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

“No Matter What Sign You Are,”4th Supreme
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
16 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
the supremes
The Supremes

Mary was mysterious,
but the best dancer
Diana, the magnetic,
cooing romancer—
But, here’s a secret I know:
cats like me dug Miss Flo—
And the 4th Supreme’s ‘fro!

The 4th Supreme came
Singing tones ‘tween
Douglass and Carmen McRae—
Malcolm X and Lady Day

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Stop In The Name Of Love!”
by way of Brandeis/Bombing-ham—
hitting Dynamite Hill high notes

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Reflections”
in silver bracelets, on a
Newsweek cover captioned:
“Red, Black and Wanted!”

Hoover hated her harmonies with millions…
But I heard, “Set me free, why don’t you, babe?”
Rocking me to “ …Try Something New:”
Dialectics…

 

The 4th Supreme came
Singing, “I Hear A Symphony—”
“No Matter What Sign You Are,”
in ’08—but I
forgive her and comrades
and friends for singing flat
Madison Avenue smash hits: “Yes,
we can and bottle Jim Jones Juice;”
“regime Change you can believe in—”
delivering “Nothing But Heartaches” to
Honduras, Libya, Syria, Mother Africa…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner, our poet in residence, is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry

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


More Stories


  • Glen Ford on the U.S. War Against Venezuela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Glen Ford on the U.S. War Against Venezuela
    28 Jul 2023
    This week I’m reporting from Caracas, Venezuela.
  • Closing Rikers Island and Decarcerating New York City
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Closing Rikers Island and Decarcerating New York City
    28 Jul 2023
    Melanie Dominguez is lead organizer for the Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Censorship of the Black Left
    26 Jul 2023
    As the empire crumbles, the neoliberal capitalist order run by a corrupt duopoly is working to silence dissent. The Black left, of course, is always the first target.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: French Nuclear Tests in the Sahara, Tawia Adamafio, 1960
    26 Jul 2023
    A reminder of when Accra was at the center of struggles against nuclear imperialism. African people have always been at the forefront of peace and sanity. 
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Virtual Slave Labor in Congo’s Cobalt Mines
    26 Jul 2023
    I spoke to Maurice Carney, Executive Director of Friends of the Congo, about the virtual slave labor in the cobalt mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s cobalt mines.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us