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

Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
08 Jan 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?

This Orange Age outrage—
Reich of the child’s cage
Cancer at fourth stage—
Rogue state’s rampage…
is a tiny blip on capitalism’s 
Continuum…
Its hypnotic ebb and flow,
distilled decades of woe—
decades of darkness,
Slowly bend in scalding
magma, bubbling up from below…
Sorry for the inconvenience—
the beginning is near…
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

Was it a Night in Tunisia? 
Ferguson? Occupy? Palestine? 
Baltimore? Madison?
A single spark in the dark
setting off prairie fire?
Was it Standing Rock, ‘Red’
State teachers’ strikes? Was it
the tick of Time’s Up-Me Too? The
Howl of climate chaos—Extinction 
Rebellion—Or harmony 
of… “All the above…”
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s?

Tsunamis of struggle sweep
World streets into 99% gyms—
Core/cardio spaces building big hearts;
Strength training, flexing, stretching—
muscling up militant mass movements
Against corporate olympics: Race to the 
bottom!
Strength training, squeezing concessions
from barbarians in Brooks Brothers suits
and other capitalist costumes—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s!

No Charleston, flappers, speakeasies.
No bootleg liquor. Fewer pain dulling
shots. Less low sodium tears in beer…
Militant mass action’s tonic and gin—
Magic potion; prayer; voodoo—and a 
Vote for the lesser of evils…
“Happy Hour’s” the 99% cheering
favorite forms of 
Resistance on bars’ big screens—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

poerty

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


Related Stories

Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Piece Process
23 May 2018
Breathe, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze it’s a joy-stick; a video game to him He has orders to “light up” anything that moves;

More Stories


  • Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team
    In Honor of Comrade Abiodun Aremu: A Teacher and a Fighter for African Liberation
    15 Oct 2025
    We honor the life of Nigerian organizer Abiodun Aremu, a true Pan-Africanist whose legacy demands we intensify the fight for African sovereignty. His recent, suspicious death only underscores the…
  • Pavan Kulkarni
    With PAIGC barred, Will Elections in Guinea-Bissau Legitimize a Neocolonial Dictatorship?
    15 Oct 2025
    Led by Amilcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissau was in the forefront of African anti-colonial movements. But independence for that nation in 1973 has been followed by continual struggle for true sovereignty and…
  • Gerald A. Perreira , Organization for the Victory of the People
    No to US State Terrorism in the Caribbean Sea No to US Plans for Regime Change in Venezuela Caricom Must Act Now
    15 Oct 2025
    The U.S. is using Guyana as a proxy to escalate aggression against Venezuela. This manufactured crisis, fueled by oil interests, risks dragging the entire region into war.
  • Chris Gilbert , Cira Pascual Marquina
    Culture and Resistance: The Palmarito Afro-Descendant Commune (Part II)
    15 Oct 2025
    Afro-Venezuelan communards on the southern shore region of Lake Maracaibo discuss the intersection of culture and organization.
  • Mohammad al-Ayoubi
    No Rule Without Resistance: Gaza’s Post-War Future and the Collapse of Foreign Illusions
    15 Oct 2025
    As western powers push technocracy over sovereignty, Palestinian resistance movements warn that there can be no reconstruction without liberation.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us