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


  • DAKAR MANIFESTO: Africa: from Resistance to Alternatives, 2001
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DAKAR MANIFESTO: Africa: from Resistance to Alternatives, 2001
    09 Nov 2022
    The 2001 Dakar Manifesto had a simple but unassailable claim: the total and unconditional cancellation of the odious African debt.
  • Africa Confronts the Food, Fertilizer, and Climate Crisis
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Africa Confronts the Food, Fertilizer, and Climate Crisis
    09 Nov 2022
    Food production in Africa is complicated by climate change and the use of fertilizers which increase food production but which also create green house gases and create other environmental harm.
  • A Football Fan's Lord Prayer
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    A Football Fan's Lord Prayer
    09 Nov 2022
                                                           …
  • “We Can Save Ourselves”: An Interview with Onyesonwu Chatoyer
    Onyesonwu Chatoyer , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “We Can Save Ourselves”: An Interview with Onyesonwu Chatoyer
    09 Nov 2022
    Onyesonwu Chatoyer of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and BAR Book Forum Editor Roberto Sirvent discuss how "We Can Save Ourselves."
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike
    09 Nov 2022
    This week’s featured scholar is Ayodeji Ogunnaike. Ogunnaike is an assistant professor at Bowdoin College where he teaches interdisciplinary courses on Africa and the African Diaspora highlighting…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us