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

DNC: Deceptive Notorious Capitalism
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Aug 2024
🖨️ Print Article
DNC

Great Hope (Black) Baptist Church—Watts—
All day long …       Loved me some “Amen!”
“Preach!”        call and response communion
‘Round rockin choirs—And mic drop sermons!

And, Sly-like, Mommy’s best friend Bea rocked
B-3 organ! And her grand got us on the ‘good foot’
Sweltering Sunday mornings Reverend
Duvall delivered the smell-good, silk, mohair word!

So, nights of clever phrases and soaring oratory are
Entertaining! Nights of escaping scrutiny on redacted
Resumes and air-brushed bios are amusing. But, think of me as a
Guitar in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame— that will not be played …

Juxtapose red, white and blue balloon drop— to 2,000 lb.
Bomb drops on overstuffed homes, hospitals, schools … Consider
Families shredded into puzzle pieces and fished from reflecting pools of
Blood …

Joyous nights of triangulation and Duopoly singing! “Promises, promises,
Promises!” Surprisingly, Slick Willy didn’t reprise shades and saxophone!
Surprisingly, The Drone Ranger didn’t break into “Amazing Grace—” or do
His Flint Water Magic Trick—Or his Skippy-Gate Beer with Po-Po Trick …

My itty-bitty Black Job is to
Unpack your joy … Layer it. Nuance it. Complicate its intersectional
Place in planet pecking order.      And, drill down on your disbelief in
Your own agency embodied in ….     “Every cook can govern …”

My baby Black Job is to get under your hood. Into your weeds.
Down your rabbit hole—Center capitalism— And, “Say its name!”
It’s my Black Job to warn you: Bilingual, biracial, transgender giant—
Or disabled dwarf, HBCU Peace Studies PhD —Capitalism’s in charge …

My part-time Black Job’s pushing back on Identity Intoxication …    To
Hurl history into your high. To tug on threads of cotton fiber reminding
You of Happy Dances/Electric Slides on thin ice. Recall your coma of 8
Years as the Drone Ranger/Deport-er-in-Chief whacked other peoples’ babies?!

My boring Black Job's telling you— umpteenth time— Warfare State,
War House, White Supreme Court, Capitalist Hill are wholly-owned by
Warlords of Wall Street. Generals! General Atomic, General Dynamics,
General Electric and brothers Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon, et al.

My 3-D: dull/dirty/dangerous; 3-H: hot/heavy/hazardous Black Job’s
Translating diplomat-tease: “Working tirelessly for a ceasefire!” into gutter
Tongue of Genocide: …  “Ironclad, we ain’t Blinken, Biden our time lending
Cover to Final Solution proceeding unabated on your $20 billion dime …”

© 2024. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.


Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at GoFundMe and PayPal.

Democratic National Convention
Democrats
Palestine
Capitalism
Genocide

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
Short word problems: do the math
03 June 2026
Work these word problems. Work them as if your lives depend onYOUR correct answers.YOUR solutions … Because they do:
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Big D Dysfunction: Why The Democrat Party’s Latest Comedy of Errors is a Tragedy of Strategy 
27 May 2026
The party that installed its presidential candidate without a primary vote now blames its 2024 loss on everything except its own cont
x
Yarden Azoulay Katz
“Their Chaos is Our Peace”: Fighting Zionist Repression in Texas and Beyond
29 April 2026
Zionists continue their attacks on universities, exerting pressure to silence and terminate professors who express views in support of Palestin
John Parker
Socialist candidate John Parker: Abolish ICE and police, fund people’s needs
22 April 2026
Following is a recent campaign meeting talk by socialist congressional candidate John Parker.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
STOP Cruel Reich Cult (CRC) from reinventing the wheel
01 April 2026
Cruel Reich Cult coveting Utopia of no unrest. No protest. Voiceless
Boycott the world cup
Black Alliance For Peace
100 Days From the World Cup, an International Coalition is Calling on FIFA to Move the Games From the U.S.
11 March 2026
The US has disqualified itself from hosting the World Cup through wars, genocide, and domestic repression.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Kid growing up under growing fascism
25 February 2026
When I became old enough to drink —then I became old enough to vote.When I became old enough to think —
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Trump’s De Jure Racism Provides Convenient Cover for Liberals and Democrats to Mask Their De Facto Racism
11 February 2026
The political theater of condemning Trump's racism serves the function of diverting attention from the more dangerous, policy-based r
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Epstein Files Shows How the Elites Move
04 February 2026
The importance of the Epstein files cannot be underestimated.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
ICE Exposes Democratic Party Irrelevance
28 January 2026
The Democratic Party is useful only to the oligarch class, who give them their marching orders.

More Stories


  • Venezuela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Week of Action in Solidarity with Venezuela
    14 Nov 2025
    The U.S. regime change effort against Venezuela has recently intensified with the killings of Venezuelans, Trinidadians, and Colombians said to be drug traffickers, the latest salvo in the long U.S.…
  • Peoples tribunal
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    International People's Tribunal for Palestine
    14 Nov 2025
    We're joined by Farah Imad, an organizer of the International People's Tribunal for Palestine, which takes place in Barcelona on November 22nd and 23rd. She is a lawyer who has written about…
  • Venezuela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Glen Ford on the Bipartisan Nature of American Exceptionalism
    14 Nov 2025
    The Trump administration’s threats against Venezuela are a reminder that U.S. aggression is thoroughly bipartisan. In 2019, Glen Ford provided this analysis of a Democratic Party presidential debate…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Democrats' Treachery Ends the Shutdown
    12 Nov 2025
    Voter support for the Democratic Party in the government shutdown showdown was irrelevant. The Senate capitulation was a cynical and inevitable endgame for a party devoted to the austerity race to…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Southern Sudan, Joseph U. Garang, 1969
    12 Nov 2025
    “Thus it can be said that British colonialism is mainly responsible for the Southern Sudan problem…”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us