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

…In his head
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Mar 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head!

 

…In his head

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Headin’ downtown on the D train

The other day I overheard oration—

By a fella, to a fella, from a fella 51/50

“Mexicans takin’ our jobs; they hate

Our freedoms— but blurred lines,

Beyonce’s booty, NAACP Image

Awards, Robin Thicke & recovery

Jus’ roun’ the corner; smart phone,

Dr. Dre headphones lift me outta

Poverty; smart bombs protect my

Freedoms; I got 2,000 Facebook

Friends, a poke away, who gimme

My kidney & bone marrow transplant!”

 

Booming baritone thundering in

Harmony with the train, he continued

His melodious, rhythmic catechism,

“Since ’08 things been Great,” in his

Head, Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head! “Yes, we can,”

In his head, mo’ Black folks have

Homes since World War II, in his

Head! Mo’ Black wealth than ever

Before, in his head; fewer Black folk

Dyin’ fo’ they 70th, in his head; mo’

Black men goin’ to college than jail,

In his head, liars figure but figures

Don’t lie, in his head, in his head,

“Change we can believe in,” in his

Head, police stopped shootin’ us

Since that beer, in his head; we

Cool, long as Big Brother brown, in

His head! Oratory swelling like a

Dark cumulus cloud, lookin’ me

Dead in the eye, “This election the

Mos’ important election ever…”

 

“The rich say that every time,” I snapped.

He leapt up like a man possessed, banshee-

Rebel- wailing, “What, you ain’t votin’?

Nigger, get away from me, you is cra-aaa-zy!”

 

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


  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    04 Mar 2020
    This week you had Joe Biden’s electability, Russiagate, and the challenges of building a new peace movement on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Joshua Myers’s “We Are Worth Fighting For”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Joshua Myers’s “We Are Worth Fighting For”
    04 Mar 2020
    The students imagined a new kind of university and a radical transformation of the world.
  • BAR Book Forum: Elizabeth Foster’s book, “African Catholic”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Elizabeth Foster’s book, “African Catholic”
    04 Mar 2020
    The decolonization of Africa, and the determined activism of prominent African Catholics, played an important role in diversifying the church.
  • Former UN Rapporteur on Human Rights: US Sanctions Have Killed More Than 100 Thousand Venezuelans
    Orinoco Tribune
    Former UN Rapporteur on Human Rights: US Sanctions Have Killed More Than 100 Thousand Venezuelans
    04 Mar 2020
    Catastrophic death and massive emigration are due to Washington’s financial suffocation and blockade of the socialist-governed country.
  • Lawyers for the Left: A Review
    Flint Taylor
    Lawyers for the Left: A Review
    04 Mar 2020
    This lawyers’ story inspires us to march forward against the forces of repression, oppression, and white supremacy.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us