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
Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
BAR Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose discuss community organizing, Black Queer Feminism, the struggle for police and prison abolition, and an end to militarism.
"From May 26 to May 31, I was in Cali, Colombia serving as an election observer with an international delegation of mostly Black women. This is a preliminary report."
The Historic Pact candidates Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez won the first round of the Colombian presidential election but now face conservative candidates in a June 19 runoff.
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) began after an LAPD raid on the Black Panthers in 1969 and spread throughout the country. Then as now they neither protect nor serve, as was the case in Uvalde…
