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

$election postmortem 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Dec 2020
🖨️ Print Article
$election postmortem 
$election postmortem 

It was the Latino Vote…
No, it was the Latinix vote!
No, it was Black Women!
No, it was LGBTQ+ Black Women!
No, it was Red State Soccer Moms!
No, it was Mocha-sipping Millennials!
No, it was Gen Z Cannabis Users!
No, it was Independent Tattooed/Pierced Punks!
No, it was Swinging Swing State Couples!
No, it was Battleground State Bartenders!
No, it was Lincoln Project Republicans!
No, it was Erectile Dysfunctional Men Over 50 
earning over $100K
Who flipped Orange Age, red nose, big shoe shows
Mengele Medicine cult of death to: “Dark Winter”
Wehrmacht Lilliputian pandemic policies—toilers’ 
Tiny Tim
Geithner ‘relief’ for metastasizing mile-long food lines…

But then again, maybe it was the eyes, 
teeth and blood lost? Maybe it was the
bodies absorbing blows, steel tempered
by white heat and hammer?
Maybe it was spongy young lungs of all hues sucking up
teargas? Maybe it was innocent wrists cuffed torturously 
tight losing sensation—wrists refusing to normalize—wrists
refusing to co-sign barbarism marketing itself as the highest
form of civilization?

Maybe it was the masked ones; the physically- 
spaced ones, spiritually-connected on blistered
feet and cramped legs? Maybe it was the ones
with aching arms, and hoarse voices shouting
slogans at ear-splitting decibels reverberating
between buildings of big business and special 
bodies of armed men?

Maybe it was the bold, brave ones occupying U.S.
Streets for over two months—
Centering
Mass struggle antidotes to death and hunger?

© 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 https://www.youtube.com/user/zigilow

COMMENTS?

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

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


  • BAR Abolition & Mutual Aid Spotlight: Alisa Bierria
    Dean Spade and Roberto Sirvent, BAR Contributors
    BAR Abolition & Mutual Aid Spotlight: Alisa Bierria
    13 May 2020
    In light of the pandemic, we have seen an extraordinary emergence of mutual aid strategies around the world.  
  • First Somali Congressperson Legitimizes AFRICOM and US Drone War 
    Tunde Osazua and Netfa Freeman
    First Somali Congressperson Legitimizes AFRICOM and US Drone War 
    13 May 2020
    Rep. Omar recently commended the US war machine for increasing the “transparency” and “accountability” of its bombing of her native country.
  • New York Tried to Get Rid of Bail. Then the Backlash Came
    Jamiles Lartey
    New York Tried to Get Rid of Bail. Then the Backlash Came
    13 May 2020
    The no-bail movement was on a roll from Vermont and New Jersey to Alaska and Georgia – and then the lock ‘em up mob struck back. 
  • Coronavirus is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever
    William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen
    Coronavirus is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever
    13 May 2020
    The COVID-19 crisis only heightens the urgency of black reparations, which is now more essential than ever.
  • On George Jackson and Julian Assange
    Patrick D. Anderson
    On George Jackson and Julian Assange
    13 May 2020
    Both see the United States as the Empire, and they agree that it must be opposed.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us