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

Riddle of National Sovreignity
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Riddle of National Sovreignity
For empire, the national sovreignity of colonized states has always been a polite fiction

Brown body writhing in orange
flames; scents of burning hair
and flesh—so, how do you say
Lynching in Spanish?
Torched clinics were hollowed
out shells without medicines and
Hoarders warehouses stay stuffed
like piñatas while shelves and bellies
stay stuck on empty—so, how do you
say sabotage in Spanish?
Vultures prancing like red,white and blue peacocks
bloody talons pounding cold coup-coup clocks
To bloodthirsty butchers like Bolton, Pompeo and Pence
the notion of national sovereignty makes no sense

The smell of sulfur, of hidden hands—
Hitmen— mired in the ‘90s—1890s…
Rogue state actors craving coltan,
bauxite, gold, gas, oil from the soil—
Flaunting the rule of law, pulling
strings of stooges, strangling aspirations,
dreams— making another economy scream!
Vultures prancing like red,white and blue peacocks
bloody talons pounding cold coup-coup clocks
To bloodthirsty butchers like Bolton, Pompeo and Pence
the notion of national sovereignty makes no sense—
Makes no sense to criminal champagne, caviar,
Cayman Island crowds— Brooks Brothers klansmen,
bedfellows of butchers confusing embassies with
slaughterhouses

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist,
You can find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

poetry
Venezuela

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


Related Stories

Issa G Shivji
Positioning Pan-Africanism In The Geopolitical Turmoil
21 October 2026
As we are experiencing a world order in disorder, with war and conflagrations and a shifting balance of power, Issa Shivji calls for a Sovereig
Stephen Millies
Don’t Let Them Kill Cilia Flores!
14 October 2026
While Trump pardoned an actual drug lord president, he keeps a kidnapped Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, First Combatant Ce
Abel Prieto
Venezuela: It Is What You See
30 September 2026
A photograph of Delcy Rodríguez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
23 September 2026
The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
The Perfect Victim Narrative Applied To Foreign Policy Only Keeps U.S. Imperialism Alive
23 September 2026
The demand to call out alleged crimes in Iran or Cuba while those countries face annihilation from the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Ultimate Betrayal of Alex Saab and the Fate of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan People
16 September 2026
The United States got its hands on Alex Saab a second time in order to use him in its case against Nicolás Maduro. The U.S.
Luciano Vasapollo
Cuba Stands Firm, Venezuela Risks Losing its Sovereignty
09 September 2026
Cuba's leadership has chosen resistance over subordination as the blockade tightens, but Venezuela's sovereignty is being stripped away.
Black Alliance For Peace
Declaration of a Zone of Peace
26 August 2026
From the blockade of Cuba to the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, U.S.
Kimberly D. Miller
Beyond the "Delcyification" of Analysis
19 August 2026
Siege, survival, and the dialectics of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Luis Britto García
Venezuela Is Not Iran
19 August 2026
Venezuela is not Iran or Cuba, but those nations teach us that sovereignty is not given but is obtained through resistance.

More Stories


  • Palestine Chronicle Staff
    Sole Survivor of ‘Paramedics Massacre’ in Rafah Exposes Israeli War Crime
    09 Apr 2025
    Monther Abed, the sole survivor of the Israeli attack on paramedics in Rafah, reveals the details of the crime in which 15 humanitarian workers were killed.
  • Jehad Abusalim
    "It Is Neither Death, Nor Suicide"
    09 Apr 2025
    For 76 years, Gaza has been has been the defiant heart of Palestinian resistance. Today, as Israel’s genocidal war lays bare the brutal dead end of Zionism, Gaza’s struggle transcends geography,…
  • Alan MacLeod
    Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics
    09 Apr 2025
    Betar U.S., a far-right Zionist organization with ties to violent extremism, is quietly shaping Trump administration policy, compiling lists of pro-Palestine activists for deportation while openly…
  • Socialist Workers Movement of the Dominican Republic
    The march in Friusa failed and the neo-fascist movement was divided
    09 Apr 2025
    The Dominican far-right’s violent march on Friusa collapsed in disarray, exposing weakness in the movement as racist mobs failed to overrun a working-class community. However, the threat remains.…
  • Hands Off protest
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dr.Wilmer J. Leon, III
    Ajamu Baraka on What the Hands Off March Left Out
    09 Apr 2025
    Tens of thousands filled the streets this weekend—marching, chanting, fists raised in defiance. It looked like a movement powerful enough to shake the earth. But beneath the banners and speeches,…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us