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

Light Up In Harlem
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
29 Oct 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

Commemorating

Beyond Vietnam,

Celebrating

Grassroots pregnant with

Struggle

 

Light up in Harlem

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

(BAR 7th Anniversary Celebration)

“Over truth there is light” – Moroccan saying

 

Friday night and a

Light burns bright

Up here in Harlem—

Bright like LED smiles

Of Douglass, Delaney

Walker, Cornish and Ida B.

We’re that light tonight…

 

We’re that light tonight,

Illumination

Lineage of tens of

Of thousands of torchbearers

Dealing Defenders,

Dispatches, Eagles,

Afro-Americans,

Mysteries, North Stars,

Freedom Journals, New York

Globes, Boston Guardians and

Memphis Free Speech & Headlights

 

We’re that light tonight…

 

We’re that light tonight,

Back at Riverside

Commemorating

Beyond Vietnam,

Celebrating

Grassroots pregnant with

Struggle birthing the

March on Washington

We’re that light tonight…

 

We’re that light tonight,

Not neon soldiers

Of Fortune 500

Foundation followers

Mumbling mule madness

We’re that light tonight…

 

We’re that light tonight

Streaming from Philly,

Connecticut, Jersey,

Filtering in from

Atlanta, Massachusetts,

Parts west, popping corks

On Champagne and wines

Red and white, toasting

Truth telling, illuminating

The people, instead of

“Speaking truth to power,”

Under Bill Clinton’s

Desk, like chittlin-breath

Buffoons are prone to do…

We’re the light tonight!

 

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


  • SPEECH: Thomas Sankara to the United Nations General Assembly, 4th October, 1984
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Thomas Sankara to the United Nations General Assembly, 4th October, 1984
    02 Nov 2022
    While the spirit of Thomas Sankara may be behind the recent coup in Burkina Faso, his vision remains an inspiration for everyone, everywhere, committed to anti-imperialism and third world autonomy.
  • Glaring Western Hypocrisy on Human Rights in Africa: Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Glaring Western Hypocrisy on Human Rights in Africa: Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
    02 Nov 2022
    The US and EU are complicit in the continued Rwandan and Ugandan incursions into the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in their support of their TPLF proxies against Ethiopia.
  • Hair in the game…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Hair in the game…
    02 Nov 2022
                                                           â€¦
  • Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: An Interview with Dylan Rodriguez
    Dylan RodrĂ­guez , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: An Interview with Dylan Rodriguez
    02 Nov 2022
    Roberto Sirvent and Dylan Rodriguez discuss the challenges of sustaining radical liberation movements.
  • BAR Book Forum: Foluke Adebisi’s Book, “Decolonisation and Legal Knowledge”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Foluke Adebisi’s Book, “Decolonisation and Legal Knowledge”
    02 Nov 2022
    This week’s featured author is Foluke Adebisi. Adebisi is Associate Professor at the University of Bristol. Her book is Decolonisation and Legal Knowledge: Reflections on Power and Possibility.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us