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

My two new lil nieces: Session 1 Lesson 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
21 Sep 2022
🖨️ Print Article
My two new lil nieces: Session 1 Lesson 1

My two new lil nieces: Session 1 Lesson 1

“And you very small persons will not have to die

if you make yourselves heard! So come on, now,

and TRY!” — Dr. Seuss

Infant eyes fixed on big colorful pages—

Preschool sister’s holding her. Rocking her

World with reading—student’s ready! Uncle

sent Dr. Seuss—‘Uncle’ s Alphabet’ follows:

A’s for Anti-Black Arm, crooked, tatted, crushing windpipe

B’s for Blu Klux Klan/Baton/Blunt force/Broken bones…

C’s for Cracked skull; Cuffs too tight: Circulation cut off

D’s for Democracy—Don’t believe your lil lying eyes…

E’s for Extremist: ‘white’ supremacist views blasting you as NEWS…

F’s for Flashlight-busted—bloodied scalp—‘Fighting crime’

G’s for Glock—Gun-thug—‘Good shoot’ ’10-ring’/center mass

H’s for Hatred of Black and Brown skins like Yours/like Ours…

I’s for ICE cold-blooded killers hunting families trapped on borders

J’s for Justifiable Homicide/Juvenile Detention/January 6th…

K’s for Knee—on neck 9 min.—blu klux klansman extinguishing cigarette butt

L’s for Legal Lynching; Less Lethal: put eye out/disfigure face/damage brain…

M’s for Mace—in your

face—stay in your place, lovely little ladies!

N’s for Nigger—cops glaring at mirrors, mumbling to themselves—daily…

O’s for Obey—do as they say—whatever nonsense/whatever false pretense

in ‘self-defense’

P’s for Presto! Planted ‘evidence!’ ’Puttin cases on’ people disappearing ‘up the river’

Q’s for Questions cops ask over and over: “Where you going/coming from?????”

R’s for Routine traffic stop Tourettes—Routine potty-mouth ‘field interrogations’

S’s for “Stand down!” The command: Do not STOP murderous knees and arms at work!

T’s for Trauma/Toxic-masculinity—universal viral load—infecting fascists…

U’s for Useless in Uvalde—lovely children and their teachers needlessly died…

V’s for Violence: shopworn ‘service’/product peddled by policing pimps…

W’s for War on the poor; War on the working-class

X’s for X-rays exercising 1st Amendment rights: Assembling/Speaking out.

Y’s for Yearly/tally of blu klux killings normalized as ‘civilized’

Z’s for Zoos barbaric, bestial ‘corrections’ nazis keep for love of money…

© 2022. 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.

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


More Stories


  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report September 25, 2026
    25 Sep 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss events in the Horn of Africa as the Somaliland region requests U.S. recognition and the Trump administration ends some sanctions against Eritrea. But we begin by…
  • United Nations General Assembly
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Exerts Its Influence Over the United Nations as General Assembly Meetings Convene
    25 Sep 2026
    Ajamu Baraka discusses U.S. influence over the United Nations and its Security Council as the 81st General Assembly high-level meetings take place.
  • Israel and Somaliland
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. and Israeli Interference in Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
    25 Sep 2026
    Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African Newswire, discusses Israeli recognition of the Somaliland region, the US reduction of sanctions on Eritrea, a new anti-government alliance in Ethiopia, and…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
    23 Sep 2026
    The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S. faces crises but remains dangerous, powerful, and single-minded in…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Waging War Against the People on Behalf of Capital: The Roots of U.S. Domestic Repression
    23 Sep 2026
    The "Antifa summit" and the NSPM-7 represent another institutional step toward consolidating fascism in the United States by criminalizing opposition to fascism itself.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us