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

For Fancy Miss Nancy
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
19 Dec 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018

Guess who I saw
today, black and white photo,
Marching, Montgomery from
Selma, ‘65?

Guess who I saw
at my high school swingin’ the
Trio; urging us to stay in school?

Guess who I,
was privileged to sequence
a later CD for, late one night?

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
put the purr in whisper, with a sultry
Sound that could make subpoenas seem sensuous

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Appeared, sparkling, at the end of the
golden era—looking as good as she sounded—
Her face should grace
Buckeye State flags emblazoned
“There will never be another you…”

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Hovered earth— stunning hummingbird,
gorgeous humanitarian, giving the greatest
performance of her life, moments I loitered—
not seizing the time and asking, “When did
You leave heaven?”
Though, I think it was maybe ’37? I know she’s

Free Again…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. You can find much 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


  • Truth, Freedom and Peace will Prevail in Rwanda 
    Robin Philpot
    Truth, Freedom and Peace will Prevail in Rwanda 
    20 Mar 2019
    Millions of Africans in three countries have died in the 25 years since Paul Kagame’s troops shot down a plane carrying two African presidents.
  • Venezuela: Adiós Guaidó
    Angel Guerra Cabrera
    Venezuela: Adiós Guaidó
    20 Mar 2019
    The self-proclaimed interim president committed political suicide when he called for U.S. military intervention in his own country.
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of March 18, 2018
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of March 18, 2018
    19 Mar 2019
    US Mercenaries Arrested in Haiti; Chris Hedges: Israeli Apartheid Utterly Indefensible; Laura Henley: Class distinctions among US blacks have always been with us; Vilissa Thompson on the struggles
  • The Particularities of Black Disability
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    The Particularities of Black Disability
    18 Mar 2019
    Vilissa Thompson fights to make sure that Black disabled people’s lives matter, too.  A social worker and disabilities activist, Thompson is the creator of “Ramp You
  • A Failed Black Upper Class Project to “Reform” Poor Black Girls
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    A Failed Black Upper Class Project to “Reform” Poor Black Girls
    18 Mar 2019
    Between 1919 and 1939, the National Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs attempted to run a school for “wayward” Black girls called the Efland Home, in North Carolina.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us