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

What The Left Left At O’Hare
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Jun 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

To fly the friendly skies of the National Security State, one must first be prepared to jettison all leftist baggage.

 

What The Left Left At O’Hare

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I recall, it was like TSA had groped,

Probed and lightened their load:

“You can’t carry independent politics aboard”

“Militant mass-action is forbidden aboard the aircraft”

“Proletarian Internationalism must be dumped out here”

“Revolutionary attitude toward the state is absolutely forbidden beyond the gate!”

“You are allowed to bring aboard:

2oz see-through plastic bottles of social-chauvinism

2 oz plastic bottles of reformism

2 oz plastic bottles of tokenism

Unlimited humanitarian interventions in see through plastic is allowed”

 

Happy campers boarding in ’08,

Gate 1%, O’Hare, via Ronald

Reagan, “the left” powered

Down principles, turned off

Theoretical devices, kept its

Seatbelts buckled low and tight—

Paid high prices for complimentary

Kool Aid, mini-bottles of beer and

Headphones for feature films like

0 Dark 30 looped eight years on

Their non-stop flight—

Making their descent

Three years left in the

Holding pattern, acting as

Floatation devices under one

Seat aboard… Air Force One…

 

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


  • Where do they all come from???
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Where do they all come from???
    14 Dec 2022
    Where do they all come from???
  • BAR Book Forum: Lara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi’s Book, “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation”
    Roberto Sirvent
    BAR Book Forum: Lara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi’s Book, “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation”
    14 Dec 2022
    This week’s featured authors are Lara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi. Lara Sheehi is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the George Washington University Professional Psychology program.…
  • BAR Book Forum: Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s “Rehearsals for Living”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s “Rehearsals for Living”
    14 Dec 2022
    This week’s featured authors are Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Maynard is an award-winning Black feminist scholar-activist based in Toronto, and the author of the national bestseller…
  • As UK Premier Polishes His “Brand Rishi” Image, the Country Slides Into Recession
    Nizar K. Visram
    As UK Premier Polishes His “Brand Rishi” Image, the Country Slides Into Recession
    14 Dec 2022
    It may seem noteworthy that the UK Prime Minister is of Indian ancestry and a Hindu. It isn't surprising when one considers that Rishi Sunak is richer than the king. He acts on behalf of his class…
  • We Charge Imperialism: The International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism:  Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures
    Helyeh Doutaghi , Corinna Mullin , Nina Farnia
    We Charge Imperialism: The International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures
    14 Dec 2022
    The International People's Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism will convene in 2023. This position paper describes how sanctions are used as a tool of imperialism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us