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


  • Austin Cole
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Repression of Palestine Solidarity at Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Part 1
    17 May 2024
    Austin Cole joins us to discuss his suspension from MIT for his activity with the Palestine Solidarity Encampment and the attacks by the state. This is the first part of a two-part…
  • IntegrateNYC march in NYC
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    IntegrateNYC Lawsuit Seeks to End Segregation in New York City Schools
    17 May 2024
    Omari Soulfinger and Avery from IntegrateNYC join us from New York City to discuss a first-of-its-kind lawsuit asserting a right to an antiracist education under the New York State Constitution.
  • Sudan refugees leaving Khartum
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Political and Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan
    17 May 2024
    Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He joins us from Detroit to discuss Sudan, where a military struggle for power has created a political and humanitarian crisis.
  • Breakthrough News
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Columnist
    The Real Reason the US is Invading Haiti w/ Dr. Jemima Pierre
    15 May 2024
    Dr. Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Columnist, discusses Haiti’s newest puppet leaders and why foreign intervention is not the solution to the deepening crisis in the country.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Morehouse Men Must Protest Against Biden
    15 May 2024
    The Morehouse College class of 2024 has a historic opportunity to tell Joe Biden and the world that millions of Black people are outraged by the Israeli/U.S. genocide in Gaza. The only thing they…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us