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

For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
27 May 2020
🖨️ Print Article
For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)
For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)

How I wish I could sing her name 
like Brother Ray or ‘Ree—
‘Cause Breonna Taylor’s real close 
to Bryana Turner to me

I wish I could sing her name 
like Abbey, Nina, or Big Paul—
Celebrating  the sunny
June home birth I recall…

I wish I could sing her name 
like Mahalia or Clara Ward—
Feeling my hand again
cutting an umbilical cord

I wish I could sing her name 
like Sarah or Natalie Cole—
But, the recorder reminds 
me that that’s not my role…

I wish I could sing her name 
like Lil’ Richard or Betty Wright—
Hearing Mingus’s ‘Haitian’ song 
that urges me to “Fight!”

I wish I could sing her name 
and other names, other towns—
Galvanizing Black Folks—and
fifty million John Browns…

© 2020. 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 http://upsurgejazz.com .

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 comments@blackagendareport.com

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.

More Stories


  • Tribute to Kevin Zeese: Life and Loss in the Struggle for Liberation
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Tribute to Kevin Zeese: Life and Loss in the Struggle for Liberation
    16 Sep 2020
    Zeese never wavered in his opposition to the corporate duopoly, white supremacy, and the forces of militarism.
  • Will a Biden Foreign Policy Make a Difference for the World?
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Will a Biden Foreign Policy Make a Difference for the World?
    16 Sep 2020
    For the people of the world the real fascism of anti-democratic, brutal regimes supported by the U.S., murderous sanctions, and right-wing coups will continue unabated. 
  • Fourteen Martyrs in the Struggle Against Racist Terror and Trumpism-Fascism
    Paul Street
    Fourteen Martyrs in the Struggle Against Racist Terror and Trumpism-Fascism
    16 Sep 2020
    Their names are not as familiar as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but these victims have paid the ultimate price, dying in the line of anti-racist and anti-fascist citizenship duty.
  • 1st 100 Days— Portland  
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    1st 100 Days— Portland  
    16 Sep 2020
    I have a friend—some- time bandmate—Daily… Whining, wringing his hands. Distressed and depressed— anxious and agitated—he Knows nuclear war and Armageddon are on the
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    16 Sep 2020
    This week Ibram X. Kendi, Toussaint Louverture, community control of the police, and the trial of Julian Assange were on your minds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us