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


  • War, Peace and Presidential Candidates 
    Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  
    War, Peace and Presidential Candidates 
    03 Apr 2019
    Would any of the Democratic candidates promote diplomacy and a commitment to international law?
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of April 1, 2019
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of April 1, 2019
    01 Apr 2019
    April 4 NATO meeting a desecration of MLK’s legacy; Dahoud Andre: Haiti wants to be rid of puppet president; Mumia: Puerto Rico proves US ill will towa
  • Creating a “De-Colonized” Ethnography
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Creating a “De-Colonized” Ethnography
    01 Apr 2019
    The social science of ethnology must be “de-colonized,” said Dr. Selina Makana, a Kenya-born scholar at the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality, at Columbia
  • Mumia: Racist U.S. Empire Can’t Change Its Spots
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Mumia: Racist U.S. Empire Can’t Change Its Spots
    01 Apr 2019
    “Don’t believe for a moment that the US government cares about the people of Venezuela,” said Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner.
  • “Respectable” Haiti Opposition Fears Washington
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    “Respectable” Haiti Opposition Fears Washington
    01 Apr 2019
    “The people of Haiti are ready to rid themselves of [President Jovenel] Moise any way they can,” said Dahoud Andre, a Brooklyn-based radio host and activist with the Committee
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us