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


  • International Solidarity with Venezuela's Fight Against Coercive Measures
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    International Solidarity with Venezuela's Fight Against Coercive Measures
    04 Aug 2023
    Booker Ngesa Omole is the National Vice-Chairperson and National Organizing Secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya, and a member of its National Central Committee.
  • Belief in American Exceptionalism is a Bipartisan Affair
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Belief in American Exceptionalism is a Bipartisan Affair
    04 Aug 2023
    Glen Ford analyzed a 2019 Democratic Party presidential debate and points out that support for U.S. aggression towards Venezuela and other nations is a bipartisan project.
  • Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki's Remarks to Vladimir Putin
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki's Remarks to Vladimir Putin
    04 Aug 2023
    On July 28 Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki spoke to Vladimir Putin at a summit with other African leaders. Afwerki explained why African nations see Russia as an ally, and why they are mistrustful…
  • Migration and Other Lies About Eritrea
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Migration and Other Lies About Eritrea
    04 Aug 2023
    In a 2015 interview on the Real News Network Glen Ford explained why the west is so hostile to Eritrea and tells lies about migration from that country.
  • The Dems and Repubs are Moneypots, Not Real Political Parties
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Dems and Repubs are Moneypots, Not Real Political Parties
    02 Aug 2023
    If the Democrats were a real, mass based party, they would never consider Joe Biden as their nominee because he has no support among the people that energize parties: the youth.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us