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

Leaders I lost— SORRY I LOST…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Aug 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

My leaders were chased

To China, Tanzania, Cuba and

France by lynch mobs and

Death squads posing as public servants—

I LOST

 

Leaders I lost— SORRY I LOST…

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I.

Even in August’s sauna,

Leaders of the Cristal,

Judas Quisling class

Have it made in the shade!

 

When the Unca Jims,

Jealousies, Andy Tongues,

Slutty Professors, and

Other muleheads who

Savor the flavor

Of leather, gather

At the feet of the

Great Emancipator,

Huffin’ and puffin’

‘Bout recent wrongs—

Same ol’ songs— sanitizing

The ‘60s, hiding worn

Harnesses to the mule;

Thank gawd almighty they’ve

Overcome tall principles,

Steep integrity and

Truth-telling decades ago—

Dumping on Dr King

For Burger King, Ronald Mc Donald,

Colonel Sanders, Popeye’s, liquor

Franchises and sub-contracts,

Rapprochement with Reaganite reaction paid

 

II.

My leaders were voted

Out of office in penitentiary

Yards, Lorraine balcony, Audubon

Ballroom, bedroom-voting booths—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

My leaders were chased

To China, Tanzania, Cuba and

France by lynch mobs and

Death squads posing as public servants—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders had hearts

Of Harriet, Toussaint and Nat;

Spines of Sitting Bull, Dessalines and

Osceola; tongues of Truth, Douglass and

Harrison; pens of Wells, Walker and

Garrison, strip searches, x-rays and

Metal detectors don’t detect—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders sprouted up

From Strange Fruit-fertilized

Black soil saturated by fire

Hoses and spittle of Strom, Bull,

Lester, Hoover bloodhounds and

Other Amerikkkan apartheid actors—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders first served, and

Later, hanging judges, not chads

Confirmed them in “superior” courts

Inaugurating them with more boots

Batons, bullets, mud-slinging and

Negative campaigning, COINTELPRO-style—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders were elected

To 4x9, windowless offices

Open twenty-four, seven,

Three hundred -sixty-five

Days a year, 3, 4 even 5 decades—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders have #s

Like 09-A3775 and 77A4283

I can’t call when I wake up

In a cold sweat, screaming—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

My leaders make less

Than a dollar a day

And ain’t Rollex-models

Rollin’ somethin’ shiny and German

With ALEC’s hand up

Their asses, making their

Mouths move every 2-4 years

With promises, promises, promises,

Promises only fools and babies believe—

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

I LOST— SORRY I LOST…

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2013 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


  • China, Covid Origins, and War Propaganda
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    China, Covid Origins, and War Propaganda
    15 Mar 2023
    A human cause of covid-19 is possible, but anti-China rhetoric is war propaganda, not scientific evidence.
  • INTERVIEW: A Talk with Sylvia Woods, 1974
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: A Talk with Sylvia Woods, 1974
    15 Mar 2023
    An inspiring interview with Sylvia Woods highlights the role of Black women in labor organizing and demonstrates that Black women should always be at the forefront.
  • On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    15 Mar 2023
    History teaches that the greatest threat to peace today is the United States. No other nation creates dangers as great as those emanating from the U.S. commitment to the doctrine of Full…
  • Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    15 Mar 2023
    The call for the U.S. to end military involvements is often made in order to advocate for new wars against more powerful countries. It appears that the only choices are forever wars or the end of the…
  • Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    15 Mar 2023
                                                         
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us