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

Declaration of Independence (for Donald "Duck" Bailey)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Jul 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Drummer

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
in the womb? Did you drum in past lives?

Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
out of narrow spaces? Drum out of bondage?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
escaping captivity?

Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
your way off Gore Island? Out Cape Coast Castle?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
Glory into the swinging / Fighting 54th?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did the right hand always know perfectly well
what the left foot was doing? Did the right foot 
always know what the left hand was doing for the
combo; the big band; the village — for the world?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you appear to teach us to tap our toes, 
snap our fingers, and relax to the Max on an axe?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you swing and Rhythm-A-Ning across rivers cutting
Brilliant Corners … to Criss Cross deserts for freedom?


© 2026. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved. 

Music
Jazz
Donald Bailey
drumming

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
Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
18 March 2026
“The music is the magic through a raging storm …”  — Abbey Lincoln Play, Black Girl, play —
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
 
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
07 September 2022
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch “The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery” —Paul Robeson
Photo: Kevin W. Thorbourne
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
08 September 2021
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)  

More Stories


  • BAR Book Forum: Adia Harvey Wingfield’s “Flatlining”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Adia Harvey Wingfield’s “Flatlining”
    15 Apr 2020
    How do black workers fare when organizations say they want to attract more minority employees even as they have largely shifted resources away from labor?
  • BAR Abolition and Mutual Aid Spotlight: Ejeris Dixon
    Dean Spade and Roberto Sirvent, BAR Contributors
    BAR Abolition and Mutual Aid Spotlight: Ejeris Dixon
    15 Apr 2020
    Mutual aid efforts are proliferating in this time of epidemic, organizing communities towards self-determination by creating mechanisms that oppose the state violence.
  • Cuba Under Media Attack for Sending Doctors, Not Bombs, to Help Covid-19 
    Belen Fernandez
    Cuba Under Media Attack for Sending Doctors, Not Bombs, to Help Covid-19 
    15 Apr 2020
    Media outlets have exploited the current pandemic to disseminate rank anti-Cuban propaganda.
  • The Cognitive Dissonance of “Democratic Socialists”— Cults Die a Slow Death
    Quetzal Cáceres
    The Cognitive Dissonance of “Democratic Socialists”— Cults Die a Slow Death
    15 Apr 2020
    The blame-anyone-other-than-Sanders apologists exposed themselves as devotees to a cult of personality devoid of any real political strategy.
  • Sanders Supporters Pledge to “#DemExit” and “#GreenEnter” to Make a Home in a Party That Shares Their Core Values 
    Independent Political Report
    Sanders Supporters Pledge to “#DemExit” and “#GreenEnter” to Make a Home in a Party That Shares Their Core Values 
    15 Apr 2020
    Online contributions to the Green Party tripled after Sanders’ capitulated to Biden, and ten times as many people signed up to volunteer.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us