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

For a young labor leader leading by example
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Aug 2025
Chris Smalls
Democracy NOW

“The future of labor is the future of America.”  
                                  —John L. Lewis

When butchers boarded in 
International waters—
Drenching our screens scarlet with blood lust
Bankrolled by our treasure—despite our oceans of tears …

When buccaneers boarded in
International waters— 
And laughed at lawful orders to stand down. To not
Kidnap, shanghai, pressgang peace activists aboard

When freebooters boarded in
International waters—
Shocking shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back body
Language greeted them: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

When pariah state pirates boarded in
International waters— 
Gold doubloons disappeared and became baby formula,
Diapers, stuffed animals, and assorted hygiene supplies

When scurvy bigots boarded in 
International waters—
We prayed against ‘sand-nigger’ servings of rifle-butts; and other
DEI (Death Emaciation Injury) ‘perks,’ hourly granted Palestinians

When bellicose ship wreckers boarded in 
International waters— 
We held historical breaths. Imagined a U.S. traffic
Stop. Militant Black labor leader shot on the spot!

Alas, our young labor leader’s home! Life uncrushed like cigarette butt— by
Bulldozer. Un-pierced by whistling sniper’s bullet. Home, warehousing curses,
Taunts, knees, blows— pitiful— feeble in hand-to-hand combat with hands of
Time …

© 2025. 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.

labor
Christian Smalls
Palestine
Gaza
Israel
humanitarian

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


Related Stories

Abayomi Azikiwe
Poverty and Declining Real Wages in America: Philadelphia Municipal Strike Highlights Worsening Plight of the Working Class
23 July 2025
An eight-day strike by municipal employees in Philadelphia disrupted the operations of one of the largest cities in the United States amid syst
Caitlin Johnstone
AOC Is a Genocidal Con Artist
23 July 2025
She’s actively stopping American politics from moving any further left than the nightmare we see before us.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Biden's Fate and Israel's Sadistic Revenge
21 May 2025
Israel is starving Gazans to death and continuing its bombing attacks on civilians.
Sean L. Malloy
How the creation of the ‘New Antisemitism’ was used to shield Israel and attack the Left
30 April 2025
Challenges to Zionism in the late 1960s and 1970s sparked an effort to redefine antisemitism focused on defending Israel while attacking the po
Hands Off protest
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
HANDS OFF NATO? Not Palestine? Who got the memo?
09 April 2025
The Democrats’ HANDS OFF rallies included “HANDS OFF NATO” and excluded “HANDS OFF PALESTIN
Alan MacLeod
Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics
09 April 2025
Betar U.S., a far-right Zionist organization with ties to violent extremism, is quietly shaping Trump administration policy, compiling lists of
Briahna Joy Gray
Why Did MSNBC Cancel Joy Reid?
12 March 2025
Some speculated that racism explains the firing of the liberal anchor. But MSNBC doesn't have a problem with Black hosts.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Liberals Want War in Ukraine, Trump Wants Peace in Ukraine, But All Agree on Death in Gaza
05 March 2025
Donald Trump’s efforts to normalize relations with Russia, and to end the fighting in the Ukraine proxy
Alan MacLeod
Marco Rubio: From ‘Perfect Little Puppet’ to Most Dangerous Man Alive
29 January 2025
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Joe Biden's Terrible Legacy
15 January 2025
The moniker “Genocide Joe” is well deserved and one that Joe Biden can never live down, along with any

More Stories


  • Free Mumia event flyer
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Free Mumia Coalition of New York City Joins Mobilization in Philadelphia
    04 Jul 2025
    Gil Obler is an organizer with the Free Mumia Abu Jamal Coalition of New York City. He joins us from New York to discuss the Saturday, July 5th rally and march at Malcolm X memorial park in…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Necessity of Birthright Citizenship for Black People
    02 Jul 2025
    Black citizenship was non-existent for the first 200 years that enslaved and free people were present in what became the United States. Even long-standing legal victories are tenuous, and now…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Refugees Unwelcomed! Gaou Guinou Balewa, 1973
    02 Jul 2025
    “Haitian refugees and political exiles find themselves being refused the hospitality granted others.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Aggressors Unnamed in Rwanda-DRC “Peace Agreement”
    02 Jul 2025
    Rwandan and M23 forces are the aggressors in the DRC. They are integrated under Rwandan command.
  • Jon Jeter
    Mamdani’s Train is Running But Blacks Wonder if There is Space for Them
    02 Jul 2025
    Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialist vision won NYC’s primary but lost Black voters to scandal-plagued Cuomo by 20 points, exposing the left’s racial blind spot even as Wall Street prepares to spend…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us