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

Don't Play that Song
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article
this is what we do overseas
Don't Play that Song....

Don’t Sing That Song ‘bout

Bombs bursting in air,

Rocket’s red glare

Gave proof through the bus

40 children were dead.

Don’t Sing That Song

that “supports the troops”

Kicking in doors at 4AM;

Urinating on bodies

of Afghan fighters;

Defecating on

the Koran; Cutting

off ears and fingers—

Sporting them like

macabre trophies…

Don’t Sing That Song of

twilight’s last gleaming;

and perilous flight of

Hellfire Missiles from

Predator Drones—

white boy toys draining

treasure and blood:

Bankrupting us morally

Don’t Sing That Song—

‘bout a warfare state

with money for missiles,

Leaden water; collapsing

bridges; broken down

trains; Tent Cities and

citizens curled up on

cardboard—chanting,

“Spare change—

you can believe in?”

Don’t Sing That Song—

that slave masterpiece—

‘bout broad stripes on

brown backs; bright stars

in scrambled brains—Home

of the brave—gunning

down Black men in the streets

Don’t Sing That Song

Giving comfort to

War House Hitler-lovers

on Capitalist Hill,

White Supreme Court, slave

master statues, and military bases

named for confederate traitors

Don’t Sing That Song

Marvin prosecuted

for its soullessness—

Rene Marie face-

lifted with Every Voice—

as Nobel Drone Ranger

rammed her under the

bus with his Peace Prize—

Don’t Sing That Song

Jimi’s guitar tried

for war crimes at Woodstock!

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

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. 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


  • Palestine mural
    Jon Jeter
    Murder Inc.: The White Settler's Love Affair with Genocide
    08 Nov 2023
    Gaza is quite rightly a big news story these days, but events there are just the latest example of the centuries-old settlers' lust for conquest.
  • Political cartoon
    Jacqueline Luqman
    “It’s the Zionism, Stupid!”
    08 Nov 2023
    It shouldn't need to be said at this late date, but imperialism and settler colonialism are the pertinent issues to address in any discussion of Zionism.
  • Rep Rashida Talib speaking at her censureship hearing
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Gaza War Crimes Make a Mockery of Western "Democracy"
    08 Nov 2023
    The "democracies" of the world don't live up to this concept they claim is so important to them.
  • Lesser evil political cartoon
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Biden is the Greater and Less Effective Evil
    01 Nov 2023
    The trope of lesser evilism has died with the Joe Biden presidency.
  • STOP COP CITY
    Efia Nwangaza
    Smash Kop City Atlanta: A Hub In The National White Supremacist Bulwark for White Minority Rule
    01 Nov 2023
    Atlanta's proposed Cop City project is just the latest iteration of militarized policing which enables state repression.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us