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
šŸ–Øļø 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

ā€œThe power to kill compounds the need to killā€

-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, ā€˜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 ā€˜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,
ā€˜Riders’ from ā€˜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 ā€˜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 ā€˜Tha Town’ like morning
Fog? Oaktown earned it ol’ fashioned
Ways: Oscar Grant, Occupy Oakland,
ā€˜General Strike’ street heat, port shut-
Downs ā€˜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 ā€˜bigs,’
Backing us down, running set plays,
Serial wars, making us settle— low
Percentage shots every two/four years?

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

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

Is it because of the ā€˜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 ā€˜bigs’
Bounce passes to haters of Blacks,
FOX-box trolls, disguised as fans
Standing ā€˜their’ ground, 2nd place
ā€˜Winners’ with the1%!
Overseer tones to 55-inch screens,
Commanding Black bodies: ā€œcut,ā€
ā€œStop dribbling,ā€ ā€œdrive,ā€ ā€œshoot,ā€
ā€œCome out aggressive,ā€ ā€œgo strong
To the hole,ā€ ā€œplay hurt,ā€ don’t holler
ā€œI can’t breathe,ā€ ā€œHands up, don’t
Shoot,ā€ don’t ā€œbulk up like Hulk
Hogan,ā€ ā€œrun through shots,ā€ don’t
Take off running, make ā€œeye contact,ā€
Or resist ā€˜arrest’ from fetal positions—
500lbs of knees in your back…

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

Raymond Nat Turner Ā© 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


  • Audre Lorde’s Revolutionary Contribution to Black Political Thought
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Audre Lorde’s Revolutionary Contribution to Black Political Thought
    29 Mar 2021
    Black poet and feminist Audre Lorde showed her socialist and revolutionary colors in the wake of the US invasion of Grenada, her parent’s birthplace, in 1983, said Jack Turner, pro
  •  US Black Elite Tied to Capitalism, Not Black Liberation
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    US Black Elite Tied to Capitalism, Not Black Liberation
    29 Mar 2021
    ā€œIf we want to have Black liberation, we have to abolish capitalism to do that,ā€ said Kandista Mallett, an activist and columnist for Teen Vogue magazine who authored a recent colu
  •  Expect ā€œLip Serviceā€ from Biden on Immigration Reform
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Expect ā€œLip Serviceā€ from Biden on Immigration Reform
    29 Mar 2021
    We have already seen Joe Biden’s immigration policy, during his eight years as vice president under Barack ā€œDeporter-in-Chiefā€ Obama, said Deborah A., a national organizer with the
  • Freedom Rider: Establishment Role in Anti-Asian Bigotry
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Establishment Role in Anti-Asian Bigotry
    24 Mar 2021
    Joe Biden is no better than Trump in advocating de facto white supremacy with his foreign policy, and corporate media fan the flames of anti-Chinese racism.
  • New Global Alliance Defends UN Charter in Clear Rebuke of U.S. Imperialism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    New Global Alliance Defends UN Charter in Clear Rebuke of U.S. Imperialism
    24 Mar 2021
    The United States has long positioned its imperial ambitions as the definition of international law and rejected entirely the spirit and authority of the U.N. Charter.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us