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


  • Georgia Governor Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast 
    Nicole Powers
    Georgia Governor Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast 
    12 Feb 2020
    The judge ruled that Kemp’s defense was so weak that no trial is needed.
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 10, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 10, 2020
    10 Feb 2020
    Embassy Activists Face Prison in Trial Based on Trump Venezuela Fantasy
  • The Global Struggle Continues -- But So Does Racism
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    The Global Struggle Continues -- But So Does Racism
    10 Feb 2020
    Students of all races should be exposed to the history of movements of liberation from colonialism and racist rule, said Nana Osei-Opare, a professor of history at Fordham Uni
  • Black Mothers and Children Die Because of Racist Medical “Science”
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Mothers and Children Die Because of Racist Medical “Science”
    10 Feb 2020
    Centuries of medical experimentation on enslaved and free Blacks and scientifically erroneous assumptions about Black bodies have created “a crisis in Black maternal morbidity and infant mortality”
  •  Embassy Activists Face Prison in Trial Based on Trump Venezuela Fantasy
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Embassy Activists Face Prison in Trial Based on Trump Venezuela Fantasy
    10 Feb 2020
    The jury in the February 11 trial of four US activists charged with disobeying police orders to relinquish their occupation of the Venezuelan embassy to supporters of self-proclaimed president Juan
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us