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


  •  “Black Liberals” are Aligned with the US Police State
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    “Black Liberals” are Aligned with the US Police State
    06 Jul 2021
    In a BAR article titled “Black Liberal, Your Time Is Up,” York College Africana Studies professor Yannick Marshall described much of the Black political class ensconced in the Demo
  • Freedom Rider: The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    01 Jul 2021
    The British crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement.”
  • Message to the Peace Movement: A Summary of the New Cold War on China
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Message to the Peace Movement: A Summary of the New Cold War on China
    01 Jul 2021
    The New Cold War is a tech war, a propaganda war, an economic war, and a war to maintain US political and economic supremacy.
  • DOCUMENT: Internal Security Act of 1950
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DOCUMENT: Internal Security Act of 1950
    01 Jul 2021
    The terms of the McCarran Act strategy offer a wide catchment that has the potential to ensnare any progressive or radical movement.
  • Cover-up of a Cover-up: US Media Ignore OPCW Fraud to Justify Missile Strikes on S
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Cover-up of a Cover-up: US Media Ignore OPCW Fraud to Justify Missile Strikes on Syria
    01 Jul 2021
    Aaron Maté tells Ann Garrison that US media helps the OPCW cover up its cover-up for the US, UK, and France.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us