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


  • BAR Book Forum: Daniel Immerwahr’s “How to Hide an Empire”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Daniel Immerwahr’s “How to Hide an Empire”
    11 Mar 2020
    The United States is not a union, it’s not exclusively of states, and for most of US history it hasn’t been limited to the Americas.
  • United States Imposed Economic Sanctions – The Big Heist
    Lauren Smith
    United States Imposed Economic Sanctions – The Big Heist
    11 Mar 2020
    There’s a lot more to the sanctions game than meets the eye, involving massive theft as well as intentional mass death.
  • Can Bernie Save the Left?
    Andy Thayer
    Can Bernie Save the Left?
    11 Mar 2020
    Do Sanders’ supporters really believe that even a totally principled leftist could turn the enormous repressive forces of the U.S. into forces for good? 
  • Joe Biden and the Legacy of White Liberals Exploiting the Black Vote
    Solomon Comissiong
    Joe Biden and the Legacy of White Liberals Exploiting the Black Vote
    11 Mar 2020
    How bad do things need to get before Black folk start something new that is geared towards our collective and comprehensive liberation?
  • Remembering Callie House, an Early Reparations Advocate
    Junious Ricardo Stanton 
    Remembering Callie House, an Early Reparations Advocate
    11 Mar 2020
    Her grassroots organization, the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association lobbied for federal legislation in support of pensions for formerly enslaved persons.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us