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

My Mentors and me
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
13 Nov 2019
My Mentors and me
My Mentors and me

Standing out in the cold shivering,
shoveling white bean soup in my mouth,
A mentor appears, two assistants in tow. 
Mind butcher shop sharp with a
New York nano second for bullshit,
she’s heard scores of $campaign
slogans and $election promises…

Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal
interview: centenarians and technology;
and she’s still in her writing workshop.
I feel validated because she too uses
spiral notebooks; winding wire coils
lower to higher, mirroring her life…

When we met a year ago, she
taught me how to meditate as I
wake mornings. A Jew 102— A
year later she’s here for me103!

My other mentor’s African-
American and 97—though barely 95
when he named me “The Town Crier.”
Moment our paths crossed, my
curiosity got the best of me, “Whoa,
who’s this lean, mean elder with
boxing gloves and punching bag?”

I found out later this Brooklynite
grew up with Jazz legends; hoists
black dumbbells twice the weight 
I hoist; and puts wannabe
Thugs down for subway naps…
So wonderful—so fabulous—
Him showing up for our gig at The
Commons and giving us two thumbs up!
Gosh, wish I could reciprocate, being the
writer telling his story—even his
work for a Collection Section of
IBM—Italian Business Men…

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. 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 [email protected]

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

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 I
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!”
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 r
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.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                                                                              Another June 1  
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Mali Collins’ Book, “Scrap Theory”
    09 Jul 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Mali Collins. Collins is Assistant Professor of African American and African…
  • Hanna Eid
    Hell is Empty and the Devils Are All Here: AI and Imperialism in the Current Crisis
    09 Jul 2025
    AI is imperialism's newest weapon, automating genocide in Gaza while building a surveillance state at home.
  • Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration
    Historic Genocide Case Heard in Barbados Supreme Court: Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration Demands Accountability Over Gaza Atrocities
    09 Jul 2025
    Barbados’ Supreme Court is now at the center of a historic genocide case against Israel, as Caribbean activists demand their government sever ties with the apartheid state.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Kenyan Police Attack Youth-led Demonstrations Against Brutality
    09 Jul 2025
    At least 16 killed in protests marking the first anniversary of mass actions against tax hikes and the continuing repression by law enforcement agents.
  • Said Bouamama Blog
    Settler Colonialism in light of F. Fanon: Algeria yesterday, Kanaky today...
    09 Jul 2025
    As settler-colonial violence escalates from Kanaky to Palestine, Fanon’s century-old warnings are critical today—capitalism’s genocidal expansion demands revolutionary violence in return.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us