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


  • Why a Shootout Between Black Panthers and Law Enforcement 50 Years Ago Matters Today
    Paul Ringel
    Why a Shootout Between Black Panthers and Law Enforcement 50 Years Ago Matters Today
    24 Feb 2021
    The 1971 raid marks a nationwide militarization of police relations with Black protest groups and Africa Americans as a group.
  • Mumia Abu Jamal Newspaper Admonishes DA to Stop Defending the Indefensible
    Pam Africa
    Mumia Abu Jamal Newspaper Admonishes DA to Stop Defending the Indefensible
    24 Feb 2021
    “If DA Krasner wants to embrace anti-racist principles…then he needs to take an honest look at the facts of Mumia’s case.”
  • Judas and the Black Messiah, A Missed Opportunity
    Dante James
    Judas and the Black Messiah, A Missed Opportunity
    24 Feb 2021
    The film framed Hampton as a victim instead of a pro-active freedom fighter and revolutionary.
  • A New Civil Rights Movement, a New Journal
    Geoffrey Jacques 
    A New Civil Rights Movement, a New Journal
    24 Feb 2021
    By the end of its run, Freedomways had become something close to a journal of record of the mid-to-late 20th Century African American freedom movement.
  • Sumo Wrestlers & Supermodels: Reimagining the Education of Black Children
    David Marcus Rutherford
    Sumo Wrestlers & Supermodels: Reimagining the Education of Black Children
    24 Feb 2021
      How do we define success for Black students and the adults that they become? 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us