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

What Would the Ancestors Say?
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
14 Nov 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop”

 

What Would the Ancestors Say?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I know

I know

I know...

Harriet Tubman didn't slide

In and out of the slave south

Nineteen times, $40,000 reward

Hanging over her head like a

Scimitar, or Samurai sword;

Medgar didn't die in his driveway

Like a dog put down in the pound;

Malcolm didn't die on floor

Of the Audubon Ballroom;

King didn't die on chitlin' curcuit

Balcony of the Lorraine Motel;

Fred didn't die in his bed, under

Hooves of Chicago death squads

For tomfoolery---nappy-headed

Foolishness--- Negroz shrinking

To plantation Rip Van Winkles

Hung over on Ol' Massa's

Jim Jones Juice (January '09)

The eve of world revolution...

 

I know

I know

I know...

She would be leveling her pistol,

Leaving at least a half dozen dead

Negroz, after commanding "Forward,

Or die!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be tongue-lashing

Negroz with his Harlem-tinged

Tough love: "You've been had,

You've been took, you've been

Hoodwinked, you've been bamboozled!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be intoning in African,

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop,

No, and I'm concerned that if you

Continue traversing this treacherous

Trail you're on, during the dark and

Difficult days ahead, not only will you

Not get to the mountaintop, you will

Find yourselves descending to depths

So low that it will require you taking an

Elevator up eighty-six floors; climbing

Forty flights of stairs to a sub cellar of

Sin, standing on a step ladder on your

Tiptoes, just to suck the Devil's dick---

 

No, I'm afraid I can't be your drum

Major on this one---

The drones must be stopped,

The satanic wars ceased, and

The barbaric killing of other peoples'

Babies ended---forever..."

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2012 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


  • Lawyers for the Left: A Review
    Flint Taylor
    Lawyers for the Left: A Review
    04 Mar 2020
    This lawyers’ story inspires us to march forward against the forces of repression, oppression, and white supremacy.”
  • Message to the US Corporate Media: Capitalism is Responsible for the Deaths of Millions of People
    Solomon Comissiong
    Message to the US Corporate Media: Capitalism is Responsible for the Deaths of Millions of People
    04 Mar 2020
    Corporate media snake-oil salesmen/women are doing their best to convince the masses that socialism is the devil itself.
  • The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    R. Divya Nair
    The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    04 Mar 2020
    Five centuries ago, Europeans set about subjugating the non-“white” peoples of the world, and they are still at it.
  • The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    Margaret Eby 
    The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    04 Mar 2020
    The confusion goes all the way back to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Most American supermarkets are selling you sweet potatoes, not yams.”
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    02 Mar 2020
    If the Left Doesn’t Critique Endless War, Who Will?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us