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

Deliver us from lesser evil…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
04 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article
deliver us from lesser evil
front row at Aretha's funeral

Star-struck, in childlike

awe of celestial

Voices, silver tongues;

I spent seven hours

glued to the screen—

back in the Baptist Church,

Celebrating, honoring the

humanitarian, North Star

Shero—genius in her field!

What a day, imbibing

Mighty Black Music!

Joyful noise, Lake Michigan-

sized magnet, gathering forces

elbow to elbow—

Enemies, Orange Age

Allies on the clock…

Basking in reflected light,

Assassins, informants, jailers,

Mouthpieces, mass murderers,

super predators, slutty professors

came riding, riding, riding, riding

bare-back, backwards on a

Donkey to The D.

Riding in corporate coats

of many logos—then

Limboing their way

Center stage, tracking

donkey dung down the

red carpet; playing

our emotions, our

Souls, our strength—

our Achilles’ heel

like plastic kazoos:

resurrecting the

Democratic Party…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Our poet in residence, Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Erasure vs. Sumud: How the Nakba Came to Define the Collective Palestinian Identity
    Ramzy Baroud
    Erasure vs. Sumud: How the Nakba Came to Define the Collective Palestinian Identity
    10 May 2023
    The catastrophe for the Palestinian people began 75 years ago and their struggle against the apartheid state continues.
  • Sudan Conflict Provides Rationale for Further Imperialist Militarization
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Sudan Conflict Provides Rationale for Further Imperialist Militarization
    10 May 2023
    The United States deploys naval warships and drones after creating the conditions for destabilization in Sudan. AFRICOM's presence is expanding under the guise of protecting US nationals. 
  • US Secretary of State Under Pressure to Disclose Bombshell Afghanistan Cables
    The Cradle
    US Secretary of State Under Pressure to Disclose Bombshell Afghanistan Cables
    10 May 2023
    Anthony Blinken has refused to hand over cables in which US embassy officials warned of an imminent Taliban victory weeks before Washington's botched withdrawal.
  • Black Agenda Radio May 5, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 5, 2023
    05 May 2023
    Protest in France, gentrification in Philadelphia, and school safety and achievement.
  • Mass Protest in France
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Mass Protest in France
    05 May 2023
    Philippe Gendrault, Ph.D. is a mental health provider committed to the anti-racist, anti-imperialist struggle for social and political justice. He joins us from San Francisco to discuss the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us