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 My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Sep 2021
🖨️ Print Article
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

For My Friend Keasley

(Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

I.

In my mind—and sometimes

sub-vocally—I say his name 

almost every day.

You see, I call my wallet, “Wally 

Gator;” my keys, “Keasley Jones.”

I don’t leave home without them—

A memory trick for remembering

things essential.

II.

Moist morning air burns off into a mild

Mediterranean climate; quiet confidence;

soft spoken humility; Artist’s sensitivity…

and walks in Modesty’s moccasins, Compassion’s

cape, Humility’s tights—and does good deeds sans 

Fanfare.

Call him Keasley Jones. Go-to-guy for all things

Science. Suave wiseguy with Whole Earth solution 

catalogue. The dude I consulted when fantasizing

Nature ventures.

Hands on superhero masquerading as under-

achiever; Sipping Stanford, Odwalla and other 

Brands—before mergers and acquisitions. Be-

fore hitting his Pit Pony Hey-

day. Before managing as Swiss Army Knife of 

publishing!

I remember him lending his height, helping

hang photos, posters and shadowboxes on

virgin Freight & Salvage walls: Celebrating 

20 years of UpSurge!

I remember unanticipated appearances at

Gigs—sage smile, bent down, semi-squat hug;

I remember messages 2 weeks before his

Death asking if I still needed dental work—

I remember his generous response…Flagged

“For poetry and dental work.”

III.

I beg my ‘white’ people—my Euros—forget a-

bout being like Mike, Oprah—or even John 

Brown.

Walk in Keasley’s moccasins a minute— 

now and then, here and there…Try

Reinventing yourselves as woke *Prison Radio

Mensches—Assistant Saints like him! Refuse

to turn blind eyes of sand-buried heads away 

from concertina wired walls of concentration

camps; guard-towered gulags—violent hellholes 

of endless torture… 

Paddle in Keasley’s kayak a minute— 

now and then, here and there… Try

Scouting downstream hungry, unhoused, hurricane-

ravaged peoples having less than you can imagine…

IV.

November 6, 2019 I wrote on Facebook:

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Keasley Jones, and

best wishes for many, many, many MORE…"

Then I perused his LinkedIn titles and skills and

noticed the one not listed that I’m most missing:

Friend… 

 

*Besides serving as Prison Radio’s Publishing Consultant and Office Manager for several years, Keasley was also part of the Peachpit Press/Addison-Wesley team that published Mumia Abu Jamal’s 1995 book, Live From Death Row.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

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

Prison Radio

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


More Stories


  •  Racism and Violence Against Blacks Endemic to US
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Racism and Violence Against Blacks Endemic to US
    01 Dec 2020
    Critical Race Theory holds that racism is endemic to US society, while Afropessimism and Social Death “suggests that, regardless of what Black bodies do, [they] will experience gratuitous violence,
  •  Racist Imperialism Killed Millions in Congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Racist Imperialism Killed Millions in Congo
    01 Dec 2020
    “More than 5.4 million died in the DRC as a direct or indirect consequence of the ongoing racist, neocolonial policy imposed on the Congolese population in an attempt to dismantle the Congo,” said
  • Biden, the Emcee at the Billionaires’ Ball
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Biden, the Emcee at the Billionaires’ Ball
    26 Nov 2020
    The Lords of Capital use periods of crisis to devour the less-rich and reshape the political economy to their further advantage, so that the Joe Bidens of the world jump higher and come quicker whe
  • Freedom Rider: Censorship in the Biden Era
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Censorship in the Biden Era
    25 Nov 2020
    The corporate media have joined the incoming administration in deciding what we can and cannot see and hear.
  • “America” Doesn’t Need Healing. It Needs Socialism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    “America” Doesn’t Need Healing. It Needs Socialism
    25 Nov 2020
    Biden’s promise to return the United States to “normalcy” comforts corporate executives in the “gig economy,” Wall Street, and the military industrial complex.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us