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

One Spring Day …
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
09 Apr 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Mass protest

“I believe there is yet a spirit of resistance z
in this country, which will not submit
 to be oppressed …”  —The Letters of Junius

One Spring day— 1st 100 daze— of
Scales slowly slipping from sleepy eyes …
One Spring day worth four drowsy years of
Billionaire business as usual …

One Spring day, our streets are rivers of
Resistance—tinged ferocious and festive!
Resistance enriched with cleverly crafted
Signs, piercing slogans, random acts of solidarity!

One Spring day, shoring up stainless steel spines
Rehabbing hearts— beyond 2/4 beats of braying
Donkey and trumpeting elephant $campaign-$election
Cycles of war, doom, gloom— And warp speed fascism.

One Spring day, checking blood pressure, measuring
Body mass index— And diagnosing just
How rapidly our class hatred of parasitic, champagne-
Caviar Cayman Island crowds is metastasizing …

One Spring day, dreaming of the world we want to
See. Smell. Taste. Touch. Rejecting transplanted South
African strains of nazism— Embedded in hi-tech trinkets—
Along with 16th century sentiments …

One Spring day, sweet resistance wrapped in ‘good trouble!’
One Spring day to play.  And, work at re-
Connecting connective tissue to class-calls: “Workers of the
World, Unite!”

© 2025. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at GoFundMe and PayPal.

Working Class
resistance
revolution

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


Related Stories

Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
U.S. Support of Israel is Absolutely an Issue of Affordability and Economic Populism…So Why Won’t the Democrats Discuss it as Such?
29 July 2026
The Democratic Party's continued support for Israel's genocide is not just a moral and political liability but also an economic one w
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Short word problems: do the math
03 June 2026
Work these word problems. Work them as if your lives depend onYOUR correct answers.YOUR solutions … Because they do:
Community Movement Builders - Newark
CMB Newark Statement on the Delaney Hall Uprising
03 June 2026
The immigrants who revolted inside the Delaney Hall immigration jail are not criminals but prisoners of war, and their actions are those of res
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Zophia Edwards’ Book, “Fueling Development”
01 April 2026
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Gary Wilson
Dow 50,000 — and workers selling blood
18 February 2026
The Dow Jones hit 50,000, yet 200,000 people a day are selling their blood plasma to survive.
Jacqueline Luqman
Effective Organizing Requires Understanding Theory. That's Not A Hypothesis
21 January 2026
To dismiss revolutionary theory is to choose permanent defeat, reducing the movement to a hamster wheel of reaction and co-opted rage.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Day 40-something pedophile-protecting government shutdown
19 November 2025
Day 40-something of pedophile-Protecting-government shutdown —Snapshot of resistance revealed our unwillingness to 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Tuesday night’s tiny glimpse of what The People really want
12 November 2025
“Universal suffrage is thus the gauge of the maturity of the working class.
Jon Jeter
From Cadillac-Driving Welfare Queens to Xbox-Playing Slackers, the Oligarchs Vilify Others for Their Own Larceny
09 July 2025
America’s ruling class keeps inventing new boogeymen to disguise its endless war on workers, while wealth flows upward and capitalism’s collaps
Community Movement Builders - Newark
CMB Newark Statement on the Delaney Hall Uprising
18 June 2025
When oppression becomes unbearable, resistance erupts.

More Stories


  • 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.
  • Grandstanding: Mayoral Candidate Karen Bass Says She Can Solve LA’s Homelessness Crisis
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Grandstanding: Mayoral Candidate Karen Bass Says She Can Solve LA’s Homelessness Crisis
    27 Jul 2022
    As the late Glen Ford said, the Black misleadership class has no shame. Congresswoman Karen Bass's campaign for mayor of Los Angeles is full of empty promises. She proposes nothing that would…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us