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

SONNY
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
27 May 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Sonny Rollins
Poem by Raymond Nat Turner

Our wise Monk-guru, 
White winter mane and 
Douglass beard,
Sonny's an
Oak tree growing out
Sugar Hill concrete—
Colossus reaching, 
Stretching out into 
Open Van Gogh sky...
Stairway To The Stars 
Sage alchemist, blowing 
Brass tears from his tone
Into sweet sunbeams,
Reflecting Freedom Suite
Swagger, greeting Tubman years

His winter's more
Vital to peace people—
Humble, calloused, sweaty tribes—

Than great spring and summer
Bean stalking, Bird watching 
Gruff stuff, monkey bar cage,
Mirror, Brownie Points 
Bridge to Ashram karma
Yoga arc sterling character puzzle...

My 70s Sonny story:
One Hollywood night, 
Harold Vick and Sonny 
Locked up like Ali and
Frazier in Shelly's Manhole— 
"Thrilla in Manila,"
Jazz giants grappling
Like elephants
Rumbling in the jungle,
Tenor trunks roaring
Chorus after chorus after chorus...
Then, Miles-to-Trane-like... the 
Winner... Sonny, took 
The horn out his mouth:
"I don't have any more"
To shouts "More!" "More!"
Oak tree growing out
Sugar Hill concrete— 
Colossus reaching, 
Stretching out into 
Open Van Gogh sky—

Forty years later...

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.

Jazz
Music
Art
Memorial
Sonny Rollins

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


Related Stories

Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Johanna Fernández and her Unrelenting Advocacy for Mumia Abu Jamal
19 August 2026
The late Dr.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
LYRICS: Bicentennial Blues, Gil Scott-Heron, 1976
01 July 2026
“George Washington/Slave-owner general/Ironic that the father of this country/
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: In Our Hands: Thoughts on Black Music, Bernice Johnson Reagon, 1976
31 July 2024
For the late Dr.
Joan Gibbs
Matt Tracy
Joan Gibbs, Renowned Lesbian Activist and Attorney, Dies at 71
10 April 2024
Joan Gibbs, long time civil rights attorney and activist, is remembered for her deep commitment to her community and for so
Ralph Poynter
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
For Ralph
20 March 2024
"They have got to pick up the work ..." 
Lorraine Hansberry
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
SPEECH: A Challenge to Artists, Lorraine Hansberry, 1962
21 February 2024
At a rally against the House Un-American Activities Committee, insurgent playwright Lorrainne Hansberry called on artists to shake off the fear
JoeSam art
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
24 January 2024
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
Avotcja’s Love…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Avotcja’s Love…
22 March 2023
                                         
For Larry Roland
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
For Larry Roland
08 March 2023
                                         
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
27 April 2022
Donald Smith always performe

More Stories


  • The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    R. Divya Nair
    The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    04 Mar 2020
    Five centuries ago, Europeans set about subjugating the non-“white” peoples of the world, and they are still at it.
  • The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    Margaret Eby 
    The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    04 Mar 2020
    The confusion goes all the way back to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Most American supermarkets are selling you sweet potatoes, not yams.”
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    02 Mar 2020
    If the Left Doesn’t Critique Endless War, Who Will?
  • Black Scholar Praises Heroes and Indicts “Scoundrels” of McCarthy Era
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Scholar Praises Heroes and Indicts “Scoundrels” of McCarthy Era
    02 Mar 2020
    The peace activists that were persecuted in the McCarthy era were not fighting just for the absence of war, but were “anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and demanded an end to United
  • Last Surviving Member of the Move 9 is Released
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Last Surviving Member of the Move 9 is Released
    02 Mar 2020
    Delbert Africa, imprisoned along with eight other members of the Move organization in 1978 in the death of a Philadelphia policeman, is finally free to “tell his story,” said Mumia Abu
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us