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

Redouble our efforts…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Apr 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

When our giants go down, our spines must straighten up and create new beginnings.

 

Redouble our efforts…

(For Robert Knight, Chokwe, Amiri,

And others known and less known…)

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

 

When our Knights are captured 

Or fall on battlefields, as they 

Surely must, and we lose their

Brilliant lights and we are

Scrambling to pry pens,

Swords, spears, bread and

Roses from stainless steel 

Grips of their icy hands—

Scrambling to hoist our 

Fallen banners, temporarily

Mired in mud and blood, 

Even higher, scrambling 

To staunch rivulets of

Brine from our sweetly

Shattered hearts…

 

When our giants — in 

All sizes — go down, 

Our spines straighten

Honoring, immortalizing,

Their legends, burnished 

Names, by divvying up

Cosmic, ancient, work

Creating them in the 

Beginning…

 

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


  • Austin Cole
    Municipalism, Economic Development, and People Power for Participatory Democracy – A Conversation with Nicholas Richard-Thompson, Part I
    23 Oct 2024
    As part of this research on grassroots economic projects toward Black Liberation, Austin Cole spoke with Nicholas Richard-Thompson about his community organizing, expanding definitions of…
  • Umar A Farooq
    'Genocide Must Be Our Red Line': Black Muslim Leaders Shun Harris for US President
    23 Oct 2024
    Community leaders sign statement backing candidates supporting Gaza ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel.
  • Cody Bloomfield
    The State Is Wielding Grand Jury Subpoenas Against Cop City Activists
    23 Oct 2024
    Activists organizing against the militarized police training facility in Atlanta are facing new forms of repression.
  • Aída Chávez
    After Israel Killed Hamas Leader, D.C. Pushes to Hand Palestine to Saudi Arabia
    23 Oct 2024
    Bent on a “mega-deal” security pact with Saudi Arabia, Congress and the Biden administration see their chance.
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio October 18, 2024
    18 Oct 2024
    In this segment, we discuss housing proposals in New York City and nationally. Do they improve affordability? How do they impact Black people? But first, we discuss a new book written by a Black…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us