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
  • omnibus

Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
08 Jan 2020
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?

This Orange Age outrage—
Reich of the child’s cage
Cancer at fourth stage—
Rogue state’s rampage…
is a tiny blip on capitalism’s 
Continuum…
Its hypnotic ebb and flow,
distilled decades of woe—
decades of darkness,
Slowly bend in scalding
magma, bubbling up from below…
Sorry for the inconvenience—
the beginning is near…
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

Was it a Night in Tunisia? 
Ferguson? Occupy? Palestine? 
Baltimore? Madison?
A single spark in the dark
setting off prairie fire?
Was it Standing Rock, ‘Red’
State teachers’ strikes? Was it
the tick of Time’s Up-Me Too? The
Howl of climate chaos—Extinction 
Rebellion—Or harmony 
of… “All the above…”
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s?

Tsunamis of struggle sweep
World streets into 99% gyms—
Core/cardio spaces building big hearts;
Strength training, flexing, stretching—
muscling up militant mass movements
Against corporate olympics: Race to the 
bottom!
Strength training, squeezing concessions
from barbarians in Brooks Brothers suits
and other capitalist costumes—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s!

No Charleston, flappers, speakeasies.
No bootleg liquor. Fewer pain dulling
shots. Less low sodium tears in beer…
Militant mass action’s tonic and gin—
Magic potion; prayer; voodoo—and a 
Vote for the lesser of evils…
“Happy Hour’s” the 99% cheering
favorite forms of 
Resistance on bars’ big screens—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]

poerty

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


Related Stories

Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Piece Process
23 May 2018
Breathe, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze it’s a joy-stick; a video game to him He has orders to “light up” anything that moves;

More Stories


  • The United States is Organizing a Color Revolution in Cuba for November 15
    Alan MacLeod
    The United States is Organizing a Color Revolution in Cuba for November 15
    02 Nov 2021
    The U.S. continues its brazen attacks against the Cuban people, having announced its role in upcoming "protests" taking place on November 15.
  • Bolivia's president Luis Arce used the COP26 summit to speak against the "green capitalism" offered by the rich capitalist nations and in favor of alternatives which put humanity at the center.
    Brett Wilkins
    Bolivian President Warns 'Carbon Colonialism' Won't Solve Climate Crisis
    02 Nov 2021
    Bolivia's president Luis Arce used the COP26 summit to speak against "green capitalism" offered by the rich capitalist nations and in favor of alternatives which put humanity at the center.
  • Don’t Ignore the 2021 Tribunal on Genocide
    Salifu Mack
    Don’t Ignore the 2021 Tribunal on Genocide
    02 Nov 2021
    The International Tribunal on US Human Rights Abuses against Black, Brown and Indigenous Peoples declared that the U.S.
  • British Soldiers on the Beach at Dunkirk - Cassowary Colorizations
    Nu'man Abd al-Wahid
    Decolonising Dunkirk – Genocidal White Supremacists at War with Each Other
    02 Nov 2021
    The history of World War II often repeats the narrative of good vs. bad Europeans. In reality, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium perpetrated as many atrocities as the Germans.
  • Russell “Maroon” Shoatz is Free, But Other Political Prisoners Languish
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Russell “Maroon” Shoatz is Free, But Other Political Prisoners Languish
    27 Oct 2021
    The demand for freedom of political prisoners must be consistently made for their sakes and for all at risk of joining them in the future.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us