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


  • To Ignore Political Prisoners is Hypocrisy
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    To Ignore Political Prisoners is Hypocrisy
    25 Aug 2020
    “Any movement that seeks to bring radical changes to society that does not incorporate at the top of the list freedom for our freedom fighter that have gone before, is hypocritical,” said J
  •  Creating Ownership, Equity and Income for College Athletes
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Creating Ownership, Equity and Income for College Athletes
    25 Aug 2020
    “College sports is a highly exploitive system where predominantly Black players in football and basketball generate all the income, but the only group that isn’t positively impacted is the families
  • Free All Political Prisoners – and Say Their Names!
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Free All Political Prisoners – and Say Their Names!
    19 Aug 2020
    It is righteous and correct to say the names of victims of police violence, but we must also “Say the names!” of our living political prisoners.
  • Freedom Rider: “Feet to the Fire” and Other Lies
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: “Feet to the Fire” and Other Lies
    19 Aug 2020
    When the Democratic Party ends its charade of a primary process and spits out the person most closely aligned with neo-liberal policies, the gas lighting begins.
  • Trump is Wrong, Joe Biden is not the “Radical Left.” He is an Enemy of Humanity
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Trump is Wrong, Joe Biden is not the “Radical Left.” He is an Enemy of Humanity
    19 Aug 2020
    Both candidates are jockeying for who can best gaslight the U.S. public into remaining loyal to one side of the two-party corporate duopoly or the other.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us