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

Cleveland Championship?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jun 2015
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner

BAR's poet in residence reminds us that Cleveland has been taking shots as well as making shots for a long time now...

Cleveland Championship?

by BAR poet-in-residence   Raymond Nat Turner

“The power to kill compounds the need to kill”

-Judith Wright

LeBron shot 38 times,
Scored 44, needing 11
More shots to out shoot
One Cleveland pig; 107
More to out shoot the
Pig’s shoot-around, firing
Squad, fearing-for-their-
Lives, ‘Flash Brothers—’
Red-hot muzzles blazing,
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-
Pop-pop popcorn cordite,
Awful thud-thud-thud-thud-
Thud of their bullets burrowing,
Pock marking thin night skin of
The old baby blue Malibu Malissa
Williams’ and Timothy Russell’s
Disfigured faces and heads lay,
Blooming crimson on the Chevy’s
Steering wheel and dashboard

Cleveland’s ‘Flash Brothers,’
Cavalier killers of Black folk,
Out shot Sean Bell’s, Amadou
Diallo’s Big Apple shooters,
Out shot Mike Brown’s murderer
Walter Scott’s South Carolina
Killer, out shot ol’ Thronberry,
‘Riders’ from ‘Tha Town,’ out
Shot Oaktown shooters of Gary
King, Melvin Black, Charles
Briscoe, Casper Banjo, but no
Championship for Cleveland

Two seconds on the clock
Cleveland’s ‘Flash Brothers,’
Cavalier killers of Black folk,
Shoot a 12-year-old boy, tackle
His 14-year-old sister, threaten
His mom with arrest; flagrantly
Fouling out of the human race—
Like Philly pigs bombing, barbequing
11 MOVE children and adults,
Razing 60 homes, no championship
For Cleveland

So, why am I so slow to share bliss
Blanketing ‘Tha Town’ like morning
Fog? Oaktown earned it ol’ fashioned
Ways: Oscar Grant, Occupy Oakland,
‘General Strike’ street heat, port shut-
Downs ‘gainst apartheid states near/far!

So, why am I so conflicted, digging
Young cats, Ali-less, Russell-less,
Kareem-less, Brown-less, Coltrane-
Like, working craft, remaining humble?

Is it because of the ‘bigs,’
Backing us down, running set plays,
Serial wars, making us settle— low
Percentage shots every two/four years?

Is it because of the ‘bigs,’
Swatting Black lives away through thin blue
Lines, high fructose corn syrup food deserts,
Chicken colonies of poverty and obesity?

Is it because of the ‘bigs—’
Grubb, Coldwell, Wells Fargo banksters,
Remax Red Oak, and their sneering FOR
SALE/SOLD signs, dominating down low?

Is it because of the ‘bigs—’
Boarding up houses, shuttering schools,
Libraries, parks, rec centers and erecting
Ever grander play palaces to themselves?

Is it because of the ‘bigs’
Off-shoring jobs and subbing
Arrogant settlers, upturned noses, barking
Dogs, for Caterpillar, Peterbilt, Postal, GM,
Highland Hospital, Naval Shipyard, starters?

Is it because of the ‘bigs’
Bounce passes to haters of Blacks,
FOX-box trolls, disguised as fans
Standing ‘their’ ground, 2nd place
‘Winners’ with the1%!
Overseer tones to 55-inch screens,
Commanding Black bodies: “cut,”
“Stop dribbling,” “drive,” “shoot,”
“Come out aggressive,” “go strong
To the hole,” “play hurt,” don’t holler
“I can’t breathe,” “Hands up, don’t
Shoot,” don’t “bulk up like Hulk
Hogan,” “run through shots,” don’t
Take off running, make “eye contact,”
Or resist ‘arrest’ from fetal positions—
500lbs of knees in your back…

Is it because of the ‘bigs’
Finding ways to win, sweeping stats mattering
Most—triple-doubles, Dr. King drew up ‘67—
No matter who hoists trophies, lines parades as
Kings, for a day?

Raymond Nat Turner Š 2015 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eric Nshimiye, Another Rwandan American Facing Trial in Another Rwandan Witch Hunt
    03 Apr 2024
    The totalitarian state of Rwanda is guilty of many forms of transnational repression, including the lawfare exemplified in the case of Eric Nshimiye.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
    03 Apr 2024
    BAR's Poet-in-Residence will perform next week in New York City.
  • Marching protesters
    Shaka Shakur
    The New Modern Day Militarized Fort! 
    03 Apr 2024
    The wave of cop cities being constructed across the nation must be analyzed through the lens of settler colonialism and the state's effort to maintain its dominance by expanding the police state.
  • Capital One Arena
    Gus Griffin
    Another Sports Team Fleeces the People
    03 Apr 2024
    Through misleading deals, tax breaks, and false promises, capitalists and politicians plunder public resources for their own gain.
  • Palestinian flag
    Austin Cole , MIT Coalition for Palestine
    MLK Jr. Gala Action & MLK Gala Speech
    03 Apr 2024
    In response to campus repression tactics, a coalition of students and faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) held coordinated disruptions during a university gala.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us