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


  • Mass Incarceration for Profit: The 13th Amendment and National Oppression in the U.S.
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Mass Incarceration for Profit: The 13th Amendment and National Oppression in the U.S.
    28 Feb 2018
    “Why was it necessary to include language in the Amendment which maintained involuntary servitude within the prison system?”
  • Libyan National Popular Movement Demands End to Interference by Foreign Forces and “Terrorists”
    LNPM
    Libyan National Popular Movement Demands End to Interference by Foreign Forces and “Terrorists”
    28 Feb 2018
    “The National Popular Movement condemns the local, regional and international silence on the suffering of the inhabitants of Tawergha who had been unjustly and
  • Cyril Ramaphosa Has No Agenda Except Neoliberal Policies, Says NUMSA’s Irvin Jim
    Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
    Cyril Ramaphosa Has No Agenda Except Neoliberal Policies, Says NUMSA’s Irvin Jim
    28 Feb 2018
    “The South African Communist Party (SACP) and present leadership COSATU are lying to people that Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver socialism.”
  • South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Relaunches Neoliberalism
    Patrick Bond
    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Relaunches Neoliberalism
    28 Feb 2018
    “In spite of repeated rhetorical gestures from Pretoria to the contrary, the BRICS have amplified unfair and inequitable world order processes.”
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 26, 2018
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 26, 2018
    27 Feb 2018
    The Year of W.E.B. Dubois
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us