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


  • The CIA’s New “Woke” Façade
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    The CIA’s New “Woke” Façade
    02 Jun 2021
    The planet’s premier assassination and regime-change agency is advertising itself as a “woke” workplace populated by young Black, Latina and LGBTQ staffers.
  •  The Politics of Performance
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    The Politics of Performance
    02 Jun 2021
    Performance art has the power to make the future felt in the present.
  •  George Floyd Not a Martyr
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    George Floyd Not a Martyr
    02 Jun 2021
    The effectiveness of the social justice movement should be measured by “what material conditions have actually shifted for Black people” and other vulnerable groups, said Kovie Biakolo
  • Freedom Rider: Biden Breaks His Promises
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Biden Breaks His Promises
    27 May 2021
    Black people have nothing to show for a Biden presidency despite turning out in droves to put him in office.
  • Palestine is a Mirror into the Contemporary World Struggle Against Imperialism, and its Contradictions
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Palestine is a Mirror into the Contemporary World Struggle Against Imperialism, and its Contradictions
    27 May 2021
    One cannot logically support the liberation of Palestine while simultaneously advocating regime change in Syria and Venezuela and obscene funding for the US military.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us