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


  • ​​​​​​​Who’s Afraid of Alice Walker?
    Earl Hazell
    ​​​​​​​Who’s Afraid of Alice Walker?
    06 Nov 2019
    Opera singer and producer Earl Hazell reminds us that standing up for artists and their vision is standing up for free speech, democracy, and ourselves.
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    06 Nov 2019
    This week our readers discussed black feminism and the alleged killing of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.  We print your letters for “
  • BAR Book Forum: Keguro Macharia’s “Frottage”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Keguro Macharia’s “Frottage”
    06 Nov 2019
    Instead of succumbing to xenophobia and nativism, as with anti-Somali sentiment in Kenya or ADOS in the US, we need to pursue freedom in ways that speak to our differences.
  • BAR Book Forum: Dario Azzellini’s “Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Dario Azzellini’s “Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela”
    06 Nov 2019
    Millions of Venezuelans are building socialism from below, and most of them are Black, brown and female.
  • Mass Shootings and the Misguided and Pernicious Push for “Gun Control”
    Enzo Calandra
    Mass Shootings and the Misguided and Pernicious Push for “Gun Control”
    06 Nov 2019
    The atrocities committed by white male shooters are part and parcel of US behavior both domestically and around the world.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us