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

Sunshine State of mind
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
06 Aug 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Just in case one misunderstood

Ground on which this patriot stood

Look up the town called Rosewood

“Creepy crackers” could, would, should!

 

Sunshine State of mind

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Another bloody forget-me-not

Thickening, eternal war subplot

Spinning into a fierce FOX—trot

For capitalism, the deranged despot

Never ceasing to amaze and astound

Standing stolen Seminole ground

Never ceasing to amaze and astound

Standing stolen Miccosukee ground

 

Yet another patty-rollin’ patriot,

Or, super surveillance-state mascot

Celebrated Johnny-on-the spot

Making a name with a gunshot—

Just in case one misunderstood

Ground on which this patriot stood

Look up the town called Rosewood

“Creepy crackers” could, would, should!

 

Sista Nina sang “Mississippi Goddamn”

Her masterpiece framed like a telegram

So pithily denouncing our Uncle Sam

For his hypocrisy-demockkkracy scam

Now another Dixie inferno of Dante

Has become infamous for upping the ante

For playing most Black folks andante

By vindicating a rather vile vigilante

 

Whether by a single bullet hole

Or magically putting millions on parole

For a purge of the voters roll

When a $election’$ to be stole

Too south of the Mason-Dixon line

Blacks may as well be on the Rhine

Or in the crosshairs of Columbine—

Or even in occupied Palestine!

 

With bellicose bleating for the Pentagon

And ignorance of the Lorraine and Audubon

Masked by shrieks of “LeBron! LeBron!”

Soon there will be yet another Trayvon…

 

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


  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Declaration of a Zone of Peace
    26 Aug 2026
    From the blockade of Cuba to the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, U.S. imperialism is recolonizing the Americas, and the only answer is a Zone of Peace built through popular struggle and anti-…
  • Pamela Colloff
    Florida Is Executing Prisoners at a Record Pace, Even as Most of the U.S. Abandons the Death Penalty
    26 Aug 2026
    Early last year, Governor Ron DeSantis began signing death warrants at a faster rate than ever before. What followed was the most intense period of executions the state has carried out in more than…
  • Omar Zahzah
    Michigan 8 case is part of a broader pattern of repression
    26 Aug 2026
    Eight student activists in Michigan face decades in prison for advocating that their university divest from genocide. It is clear the goal of the indictment is to terrorize the Palestine solidarity…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 21, 2026
    21 Aug 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss U.S. control over Venezuela and its resources, and the Venezuelan people's response to their loss of sovereignty. But we begin with a report on the police killing…
  • Kohen Wiley
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    One Year Old Kohen Wiley Killed Under Color of Law in Mississippi
    21 Aug 2026
    Our guest is attorney Jaribu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights. She reports on the police killing of 1-year old Kohen Wiley in Senatobia, Mississippi and on…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us