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?


Š 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


  • Long Live the Legacy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti!
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Long Live the Legacy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti!
    03 Mar 2021
    Ferlinghetti might have been God ‘cause he almost lived forever; and Jersey Boys—Allen and Amiri— lyricized Coltrane’s “Welcome” and are singing it for him with rhythmic
  • Cornel West: Palestine Is a “Taboo Issue Among Certain Circles in High Places”
    Azad Essa
    Cornel West: Palestine Is a “Taboo Issue Among Certain Circles in High Places”
    03 Mar 2021
    West, considered one of America's foremost intellectuals, said he is confident that it is his criticism of Israel that cost him tenure at Harvard.
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    03 Mar 2021
    This week the blackout in Texas, the recent film on Fred Hampton, and Democracy Now’s international coverage were on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Short Meditations on Christina Sharpe’s "In the Wake" 
    Imani A. Wadud
    BAR Book Forum: Short Meditations on Christina Sharpe’s "In the Wake" 
    03 Mar 2021
    We adapt to make life livable, to uplift ourselves, and through us we show our community that we are prepared for the mysteries of what the day will bring.
  • BAR Book Forum: Asma Barlas’s “Believing Women in Islam”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Asma Barlas’s “Believing Women in Islam”
    03 Mar 2021
    This book focuses on whether discrimination and violence against Muslim women are sanctioned by the Qur’an, as critics of Islam allege.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us