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 My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Sep 2021
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

For My Friend Keasley

(Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

I.

In my mind—and sometimes

sub-vocally—I say his name 

almost every day.

You see, I call my wallet, “Wally 

Gator;” my keys, “Keasley Jones.”

I don’t leave home without them—

A memory trick for remembering

things essential.

II.

Moist morning air burns off into a mild

Mediterranean climate; quiet confidence;

soft spoken humility; Artist’s sensitivity…

and walks in Modesty’s moccasins, Compassion’s

cape, Humility’s tights—and does good deeds sans 

Fanfare.

Call him Keasley Jones. Go-to-guy for all things

Science. Suave wiseguy with Whole Earth solution 

catalogue. The dude I consulted when fantasizing

Nature ventures.

Hands on superhero masquerading as under-

achiever; Sipping Stanford, Odwalla and other 

Brands—before mergers and acquisitions. Be-

fore hitting his Pit Pony Hey-

day. Before managing as Swiss Army Knife of 

publishing!

I remember him lending his height, helping

hang photos, posters and shadowboxes on

virgin Freight & Salvage walls: Celebrating 

20 years of UpSurge!

I remember unanticipated appearances at

Gigs—sage smile, bent down, semi-squat hug;

I remember messages 2 weeks before his

Death asking if I still needed dental work—

I remember his generous response…Flagged

“For poetry and dental work.”

III.

I beg my ‘white’ people—my Euros—forget a-

bout being like Mike, Oprah—or even John 

Brown.

Walk in Keasley’s moccasins a minute— 

now and then, here and there…Try

Reinventing yourselves as woke *Prison Radio

Mensches—Assistant Saints like him! Refuse

to turn blind eyes of sand-buried heads away 

from concertina wired walls of concentration

camps; guard-towered gulags—violent hellholes 

of endless torture… 

Paddle in Keasley’s kayak a minute— 

now and then, here and there… Try

Scouting downstream hungry, unhoused, hurricane-

ravaged peoples having less than you can imagine…

IV.

November 6, 2019 I wrote on Facebook:

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Keasley Jones, and

best wishes for many, many, many MORE…"

Then I perused his LinkedIn titles and skills and

noticed the one not listed that I’m most missing:

Friend… 

 

*Besides serving as Prison Radio’s Publishing Consultant and Office Manager for several years, Keasley was also part of the Peachpit Press/Addison-Wesley team that published Mumia Abu Jamal’s 1995 book, Live From Death Row.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Prison Radio

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


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    UN Group of Experts on DRC Report, June 2025
    09 Jul 2025
    The UN Group of Experts on DRC reports the obvious, that Rwandan President Paul Kagame intends to annex DRC’s Kivu Provinces.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Collaborators Like Al Sharpton Can’t Assist Zohran Mamdani with Circumventing Pigmentation Politics and the Black Misleadership Class…But Principled Black Radical Organizing Can
    09 Jul 2025
    Zohran Mamdani’s victory rattled NYC’s political elite. But to win Black voters and defeat the Democrat machine, he must reject Al Sharpton’s co-optation and align with radical Black organizers.
  • Jon Jeter
    From Cadillac-Driving Welfare Queens to Xbox-Playing Slackers, the Oligarchs Vilify Others for Their Own Larceny
    09 Jul 2025
    America’s ruling class keeps inventing new boogeymen to disguise its endless war on workers, while wealth flows upward and capitalism’s collapse accelerates.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Mali Collins’ Book, “Scrap Theory”
    09 Jul 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Mali Collins. Collins is Assistant Professor of African American and African…
  • Hanna Eid
    Hell is Empty and the Devils Are All Here: AI and Imperialism in the Current Crisis
    09 Jul 2025
    AI is imperialism's newest weapon, automating genocide in Gaza while building a surveillance state domestically.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us