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

Redouble our efforts…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Apr 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

When our giants go down, our spines must straighten up and create new beginnings.

 

Redouble our efforts…

(For Robert Knight, Chokwe, Amiri,

And others known and less known…)

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

 

When our Knights are captured 

Or fall on battlefields, as they 

Surely must, and we lose their

Brilliant lights and we are

Scrambling to pry pens,

Swords, spears, bread and

Roses from stainless steel 

Grips of their icy hands—

Scrambling to hoist our 

Fallen banners, temporarily

Mired in mud and blood, 

Even higher, scrambling 

To staunch rivulets of

Brine from our sweetly

Shattered hearts…

 

When our giants — in 

All sizes — go down, 

Our spines straighten

Honoring, immortalizing,

Their legends, burnished 

Names, by divvying up

Cosmic, ancient, work

Creating them in the 

Beginning…

 

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
    Namibia Blocks Vessel Carrying Explosives to Israel
    04 Sep 2024
    The ruling SWAPO party says it is upholding international law.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    SNAP elections?
    04 Sep 2024
    "SNAP elections?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the Federal Indictments of Uhuru 3 and Denial of their Fundamental Human Rights to Speech, Association, Information and Political Dissent
    04 Sep 2024
    The federal trial of the Uhuru 3 has begun. The egregious charges of being foreign agents don't bode well for the future of free speech and the radical Black movement. However, the movement will…
  • Nemanja Lukić
    Europe’s Thirst for Green Imperialism in Serbia
    04 Sep 2024
    The new lithium mining project between Germany and Serbia appears to be part of an ongoing imperialist strategy to compete with China. The Serbian people are rising to reject this project and…
  • Anima Adjepong
    A Hellscape of False Options
    04 Sep 2024
    The options for political representation are bleak - it may be better to say there isn't much of a choice at all. With Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, voters may have someone who presents a…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us