by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
Now that Democrats are practically out of office, corporate donors are sponsoring empty spectacles of their own design, including another Climate March.
Red Alert
by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
A Love Supreme,
A Love SupremeâŚ
For Mother Earth and
Her creatures, her gifts
A Love Supreme,
A Love SupremeâŚ
Dangerous dance, lethal songs,
Powerful prayersâ
From the four directionsâ
First Nationsâ Spirit
Weapons of Mass Instruction
Amassing the worldâs
Hearts and minds on the CannonballâŚ
A Love Supreme,
A Love SupremeâŚ
For Mother Earth and
Her creatures, her giftsâ
Water is lifeâŚ
Capitalism death:
Profaning, poisoning, weaponizing waterâ
Greasy Gulf water wiping mussel, crab, shrimp out
brownish Flint water bearing brain-damaged babies
black Pennsylvania prison water causing
Cancer; and young inmates hair to fall outâŚ
Calling all R2P People
Come in R2P People!
Calling all Sanctions People
Come in Sanctions People!
Calling all No-Fly Zone People
Come in No-Fly Zone People!
Calling all Blockade People
Come in Blockade People!
Whereâs the hue and cry:
âHeâs using chemical weaponsâ
Gassing, torturing his own people;
Cracking down on dissent, freedom
of speech, freedom of expression?
Whereâs the tom-toms pulsing âregime changeâ,
âregime changeâ âregime changeâ âregime changeâ?
Calling all Peopleâs Climate Marchersâ
All 300,000 of you
Come in Peopleâs Climate Marchers
Maybe youâre busy since Matthew hit Haitiâ
Killing over a thousand?
Calling all Peopleâs Climate Marchersâ
All 300,000 of you
Come in Peopleâs Climate Marchersâ
Your Cochabamba moment flares up like
Ken Saro-Wiwaâs spirit in Ogoni water warriors
In Water Protectors fighting Flint
Terror on the Missouri, protecting our
Lifeblood 7 generations deepâ
Needing a âsurgeâââboots on the groundâ
Money for fighting absurd arrests
Medical supplies for tending class-war woundsâŚ
Fluent in Forked Tongueâthe Drone Ranger declares
November âNative American Monthââmorphing into
cross-dressing klansmen, reenacting hi-tech
Attacks taking down Occupy
Calling all Peopleâs Climate Marchersâ
All 300,000 of you
Come in Peopleâs Climate Marchers:
come make me eat crowâmake me a liar;
Make me apologize
for saying you were âwhiteâ folks firstâ
Lovers of land, peoples, creatures lastâŚ
For saying the prison-industrial-complex was
Cool with you, if only inmates wore
Recycled rubber sneakers; orange jumpsuits of
Organic cotton; beatings with bamboo batons only
Make me apologize
For saying you were OK with
Empire if electric Humvees and tanks, and
Solar-powered aircraft carriers were deployed
Calling all Peopleâs Climate Marchersâ
All 300,000 of you
Come in Peopleâs Climate Marchers:
Forgive me, for a few of you have goneâ
From the four directionsâ
Smuggling Sitting Bull spirit salve, love balm, in
Eyes of Ida, hearts of Harriet, spines of John Brown
Tongues of Douglassâ
Metal detectors, strip searches
Rarely detectâŚ
Raymond Nat Turner Š 2016 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. find much mopre of his work at http://usspurgejazz.com
How Black women gave the term âlibertyâ its meaning and expanded the scope of liberty in the nationâs capital during the nineteenth century.
Western media outlets, NGOs and powerful governments allied with the United States work in unison to deceive people about foreign policy.
The âradicalâ Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has presided over the police killing of eight Black citizens since 2017.
The small world of prison food production is a microcosm of the American food system, which all too o#en functions as a race to the bottom.
The defund movement shows the way to divest from violence and repression, and invest in safety and life-affirming services.
