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


  • Apologies Not Accepted - Or I Love It When The Universe Proves Me Right
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Apologies Not Accepted - Or I Love It When The Universe Proves Me Right
    19 Apr 2023
    Jacqueline Luqman was vilified for pointing out a simple fact. Black people will not make common cause with racists and bigots. Racists do not get a pass because they call themselves anti-war.
  • Piura No Longer a Fujimori Stronghold
    Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Piura No Longer a Fujimori Stronghold
    19 Apr 2023
    Peru is facing popular struggle in the wake of a coup which ousted President Castillo. It must also confront a legacy of political corruption.
  • Haiti, Hunger, and US Prison Imperialism
    James Patrick Jordan
    Haiti, Hunger, and US Prison Imperialism
    19 Apr 2023
    Imposing coups, forcing fake elections, denying asylum claims, and kidnapping a president aren't enough subjugation for the US to carry out against Haiti. US built prisons are a death trap for…
  • France in 2023
    Philippe Gendrault
    France in 2023
    19 Apr 2023
    France raised the pension age in the name of a "reform" that is nothing more than the EU sanctions regime at work. French workers have been in a continued state of protest in response.
  • As Army and Rapid Support Forces Battle It Out, Sudanese Left Calls for Restoring the Revolution
    Pavan Kulkarni
    As Army and Rapid Support Forces Battle It Out, Sudanese Left Calls for Restoring the Revolution
    19 Apr 2023
    The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have begun fighting each other. The root of the conflict lies in disagreements over integrating the paramilitary into the army. The…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us