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


  • ESSAY: Negro Revolutionary Hero: Toussaint L'Ouverture, Cyril Briggs, 1929
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Negro Revolutionary Hero: Toussaint L'Ouverture, Cyril Briggs, 1929
    20 Jul 2022
    In 1929, Black radical Cyril Briggs penned an essay on Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution. For Briggs, both provided inspiration for the fight against the U.S. occupation of Haiti. We…
  •  BAR Book Forum: Steven W. Thrasher’s Book, “The Viral Underclass”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Steven W. Thrasher’s Book, “The Viral Underclass”
    20 Jul 2022
    This week’s featured author is Steven W. Thrasher. Thrasher holds the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg chair at Northwestern University’s Medill School, the first journalism professorship in the world…
  • Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of the UN Mission to Haiti (BINUH)
    Black Alliance For Peace
    Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of the UN Mission to Haiti (BINUH)
    20 Jul 2022
    The ineffective and unpopular UN Mission to Haiti must end.
  • Oil and Imperialism in Africa
    Mark P. Fancher
    Oil and Imperialism in Africa
    20 Jul 2022
    Under imperialism resource wealth can become a curse, such is the case with the EACOP pipeline in East Africa.
  • “December Revolution’s rebirth”: Sit-ins Mark New Stage of Protests Against Sudan’s Military Junta
    Pavan Kulkarni
    “December Revolution’s rebirth”: Sit-ins Mark New Stage of Protests Against Sudan’s Military Junta
    20 Jul 2022
    In the aftermath of the violent repression of protesters on June 30, sit-ins have been organized in various parts of Sudan even as the military junta tries to consolidate power.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us