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

12th Man
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
11 Feb 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Where’s The 12th Man—

All 137.6 decibels—

For Mumia and Maroon?

 

12th Man

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

From “Yes, we can” to The 12th Man

The 1%’s calling all the power plays—

Bootlegging, blitzing, sacking our daze…

 

Sunday we sat slurping beer,

Gobbling pizza and buckets

Of chicken like madmen, ‘til

Heartburn and boredom set

In, ‘til The Questions came

Whizzing past like pockets full

Of cherry red challenge flags:

 

Where was The 12th Man

Shrieking, screaming, loud

As an Aircraft carrier’s flight

Deck for Marilyn Buck?

 

Where was The 12th Man

Shouting full-throated,

Loud as Apache and

Blackhawk Helicopters

For Herman Wallace?

 

Where’s The 12th Man—

All 137.6 decibels—

For Mumia and Maroon?

 

Where’s The 12th Man—

Bursting eardrums for

Whistleblowers Manning,

Snowden and Assange?

 

Where’s the quarterback,

The field general, that

Comes up to the line

Barking: ANGOLA

ATTICA #77A4283

CUT-CUT-CUT?

 

Where’s the coach that

Will argue over calls like

Leonard Peltier? Or Hugo

Pinell and Albert Woodfox—

Four decades in bathroom-

Sized, windowless, torture

Chambers, cut off from fresh

Air, sunlight, Vitamin D

22-24 hours a day? Cruel,

Slow deaths, strip sacking

Spirits, bodies and minds of>

Political prisoners & prisoners

Of war who, game faces on

Against water hoses, cattle

prods, German shepherds,

Bullets and buckshot,

Took the field for us all

 

Quadruple, triple, double

Overtime, or sudden death,

This game’s been going

On too long—

Where’s the Terrible

Towels, the Lambeau Leap

Where’s the raucous carrying

On in the Dog Pound, boisterous

Behavior in the Black Hole, where’s

The Wall of Fame, Ring of Honor

Where’s The 12th Man for our

Political prisoners & prisoners of war?

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 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


  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    “Only unity will make us free:” The Masses Build and Sustain a Zone of Peace through the Unity of Struggles
    19 Nov 2025
    As U.S. militarism intensifies across Latin America and the Caribbean, regional social movements are making the firm declaration that only a unified, mass-driven front can build a true "Zone of Peace…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    A Call for Mass Struggle Against U.S.-Led War on Venezuela and the Caribbean
    19 Nov 2025
    The assault on Venezuela's sovereignty represents a broader imperial strategy to discipline any nation that defies U.S. hegemony.
  • Jessica Washington
    SNAP Recipients Crushed by Democrats Caving on Shutdown: “They Just Wasted It All”
    19 Nov 2025
    SNAP recipients were willing to sacrifice to protect health care benefits for themselves and others and they are furious that the Democrats' chose collusion with the Trump administration rather than…
  • Gary Wilson
    Palestinians Reject U.S.–Backed U.N. Plan: ‘A new form of occupation’
    19 Nov 2025
    The so-called 'peace plan' resolution passed by the UN Security Council is nothing more than a newly branded occupation and the Palestinian people are rejecting it.
  • Carly Brook , Orinoco Tribune
    Activists Mobilize Across the US to Demand ‘Hands Off Venezuela,’ Venezuela Thanks for Protest Outside White House
    19 Nov 2025
    While the White House plots further intervention, nationwide mobilizations are sending a powerful message of solidarity to Venezuela.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us