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

this year's coup
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
14 Mar 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Venezuela's fantasy president, Juan Guiado with co-sponsors President Marquez of Colombia and US vice president Mike Pence
Venezuela's fantasy president Juan Guiado

Who knew him
five days ago?
Today, he’s Play Dough—
President—
in handlers oily hands…
Brazen 1% switcheroo,
another king nobody knew—
rosy World Bank worldview
Championing the well-to-do…

Who knew they’d install him?
Or, just what they’d call him?
Maybe he’d be called “the law?”
Maybe he’d be crowned “Shah?”
Or—just for a sense of déjà vu—
Maybe “Mobutu” might do…
for a name in this year’s coup?

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

Venezuela
poetry

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


More Stories


  • x
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Dhoruba bin-Wahad , Kelonji Changa
    The Guardian Open Letter Exposed: Margaret Kimberley & Dhoruba Bin Wahad Speak Out
    26 Aug 2026
    In this special broadcast, BAR Senior Columnist and Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley and Black Panther Veteran Dhoruba Bin Wahad offer an uncompromising, sharp critique of the anti-Iranian open…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner Meeting Reveals Ugly Truths About U.S. Politics
    26 Aug 2026
    If the Democratic Party prevails in the midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries will become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. But his decision to meet with Jared Kushner was a textbook case of…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights Critique of “An Open Letter to Iran’s Political Prisoners”
    26 Aug 2026
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework rejects the liberal abstraction that makes a false symmetry between Iranian authoritarianism and U.S. imperialism, which obscures the fact that one is a…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The CIA and Studies on Guerrilla Warfare, Robert Molteno, 1979
    26 Aug 2026
    “In the period since 1969, one can detect the same old close ties between right-wing U.S. academics, think tanks, foundations, and the U.S. Government…”
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The Manifestation of Surplus Populations: How Gary, Indiana is the Latest Exemplar of the Wrong Complexion for Protection
    26 Aug 2026
    White supremacy works through institutions, and FEMA's formula for allocating disaster relief shows us how the state decides which neighborhoods are prioritized and which are left to suffer. Those in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us