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


  • Kagame and Other Stooges Do U.S. Bidding in Haiti
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Kagame and Other Stooges Do U.S. Bidding in Haiti
    19 Jul 2023
    The U.S. is committed to invading Haiti but needs Black “leaders” to give them cover.
  • ESSAY: Who Are the Enemies of Affirmative Action? Gerald Horne, 1980
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Who Are the Enemies of Affirmative Action? Gerald Horne, 1980
    19 Jul 2023
    The enemies of affirmative action programs are not just slick conservatives and vulgar racists, but also greasy liberals, argues Gerald Horne. And their efforts to dismantle such programs began as…
  • Haitians Protest UN Occupation and Pending Foreign “Intervention”
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Haitians Protest UN Occupation and Pending Foreign “Intervention”
    19 Jul 2023
    Haitians protest oligarchic rule, UN occupation, and foreign military "intervention."
  • Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti
    Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti
    19 Jul 2023
    All of Haiti's ills stem from interventions, invasions and interference in its affairs. The new call for a US/UN/CARICOM invasion is part of a long running plan to undermine the sovereignty of the…
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ampson Hagan
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ampson Hagan
    19 Jul 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Ampson Hagan. Hagan is Dean's Research Associate Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University. His article is “Coloniality of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us