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

count ALL votes
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
27 Nov 2019
🖨️ Print Article
count ALL votes
count ALL votes

POW…POW…POW…POW…
My leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths

POW…POW…POW…POW…
MY leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths—
POW…POW…POW…POW…
count ALL the muthafukkkin’ votes…

© 2019. 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 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

Black Misleadership Class

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


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Super Predators, Born Criminals, and the Black Misleadership Class
10 September 2025
The treachery of the Black misleadership class knows no bounds.
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
Katrina: The Rich Folks' Opportunity and Our Dismal Failure
27 August 2025
"Racism showed its ass in the days after August 29, 2005."
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Epitomizes Black Misleadership
20 August 2025
Mayor Bowser going along to get along with Donald Trump is unsurprising to anyone who has followed her political career.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Charles Rangel and the End of Black Politics
28 May 2025
The late Charles Rangel served as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than 40 years.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Temerity, Tartuffery, and Toxic Identity Reductionism…the Latest Democrat Party Hoggwash
21 May 2025
The Democratic Party would rather silence critics like Hogg than fix its own rot.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Graylan Hagler: Capitulation Masquerading as Political Thought
30 April 2025
Liberals continue to condemn anyone who didn’t support Kamala Harris and the latest iteration of neo-liberal treachery.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
From Uncle Tom to Cousin Cory: (Or, The Curious Case of Mr. Booker’s Senate Floor Minstrel Show)
09 April 2025
Senator Cory Booker’s recent 25-hour Senate speech is hailed by some as an act of resistance.
Jon Jeter
Across the Country, Black Voters Show Signs of Abandoning Black Mayors Who Have Abandoned Them
05 February 2025
The adage that "black faces in high places won't help us" still rings true when you look at Black mayors like Karen Bass, Eric Adams, and Lori
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Death of DEI
29 January 2025
Black people must be discerning about racist attacks on DEI programs while also acknowledging that “diversity” can be a con t
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 Eric Adams' defense of Penny an

More Stories


  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    October 7th, The Election and Capitalist Crisis, A Conversation with Ajamu Baraka
    09 Oct 2024
    Margaret Kimberley and Ajamu Baraka discuss the US upcoming presidential election, and the historic events unfolding in Western Asia - where Israel continues its onslaught of the region with an…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Rethinking Race, Rethinking Class, Charles W. Mills, 1995
    09 Oct 2024
    “We need to give greater theoretical centrality to the fact that European conquest of the world has established what is in effect: global white supremacy.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Social Media Beyond Corporate Control
    09 Oct 2024
    ​​​​​​​Social media bans on African Stream should remind us that corporations will never facilitate anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist narratives and stir us to look for alternatives.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    Britain Cedes Control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius While Maintaining Pentagon Base
    09 Oct 2024
    After nearly six decades, the right to self-determination and independence is still being denied to the Indigenous people as the United States prepares for expanding imperialist wars in Asia and…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Plutocratic pendulum swings …
    09 Oct 2024
    "Plutocratic pendulum swings …" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us