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 wonderinā how I knew
Few are willinā to perform for you?
I heard it through the grapevine
Also on TV, radio and onlineā¦
I aināt A-listā
F-list, maybe?
Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the
Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoosā
Yet, Iām willing to serve, sir:
Call it Patriot Act III!
Willing to audition, practice, rehearseāgratisā
get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,
greasy fried chicken, like the good olā daysā¦
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
Iām willing to get William Withers with you, sir:
Itās my appointed duty
To let you use me
Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to meā
āCause I wanna spread the news:
That if it trends this good gettinā used
Come on, use me ātil you use me upā
My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.
The chief of the Memphis, Tennessee police department took part in trainings in Israel. These exchanges with an apartheid state are a training ground for brutality.
This week we learn about the destruction of a Black community in Portland, Oregon and the legal efforts at restitution, and the struggle to fight for reform of the cash bail system in Minnesota. Butā¦
Isaac Saney is a Cuba and Black studies specialist and historian at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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We are joined by Elizer Darris, Co-Executive Director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF).
