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

No kings and things (Of mobilized masses)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
25 Jun 2025
🖨️ Print Article
No Kings protest on highway

“You can’t dethrone a king
if you don’t know they exist.”
― Jasun Ether 

Today’s the tiny tip of an over-warmed iceberg. Its militance
Melts into 2,000 streams, rivulets and rivers of resistance!
Its waters rush cross country. They pour precious
Antifascist sediment onto our real estate-ravaged streets … 

The raging waters rush through reservations; campuses; through
Workplaces; state and private prisons. The waters trickle through
Quiet hamlets …  Through muffled villages and tidy town squares.
They are contaminated with courage.          Courage is contagious!

The raging waters flow through bowels beneath cities never
Sleeping. Cities with big shoulders. Cities where little cable cars

Climb halfway to the stars. Cities where angels strap on wings of
Resistance to fly above hoodlums on horses/bullies with badges.

No kings and things
No kissing rings
On bomber wings

No strongman’s strings
No ding-a-lings
Scooped from bullrings

No Kings Day Of Defiance—
Of coalition and alliance—
Revolutionary science …

Freedom rider trains— stuffed sardine-tight— arrive at crowded
Stations. Emptying to overcrowded streets above takes 30 minutes.
Antifascist riders bet on sardine-tight trains; over shackles and chains;
Over boxcars bound for ‘black sites’/disappearing concentration camps …

Rainbow signs bloom like flowers from Arab Spring and
George Floyd Summer: THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE
IS STRONGER THAN THE PEOPLE IN POWER!
NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR! And, ICE IS BEST CRUSHED!

Harmonic resistance of tubas, trombones, saxophones and
Drums drown out hate speech of heel-clickers.  And angry
Antiwar activists shout, “Thank you for your service!” to war-weary
Vets hoisting banners emblazoned: BENEFITS NOT BULLSHIT!

Black and Brown bus drivers spontaneously step from lines of
Busses five blocks long.    Will they rediscover superpowers?
Resurrect roles for
Working-class women?                 Trane for General Strikes?

No kings and things
No kissing rings
On bomber wings

No strongman’s strings
No ding-a-lings
Scooped from bullrings

No Kings Day Of Defiance—
Of coalition and alliance—
Revolutionary science …

Will rally-goers remember falling in behind
Dems causes serious injury? Causes death?
Or will marchers muscle up for mission creep—
Rebuild dream muscles for movements militant, robust—
Numbers scaled up from mobilizing angry millions for:

Monthly

NO KING DAYS—

Weekly

NO KING DAYS—

Daily

NO KING DAYS

Forever

NO KING DAYS?

© 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.

protest
Donald Trump
Democrats
class consciousness

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


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner Meeting Reveals Ugly Truths About U.S. Politics
26 August 2026
If the Democratic Party prevails in the midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries will become the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
"Woke 1" and Democratic Party Deceit
19 August 2026
The democrats’ backtracking on what they dismissively refer to as “wokeness” is the newest iteration of their political trickery as o
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Neoliberalism to Trumpism: The Re-Normalization of White Supremacy as State Ideology
29 July 2026
The crisis of late-stage capitalism has stripped away the liberal disguise and revealed white supremacy as the official ideology of t
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
hand ‘em another $350 billion to fight Communism?
29 July 2026
Two Harlem booksellers say, yellowed, dusty copiesof Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto and Engels’ 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Slimy green cesspool reflecting capitalist rule
22 July 2026
Capitalism says corporations are people …  It says,Money’s speech …    Buying, bossing, sock-puppet
Devin B. Martinez
ICE Killings Fuel Nationwide Protests
22 July 2026
Recent killings at the hands of federal agents have fueled protests across the US, including a nationwide day of action on July 18.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Lindsey Graham Was the Face of the Duopoly
15 July 2026
The late Senator Lindsey Graham played the role of chief congressional warmonger very well.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
DOCUMENT: “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You”: United States Counterterrorism Strategy, 2026
15 July 2026
“Americans should be safe to live their lives without the fear of terror attacks, the threat of Jihadists, the flooding of our commun
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
Trump and America’s Fascist Forefathers
01 July 2026
Donald Trump is not an anomaly, but the heir of fascism which began in 1776 and continued throughout U.S. history.

More Stories


  • Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
    01 Jun 2022
    Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
  • “The connections between policing and militaristic assault on the world are endless”: An Interview with Julian Akil Rose
    Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose
    “The connections between policing and militaristic assault on the world are endless”: An Interview with Julian Akil Rose
    01 Jun 2022
    BAR Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose discuss community organizing, Black Queer Feminism, the struggle for police and prison abolition, and an end to militarism.
  • Witnessing and Making History: On Observing the 2022 Presidential Elections in Colombia
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Witnessing and Making History: On Observing the 2022 Presidential Elections in Colombia
    01 Jun 2022
    "From May 26 to May 31, I was in Cali, Colombia serving as an election observer with an international delegation of mostly Black women. This is a preliminary report."
  • Gustavo Petro Wins in Colombia, 2nd Round Battle Begins
    Orinoco Tribune
    Gustavo Petro Wins in Colombia, 2nd Round Battle Begins
    01 Jun 2022
    The Historic Pact candidates Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez won the first round of the Colombian presidential election but now face conservative candidates in a June 19 runoff.
  • 911 Is a Joke: Preferring to Shoot Unarmed Blacks, Cops Find It Ain't No Fun When the Rabbit Has the Gun
    Jon Jeter
    911 Is a Joke: Preferring to Shoot Unarmed Blacks, Cops Find It Ain't No Fun When the Rabbit Has the Gun
    01 Jun 2022
    Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) began after an LAPD raid on the Black Panthers in 1969 and spread throughout the country. Then as now they neither protect nor serve, as was the case in Uvalde…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us