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

The Tennessee Three speak in We
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
19 Apr 2023
🖨️ Print Article
The Tennessee Three speak in We
State Reps. Justin J. Pearson, Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones in Nashville, Tenn., on April 7. (Photo: George Walker IV / AP)

                                                                                         The Tennessee Three speak in We

                                                                                                  “Alabama got me so upset,

                                                                                           Tennessee made me lose my rest…”

                                                                                        —Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddamn”

 

I.

Cherokees "on the road again.” Violently herded West.

Ethnically-cleansed on crimson Trail of Tears.

Forcibly moved off Tennessee homeland to

Oklahoma—Where land acknowledgment ain’t enough…

II.

Lorraine Motel balcony; Audubon Ballroom;

Mississippi driveway; Chicago bedroom; UCLA

lunchroom polling places—Our leaders were voted out

of office with lead Ballots: swapping steel Lumumba for

malleable Mobutu!

We were left standing on Duopoly corners harmonizing

$campaign/$election songs: “Yes, we can!” and “I feel your

Pain.” Left praying to Pentagon parties of Long COVID

capitalism for depleted uranium, white phosphorus

prosperity

Lightfoot-Drone Rangers remained…Bassackwards Strong

arm Williams Thom-ass Clarence Tribesmen trained to lead

us in the treacherous 2/4 Dance—

Donkey dung-elephant excrement dance—Every 2-4 years

III.

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

from moribund bodies high on white powder in

Corporate crack pipes—

Apartheid state bodies of banana Republican rule

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

in NRA faces of gerrymanders coming

out of caves and fronting for Fat-cats—

Civil War hawks—quacking like lame ducks

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

to bought and bossed good ole boys—Volunteer

State puppets— Paymasters’ hands up nazi asses,

Moving 2nd Amendment/Maximum profit mouths

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

to dog whistling faces of foghorn framers—

Ventriloquists called confederates—Or,

their more modern names: Fascists!

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

to whipping post politicians, rebel-yelling in

cat o’ nine tails tongue—“Tantrum” tommyrot—

branding The Peoples’ Needs: “Wanting attention!”

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

facing starred-barred,

water-hosed, dog-bitten Dixie—Hurricanes of

hardship—Awash with Stax waves of solidarity

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

Standing and delivering! Amplifying voices of ones once

Celebrated !Essential” in nightly pot and pan banging and

clanging concerts

The Tennessee Three speak in We—

Standing and delivering! Amplifying voices of shoe leather,

street heat, pavement politicians, rising in rippling waves of

Maladjusted millions… flicker of what democracy looks like??

© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.



Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.

Tennessee
Tennessee Three

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


Related Stories

John Parker
Supreme Court targets Voting Rights Act of 1965 – denying justice and peace
22 July 2026
The fight for the ballot has always been tied to a wider war against Black political power, against workers, against the people paying for empi
Wolfgang Bronner
Entertainment as Militarization: The Spectacle of the Super Bowl & WrestleMania in Nashville
06 May 2026
The spectacle of major sporting events does not simply distract from a city's crackdown on the working class.
Lindy Drolsum
Prison System in Tennessee: A Cycle of Racism and Control
11 March 2026
Tennessee's claim of being "tough on crime" means racialized policing and incarceration, and profit making off of marginalized people
Modern Day Reconstruction and Tennessee's Expulsion of Black Lawmakers
Jon Jeter
Modern Day Reconstruction and Tennessee's Expulsion of Black Lawmakers
19 April 2023
The temporary expulsion of two Black Tennessee legislators was a reminder of why even a tiny semblance of Black political independence is feare

More Stories


  • Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
    Gus Griffin
    Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
    23 Aug 2023
    Michael Oher’s story of exploitation is even worse than the white savior narrative presented by Hollywood.
  • Case studies: US military assistance in Africa doesn’t work
    Jim Lobe
    Case studies: US Military Assistance in Africa Doesn’t Work
    23 Aug 2023
    ​​​​​​​Authors of a new report worry that Washington won’t heed their warnings but double down in an era of Great Power Competition.
  • How Washington Shapes ICC To Its Own Aims
    Maureen Clare Murphy
    How Washington Shapes ICC To Its Own Aims
    23 Aug 2023
    The International Criminal Court is itself criminal in its selective prosecutions and obedience to Washington's directives. In turn, the U.S. specifically prohibits aid to the Palestinian Authority…
  • Why Is the U.S. Now Favoring Accelerating the Formation of a Force to Intervene in Haiti?
    Narciso Isa Conde
    Why Is the U.S. Now Favoring Accelerating the Formation of a Force to Intervene in Haiti?
    23 Aug 2023
    The impending occupation of Haiti is the latest example of imperialist aggression against that nation and others.
  • Van Jones "Forced" Out of Nonprofit Dream.org, Despite Bezos’ Huge Contribution
    Chelsea Alexandra
    Van Jones "Forced" Out of Nonprofit Dream.org, Despite Bezos’ Huge Contribution
    23 Aug 2023
    Van Jones parlayed his fake leftist credentials into jobs at the Obama administration and CNN. The one-time phony Marxist turned Trump supporter showed his true colors when Amazon's Jeff Bezos…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us