used as a political weapon. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us