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


  • Race in Black and White
    Alexis L. Boylan
    Race in Black and White
    25 Sep 2019
    Slavery and the Civil War were central to the development of photography as both a technology and an art.
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of September 23, 2019
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of September 23, 2019
    23 Sep 2019
    Trump Sanctions Will Doom Dollar Supremacy
  • The Pentagon Adds Its Madness to "Fake News” Hysteria
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Pentagon Adds Its Madness to "Fake News” Hysteria
    23 Sep 2019
    The evil geniuses at DARPA claim to be building a defense against fake news – a sure sign that the Pentagon is actually creating fake news.
  • Black Women With Guns
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Women With Guns
    23 Sep 2019
    From Harriet Tubman to female members of the Black Panther Party, Black women have always played a role in armed resistance in the United States, said Jasmin Young, a doc
  • US Follows Anti-Black Model in Immigration
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    US Follows Anti-Black Model in Immigration
    23 Sep 2019
    The US has criminalized immigrants, just as it has used the criminal justice system to control and oppress African Americans, said Ben Ndugga Kabuye, of the Black Alliance for
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us