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

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jan 2017
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Word is that president-elect Donald Trump still has performance openings for next week's inaugural. In the selfless and noble spirit of public service, our poet kindly offers his own services, and anxiously awaits a response from Rump tower.

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Bet you wonderin’ how I knew

Few are willin’ to perform for you?

I heard it through the grapevine

Also on TV, radio and online…

I ain’t A-list—

F-list, maybe?

Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the

Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoos—

Yet, I’m willing to serve, sir:

Call it Patriot Act III!

Willing to audition, practice, rehearse—gratis—

get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,

greasy fried chicken, like the good ol’ days…

Apply a plastic smile, applaud on cue, shuffle, shake hands with

Strong-arm Williams, Sheriff Stephen Judas Clarke, Thom-ass

Clarence, and other warlike Bassackwards Tribal leaders

I’m willing to get William Withers with you, sir:

It’s my appointed duty

To let you use me

Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to me—

ā€˜Cause I wanna spread the news:

That if it trends this good gettin’ used

Come on, use me ā€˜til you use me up—

My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

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


More Stories


  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    African Liberation Day and the Struggle for Freedom in Palestine
    22 May 2024
    There is a close connection between the Pan-Africanist Movement and the current struggle to end the genocide in Gaza
  • BAP Atlanta
    ATL to GAZA: Free Palestine and Stop Cop Cities
    22 May 2024
    The violence unleashed by Zionism and US imperialism can only be combated through mass organized political activity united in a commitment to toppling these forces.
  • Illustration of Jean-Jacques Dessalines
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    How The West Underdeveloped Haiti
    22 May 2024
    What are the roots of Haiti’s prolonged crisis? Haitian-American scholar Jemima Pierre takes us through the history of how the West underdeveloped the country, from French colonial looting and debt…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 17, 2024
    17 May 2024
    This week we discuss a lawsuit that seeks to force New York City to end patterns of segregation in its public school system.
  • Austin Cole
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Repression of Palestine Solidarity at Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Part 1
    17 May 2024
    Austin Cole joins us to discuss his suspension from MIT for his activity with the Palestine Solidarity Encampment and the attacks by the state. This is the first part of a two-part…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us