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


  • Don’t Greenwash Your Climate Crimes by Greenwashing Egypt’s Military Dictatorship
    Y.Y.H. Al-Askar
    Don’t Greenwash Your Climate Crimes by Greenwashing Egypt’s Military Dictatorship
    09 Nov 2022
    As Egypt plays host to COP27, Y.Y.H. Al-Askar – writing under a pseudonym – draws attention to the plight of the tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt.
  • Colombia’s New President Reverses US Coup, Visits Venezuela, Pledges Unity in ‘Spirit of Bolívar’
    Ben Norton
    Colombia’s New President Reverses US Coup, Visits Venezuela, Pledges Unity in ‘Spirit of Bolívar’
    09 Nov 2022
    Colombia’s first-ever left-wing leader Gustavo Petro took a historic trip to Venezuela, pledging regional unity following the anti-imperialist model of Simón Bolívar. Meeting with President Nicolás…
  • NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire
    Roger D. Harris
    NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire
    09 Nov 2022
    The US military will operate in the Amazon region of Colombia under the guise of protecting the environment. Gustavo Petro, the newly elected president of Colombia, agreed to this questionable…
  • Briefing: NATO Claims Africa as Its ‘Southern Neighbourhood’
    No Cold War
    Briefing: NATO Claims Africa as Its ‘Southern Neighbourhood’
    09 Nov 2022
    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization claims the African continent as its "neighborhood." NATO is certainly not the defensive organization that it claims to be. Expanding imperialism is always its…
  • Black Agenda Radio November 4, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 4, 2022
    04 Nov 2022
    Black politics in Pennsylvania and the mid-term elections, the Play Cousins Collective serves Black families in Louisville, Kentucky, and in New York City, Dr. Al-Fatah Stewart fights for justice and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us