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


  • Mikey Smith Jamaican poet
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EULOGY: Bloody Neo-Colonialism…, Amiri Baraka, 1983
    25 Oct 2023
    In this eulogy for dub poet Michael “Mikey” Smith, Amiri Baraka asserts the need for Black and Third World mass organization against the ravages of neo-colonialism, imperialism, racism, and…
  • Close Rikers
    Stacy M. Brown
    Latest Stats Show America’s Continued Love Affair with Mass Incarceration
    18 Oct 2023
    The United States still has the dubious distinction of having more people behind bars than any other country. The population of local jails continue to rise and is a bellwether for mass incarceration…
  • Image of LeBron James by Robert Carter for The Los Angeles Times
    Gus Griffin
    Palestine and the Miseducation of LeBron James
    18 Oct 2023
    The Black political class is not made up solely of politicians. Celebrities and athletes like LeBron James are given access to corporate dollars and their politics reflect their class interests.
  • Cory Booker at AIPAC conference in 2020
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Cory Booker's Boot Licking, Butt Kissing, and Buck Dancing for Zionism
    18 Oct 2023
    Cory Booker has been a favorite of right-wing interest groups ever since he first ran for office to become mayor of Newark 20 years ago.
  • The bodies of the dead in a bombing on al-Ahli Hospital are gathered outside another hospital in Gaza
    Ramzy Baroud
    It's Not a Hamas-Israeli Conflict: It's an Israeli War Against Every Palestinian
    18 Oct 2023
    The people of Gaza are completely at the mercy of Israel, without help from the outside world.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us