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


  • The Two Types of Death Penalties
    Kalonji Changa
    The Two Types of Death Penalties
    30 Nov 2022
    The governor of Missouri refused to grant clemency to Kevin Johnson and the state Supreme Court denied motions to halt his execution. The US Supreme Court refused to hear his case. Kevin Johnson was…
  • DC Government’s Racial Equity Plan is Elite Capture by The State
    Pan-African Community Action PACA
    DC Government’s Racial Equity Plan is Elite Capture by The State
    30 Nov 2022
    Racial inequity is the result of racist and capitalist policies and can't be defeated by the self-interested Black political class. 
  • Dominican Republic: Exploitation and Forced Labor in the Central Romana Corporation Has a History
    Micely Diaz
    Dominican Republic: Exploitation and Forced Labor in the Central Romana Corporation Has a History
    30 Nov 2022
    There is a long and terrible history of exploitation and abuse of Haitians and Haitian descended people in the Dominican Republic's sugar industry.
  • Venezuelan Government and Opposition Sign ‘Social Agreement’, US Approves Chevron License
    Andreína Chávez Alava
    Venezuelan Government and Opposition Sign ‘Social Agreement’, US Approves Chevron License
    30 Nov 2022
    The US desire to secure Venezuela's oil has resulted in the easing of the diplomatic and commercial "maximum pressure" campaign. The Venezuelan government was resolute in its fight for sovereignty.
  • Canada Sets up Embassy in Rwanda, Amidst Growing Mass Anti-Imperialist Movement in Neighbouring DRC
    Christian Shingiro
    Canada Sets up Embassy in Rwanda, Amidst Growing Mass Anti-Imperialist Movement in Neighbouring DRC
    30 Nov 2022
    The opening of a new Canadian embassy in Rwanda is an effort to ensure that the plunder of Congo's mineral resources will continue under the protection of a US ally. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us