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.
A single call from an anonymous tipster is all it takes for the government to take children from their families.
The effort to end qualified immunity in New York, rezoning and housing in Harlem, and the National Day Laborers Organinizing Network at the People's Summit.
Qualified immunity is the legal doctrine that shields public officials accused of civil rights violations. Police and corrections officers face limited repercussions for acts of brutality, even for…
Leah Goodridge is a member of New York City Planning Commission. She opposed the One45 project, which was to have been located on West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue. The project was opposed by the…
Gonzalo Mercado is Director of Transnational Programs at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) which is among the convening organizations for the People's Summit for Democracy, which…
