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

Black Lives Matter…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Feb 2021
Black Lives Matter…
Black Lives Matter... / Photo: Photo: Emmett Till

B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you listening to loud music;
shoveling snow; Or own a phone or car…
B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you breaking up a fight; or your
brake light’s broken…

B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you a Chicago child unschooled
in Mississippi apartheid; Unless you a
Man not laughing at un-funny stuff and
looking up from mud into steely blue-
grey eyes; or resisting rapists coming
for your momma, sister, daughter, wife…

B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you smoking a cigarette or making
A turn; Unless you a child scoring sugary
Snacks in the Sunshine State; Unless you
unhoused and have healthy reactions to
homelessness and its insanity…any city…

B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you a doctor describing decent care
to a Mengele medicine man…from your ICU
bed…
B-B-B-Black Lives M-M-M-Matter…
Unless you caught trying to breathe…
between swastika of knee-
o-teen and long white arm of the law…

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at https://www.youtube.com/user/zigilow

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected] 

white supremacy

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


Related Stories

Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Brittany Friedman’s Book, “Carceral Apartheid”
07 May 2025
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Jon Jeter
The Dog Whistle Heard ‘Round the World: How Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City Bombing Birthed the Trump Era
16 April 2025
Thirty years after Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing, his legacy lives on in the racist mass shooters, anti-government extremists, and MA
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
SPEECH: White Supremacy in U.S. History, Theodore W. Allen April 28, 1973
09 April 2025
“The principal aspect of United States capitalist society is not mere
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
LECTURE: A Humanist View, Toni Morrison, 1975
26 March 2025
Toni Morrison on art, archives, knowledge, and the long history of wh
Mark P. Fancher
The Folly of So-Called Foundational Black Americans
26 March 2025
So-called Foundational Black Americans may tell themselves they are noble protectors of ancestral legacy, but they are, in fact, little differe
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
Essay: The Caucasian Problem, George S. Schuyler, 1944
12 March 2025
“While we may dismiss the concept of a Negro problem as a valuable dividend
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Eric Adams and Daniel Penny Make Black People the Face of Crime
18 December 2024
Daniel Penny’s acquittal was not surprising, and neither is Mayor Eri
Jon Jeter
From Bernhard Getz to George Zimmerman to Daniel Penny: Using Vigilantes to Police a Racist Social Order
18 December 2024
The state and vigilante lynchings of Black men and boys in the U.S.
Jon Jeter
The White Settlers’ Bizarre Economic Strategy of Terrorizing Black People
11 December 2024
Jordan Neely's killing and the subsequent acquittal of Daniel Penny can be seen as part of the reactionary existential panic felt by whites whe
Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
Implications of a Second Trump Term for Working Class and Oppressed Peoples
13 November 2024
Irrespective of the rhetoric that characterized the campaign, the world’s majority will continue to be compelled

More Stories


  • Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team
    Now is the Time for All Anti-Imperialists and All Justice Loving People to Stand Unequivocally in Defense of Burkina Faso
    07 May 2025
    The Black Alliance for Peace demands an end to U.S. and Western interference in Burkina Faso, the rejection of neocolonial policies in the Sahel, and a stance affirming Africans' rights to…
  • Maxwell Evans
    South Side Neighbors Want Housing Protections Before City OKs ‘Luxury’ Hotel Near Obama Center
    07 May 2025
    Community residents say that Chicago's City Council should pass a slate of housing protections centered on low-income renters instead of advancing plans for a hotel near the Obama Center site.
  • Allen Myers
    Vietnam: A Victory Never To Be Forgotten
    07 May 2025
    Vietnam’s defeat of U.S. forces stands as a landmark anti-colonial victory, proving that determined resistance can overcome even the world’s most powerful military—yet its legacy remains fiercely…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 2, 2025
    02 May 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about an upcoming conference dedicated to Black, radical organizers in the U.S. But first, we have an update on the Congo and the principles of agreement between Congo…
  • congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Congo and Trump's Mineral Deal
    02 May 2025
    The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda recently signed a Declaration of Principles in Washington. Is Rwanda ending its M23 group’s incursion into the DRC?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us