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

What Would the Ancestors Say?
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
14 Nov 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop”

 

What Would the Ancestors Say?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I know

I know

I know...

Harriet Tubman didn't slide

In and out of the slave south

Nineteen times, $40,000 reward

Hanging over her head like a

Scimitar, or Samurai sword;

Medgar didn't die in his driveway

Like a dog put down in the pound;

Malcolm didn't die on floor

Of the Audubon Ballroom;

King didn't die on chitlin' curcuit

Balcony of the Lorraine Motel;

Fred didn't die in his bed, under

Hooves of Chicago death squads

For tomfoolery---nappy-headed

Foolishness--- Negroz shrinking

To plantation Rip Van Winkles

Hung over on Ol' Massa's

Jim Jones Juice (January '09)

The eve of world revolution...

 

I know

I know

I know...

She would be leveling her pistol,

Leaving at least a half dozen dead

Negroz, after commanding "Forward,

Or die!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be tongue-lashing

Negroz with his Harlem-tinged

Tough love: "You've been had,

You've been took, you've been

Hoodwinked, you've been bamboozled!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be intoning in African,

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop,

No, and I'm concerned that if you

Continue traversing this treacherous

Trail you're on, during the dark and

Difficult days ahead, not only will you

Not get to the mountaintop, you will

Find yourselves descending to depths

So low that it will require you taking an

Elevator up eighty-six floors; climbing

Forty flights of stairs to a sub cellar of

Sin, standing on a step ladder on your

Tiptoes, just to suck the Devil's dick---

 

No, I'm afraid I can't be your drum

Major on this one---

The drones must be stopped,

The satanic wars ceased, and

The barbaric killing of other peoples'

Babies ended---forever..."

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


  • U.S. Militarism and the One-Sided Class War
    Ajamu Baraka , BAR editor and columnist
    U.S. Militarism and the One-Sided Class War
    03 Jul 2019
    While the Democratic presidential candidates rehearsed their anti-Trump lines for the debates, most of the Democrats in the Senate voted for Trump’s record-breaking war spending bill.
  • Anti-imperialism is the Only Antidote for Austerity
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Anti-imperialism is the Only Antidote for Austerity
    03 Jul 2019
    Privatization, predatory lending, and endless war are all preconditions to finance capital’s hegemony.
  • WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate: History Is Happening
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
    WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate: History Is Happening
    03 Jul 2019
    WikiLeaks made it possible for whistleblowers to expose government and corporate criminals anonymously. 
  • The Democratic Party’s Fatal Contradiction
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Democratic Party’s Fatal Contradiction
    03 Jul 2019
    The Democrats have packaged their 2020 presidential primary like a blockbuster Broadway theatrical production, with a huge cast of performers, plenty of showtunes and a chorus line that dances arou
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    by Jahan Choudhry, Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    03 Jul 2019
    This week Venezuela, Zionism in the Congressional Black Caucus, and Gandhi and the anti-colonial movement are discussed.  We received comments for “
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us