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

Archaic capitalism’s COVID cops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 May 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Archaic capitalism’s COVID cops?
Archaic capitalism’s COVID cops?

What if COVID-19 came and
drove down crime by 40%?
What if capitalism’s cops be-
came useless 

patchwork quilts of punitive
policing—cruel citations and 
fines? Stagecoach drivers in 
Tesla times? Milk pails beneath
bulls on the Sahara Desert?

What if we found we could live 
Life 
without gifts of nips/‘roid rage?
Hatred, anger, fear, cortisol and 
adrenaline…
Which go on giving… in immune
system stressed times we tread?

What if there was no need for
their weekly vignettes of
Violence on videos going viral?

What if we abolished abuse as
absurd as—lies as ludicrous as:
I shot you because
you had no mask on
I shot you because
you had a mask on
I shot you because
you weren’t physically-distancing
I shot you because
you were physically-distancing 
I shot you because you coughed
I shot you because you sneezed
I shot you because you tested positive
I shot you because you tested negative
I shot you because you were untested
I shot you because we’re in it together
I shot you because I heard immunity—
and it sounded like herd impunity…???

© 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

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.

More Stories


  • Save the University City Town Homes
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Save the University City Town Homes
    29 Jul 2022
    Rasheda Alexander is a tenant organizer at the University City Town Homes in Philadelphia. She joins us to discuss their struggle to stop a mass eviction amidst the proposed sale of their affordable…
  • Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
    27 Jul 2022
    I was very proud to write the preface to Glen Ford's book, The Black Agenda, which was published posthumously by OR Books. As we approach the first anniversary of Glen's passing, I endeavored to…
  • Glen Ford's Ukrainian Crystal Ball
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    Glen Ford's Ukrainian Crystal Ball
    27 Jul 2022
    Glen Ford was among the speakers at a May 16, 2014 teach-in on Ukraine sponsored by the International Action Center. The event was held at The Riverside Church in New York City in the wake of the…
  • The Lies of Empire: Don’t Believe a Word They Say
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Lies of Empire: Don’t Believe a Word They Say
    27 Jul 2022
    The U.S. reprises Iraq, inventing a WMD threat from Syria. The FBI concocts home-grown terror through stings, while the NSA claims it has secretly saved many lives. “Why this steady stream of…
  • Glen Ford: Clarence Thomas, the “Anti-Black,” 2007
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Glen Ford: Clarence Thomas, the “Anti-Black,” 2007
    27 Jul 2022
    An essay by the late Glen Ford recounts the perverse origin story of the twisted life and lies of Clarence Thomas.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us