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
  • omnibus

Sold Singers
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
17 Dec 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

The battle is no longer in the streets

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

Now, we fightin’ for those leather seats

 

Sold Singers

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Singing against backgrounds of crackling flames,

So low their bass reverberated Booker T,

Drowning out shouts and shots of the no-names

The big voices all crooned way, way off key

Mint-fresh faces of Franklin, Cleveland and Chase

Inspired their song with an “Amazing Grace”

Restricting our rhythm to a mellow pace:

 

“Black is beautiful, but green power

Sounds sweeter, not rocking the boat—

Being dutiful, seize the hour and

Let us lower our note…”

 

Singin’ shufflin’ ditties, once the 70s swung in

They rocked like Booker T and other sold men

Oh, so low they’d “Sing a Simple Song”

“The best things in life are free…”

“So What” “if loving you is wrong…”

“…You can’t prove that by me”

They’d even get down, like James Brown,

On bended knees, screamin’ and beggin’

“Baby, please, please…”

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

The battle is no longer in the streets

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

Now, we fightin’ for those leather seats

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

I-I-I-I…

I know the white man done you wrong

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

So vote for me, and make us strong

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

You’ve suffered enough, heaven knows

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

E-lect me, and I’ll heal your woes

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

I-I-I-I…

I wanna be you next Congressman

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

I promise to ban the Ku Klux Klan

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

And look into all racist attacks

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

From the hills, across the tracks

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

So don’t protest or demonstrate

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

E-lect me and I’ll negotiate

 

BABY, PLEASE GO VOTE

I-I-I-I…

 

“Promises, promises, promises…” and

Makers come and go…

‘Til we sing: “We Shall Overthrow!”

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2013 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


  • Blacks Need to Organize for Self-Defense
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Blacks Need to Organize for Self-Defense
    01 Jun 2020
    “Whether we’re in large numbers like we are in Mississippi, or in small numbers like in Minnesota, our lives are in jeopardy and it’s important for us to build community networks to defend ourselve
  • Cornel West Endorses Larry Hamm for Cory Booker Seat in Senate
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Cornel West Endorses Larry Hamm for Cory Booker Seat in Senate
    01 Jun 2020
    Larry Hamm, chairman of Newark, New Jersey’s Peoples Organization for Progress, “is one of the most consistent freedom fighters in Newark since the great Amiri Baraka,” said activist and public int
  • The Blue Plague and Black Death
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    The Blue Plague and Black Death
    27 May 2020
    George Floyd’s death by Blue Plague in Minneapolis was widely condemned by the same parties that have encouraged and funded the spread of the fatal contagion.
  • Freedom Rider: Biden and the Low Point of Black Politics
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Biden and the Low Point of Black Politics
    27 May 2020
    Black folks perform phenomenal feats of mental gymnastics and self-delusion to convince themselves that Joe Biden is on their side.
  • BAR Editors Receive Serena Shim Award
    Shim Award Committee
    BAR Editors Receive Serena Shim Award
    27 May 2020
    Black Agenda Report editors Glen Ford, Margaret Kimberley, and Danny Haiphong are recipients of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromising Integrity in Journalism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us