My Wise Country Cousin on the Congressional Black Caucus
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Son, don’ axe me ‘bout de Blak Cawcus—
‘Less you wanna see me gittin’ rawcus…
Dem Negroz is greezy an’ too damn slick
I gib ‘em de name: de Corprit Bag Click—
Preachin’ “Ark ob de morul uneverse long
But, de pull ob green power is too strong!”
Why, on all leguslayshun dat matter to us
Dey vote in a blok: “In gawd we truss…”
We onlee see Dem ‘ bout ebry 2-4 years
Eben den we can barely ben dey ears…
Dem Negroz par-tay livin’ hi on de hog—
We’s han to mouf, shot down lak a dog!
Congressnull Blak Cawcus caw lak crows
Persunhoods de pimps, an’ dey de hoes:
“Eber seen a suitcase full ob Franklin face?
Dat trump de histree ob de whole Blak ‘race’…
Eber sit in one Dem big, sof’ lethur chairs?
Now, dat overcome constitchuwents cares…
You eber go on de great big golf junkit?
Low-hangin’ fruit, sumbody gon’ plunk it!
Eber hab a big fine car along wit de driver?
Ha, ha… one perk fo dis ‘shucker an’ jiver’…”
Wit de job descripshuns lak : LIAR an THEEF
An’ co-signin’ fo dey Commanduh-en-Cheef
In all ob dey years, dey ain’t done us much good—
Recall Dem Negroz fo’ tribunals in de ‘hood!
Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at Raymond (at) upsurgejazz.com
Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved
Reflections on Valerie Veatch's documentary, Ghost in the Machine.
"For a neighbor: Hall of Fame Herb" for Herb Boyd from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
Colombia's constitution recognizes Black communities as collective rights-holders, but extractivism and dispossession have undermined those guarantees, inspiring people to build their own…
The Black Panther Party did not begin in Oakland on October 15, 1966, but emerged from earlier organizing in Harlem and Lowndes County, Alabama. Celebrating only the famous founders erases the…
Coleen Littlejohn presente! Our late comrade gave these remarks detailing how Nicaragua and Palestine share a long history of revolutionary internationalist solidarity, demonstrating a shared anti-…
