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

Club None Long To Belong To…*
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Nov 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Club None Long To Belong To…*

                                                                                         Club None Long To Belong To…*

 

No proof of residency, utility bills, bank

or vaccination records or two pieces of ID

Needed.

No bios, resumes, CVs, credit scores, or

References required.

No decoder rings/secret handshakes used.

No gifts given to joiners. No monthly news

letters.

No Mickey Mouse Club; Book Club; Buyers

Club or Nightclub.

Lifetime Membership Club: struggling to stay

exclusive—Fighting to keep others out…

Members instantly earn seasoned ears; helping

hands; broad shoulders; steadfast instruction in

Hugging.

Members learn when to call. What to say. When

to say it. When to feed/text/tweet—And when to

Shut the fuck up…

Monthly membership dues include sleepless

nights; ulcers; cancer; stroke; heart attack;

depression; divorce; anger and isolation.

Smells, songs, snacks, words re-stimulate

salinity, helping trace bitter tracks of members’

Tears…as they cry themselves to sleep nightly…

Members remember ‘The Call’ admitting them

to The Club as though nano seconds ago…

remember robotic motions/silent shrieks…

Birthdays/death dates still stir tsunamis of tears…

Death certificates double as membership cards bearing

“Justifiable Homicide” hashtags sanctioned by the

state

Members remember sweetness, savoriness of eats. Re

member fuzziness—foggy flashbacks—chuckles and

belly laughs…

Members remember surreality/shock and awe;

remember distrusting ears—

demanding— “Stop joking!!!” “Stop playing around!!!!”

Members remember automated voices—cold calls of

Strange Fruit messengers—remember ‘grapevine’ voices

and

poison penned/murder mouthed Fox-box foot soldiers digging

dirt—covering up crimes of testi-lying triggermen…

Members Remember…

pithy politicians’ semiautomatic… “…thoughts and prayers…”

Members remember fiery pulpits falling silent. Remember

teddy bears, liquor bottles, candles, hand-lettered signs, T

shirt likenesses and “say their names” strangers

going poof. Members remember Mr. Pain, Ms. Emptiness, Mr. McGrief

and No Getting Over It Crew…hanging out as house guests: Overseeing

State machine accountants and lawyers determining how much, if any,

Black Lives Matter…

*Inspired by groups of grieving parents witnessing for the world…



 

Police
Police Killings
Police brutality

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


More Stories


  • Freedom Rider: The Real Trump Coup
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: The Real Trump Coup
    18 Nov 2020
    Trump puts whiteness first and that means he will always have support and Republican leaders know it.
  • How the Black Movement Teaches Us to Fight Cold Wars Both Old and New
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    How the Black Movement Teaches Us to Fight Cold Wars Both Old and New
    18 Nov 2020
    China is rising not merely out of colonial underdevelopment but into a position of global leadership.
  • Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
    18 Nov 2020
    Militarist Macarena all pomp and circumstance— they’re baaaack with Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance… First you cry, “Wolf!” in tune with corporate law
  • V.I. Lenin and W.E.B. Du Bois: Class Struggle and Civilization
    Anthony Monteiro, BAR editor and columnist
    V.I. Lenin and W.E.B. Du Bois: Class Struggle and Civilization
    18 Nov 2020
    While the ruling elite is calling for a capitalist reset which could leave half the working class without jobs or adequate income, many leftists are proclaiming working class backwardness.
  • Births of a Nation, Redux: Surveying Trumpland with Cedric Robinson
    Robin D.G. Kelley
    Births of a Nation, Redux: Surveying Trumpland with Cedric Robinson
    18 Nov 2020
    What Robinson identified as “the rewhitening of America” a century ago is what we’re seeing play out today.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us