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

Birmingham On The Hudson
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Aug 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

“Another generation of Gordon Gekkos

Parasitic, psycho, thug CEOs

Funny money men, where anything goes

Republi-crats and Demo-con echoes”

 

Birmingham On The Hudson

by Raymond Nat Turner

Jazz Ballad Chorus

Headed for CUNY with dreams and hope

'Til gettin' swept up in Rope-and-Grope

Tuggin' down his testes on the street

Body-slammed, cursed and browbeat 

Meeting N-Y's finest's fists and feets

Given blurred vision of hoods and sheets

Bruised, bloodied victim of violent scam--

The Hudson banks on Birmingham

The Hudson banks on Birmingham.... 

Hip Hop Feel

Bull Kelly cut fire hoses and cattle prods

For Glockmiesters runnin' in death squads

Protecting and serving corporate masters

The privilege and supremacy of alabasters 

Guarding Merrill-Lynch and Killer Coke

Fighting crime's mirrors and smoke

Drivin' out the poor from dusk to dark

Like smashing Spring in Zucotti Park

 

After the Schultzes seized Native Land

Manhattan real estate rose in demand

They cashed the stolen land into rent

Maintained violently by the 1%

 

In this Age Of Metastasized Cash-ism

Wall Street's Kleptocratic Stash-ism

Mayor Bilbo's businesses blooming brisk

His real estate-driven Stop-and-Frisk

American-styled apartheid pass law

Bilbo's Gestapo's a blue cat's-paw

 

After the Schultzes seized Native Land

Manhattan real estate rose in demand

They cashed the stolen land into rent

Maintained violently by the 1%

 

Another generation of Gordon Gekkos

Parasitic, psycho, thug CEOs

Funny money men, where anything goes

Republi-crats and Demo-con echoes

Putting our lives and health at risk

Run these cons through Stop-and-Frisk

Provocateurs and pundits in cahoots

Will look hip in orange jumpsuits!

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at Raymond (at) upsurgejazz.com.

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2012 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • Jeremy Kuzmarov
    Renegade African-American Soldier Should Be Remembered For Resisting White Supremacy and Colonialism
    04 Mar 2026
    David Fagen's defection demonstrated the history of Black solidarity with oppressed people.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio February 27, 2026
    27 Feb 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss Trump administration proposals to disenfranchise voters and unconstitutionally give the federal government control over elections. But we begin with an analysis of…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution In the Aftermath of U.S. Aggression
    27 Feb 2026
    The Simon Bolivar Institute in Caracas, Venezuela, hosted a delegation from the International Brigade for Peace and Solidarity with Venezuela. We’re joined by one of those delegates, Jacqueline…
  • Black voters matter
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Voting Rights Threatened by SAVE Act and Federal Election Takeover Plot
    27 Feb 2026
    The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act was passed in the House of Representatives and would disenfranchise millions of people, as would Trump’s plan to unconstitutionally “nationalize”…
  • Black Alliance for Peace
    BAP Condemns Kidnapping and Torture of Kenyan Revolutionary Leader
    27 Feb 2026
    Kenya presents itself as a regional stable democracy. The torture and framing of the Marxist party leader belies this narrative.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us