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

What The Video Shows
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Dec 2015
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Video, as police and military malefactors frequently remind us, is two dimensional.

What The Video Shows

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

The officer drove 6 min.
Like Mario Andretti impersonating
Evel Knivel on Chicago streets
The officer alighted from his vehicle
Firing and fearing for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

After being struck by several rounds 
Fired by the responding officer, the 
Suspect assumed a combative prone
Position and began resisting the officer’s
Fire…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Stay still; notice the suspect’s body 
bouncing, twisting—that’s resisting
Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Just die—that’s resisting—he’s resisting!

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers whose
Guns were holstered
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers and
The safety of the suspect, so they let
Him ‘bleed out’—a split–second decision
this work’s hard enough without second-guessing 

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Well, on second viewing, the officer may
Have used poor judgment, may have over-
Reacted; the officer may need more training

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—take that hospital 
Bombed
In Afghanistan—it wasn’t really bombed—it only
Looked bombed. It only looks like splattered blood
on ICU walls. That head only looks like it’s detached 
from its torso. It only looks like 32 people were killed…
Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—so repeat after me:
Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Raymond Nat Turner Š 2015 All Rights Reserved

subscribe to our free weekly email notifying you of new content published at Black Agenda Report

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Haitians Blame US and France for Corrupt Regime
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Haitians Blame US and France for Corrupt Regime
    03 Dec 2019
    Daoud Andre, of the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti, said the “clear demand” animating protests that have shut down much of the country is that President “Joven
  • A (Re)Born National “Black and Left-Led” Organization Fights for Community Control of Police
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    A (Re)Born National “Black and Left-Led” Organization Fights for Community Control of Police
    28 Nov 2019
    On the momentum of Chicago’s anti-police movement – the most advanced in the nation – the city’s Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has gone national after a highly successful confere
  • Freedom Rider: Say No to Bloomberg 
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Say No to Bloomberg 
    27 Nov 2019
    Bloomberg says he wants to stop Donald Trump but he’s really running to stop Bernie Sanders.
  • Barack Obama and the Ruling Class Target the Black Vote to Smother Sanders
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Barack Obama and the Ruling Class Target the Black Vote to Smother Sanders
    27 Nov 2019
    Obama’s principle task is to ensure sure that Black Americans do not vote in the direction of single-payer healthcare and housing for all.
  • count ALL votes
    BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
    count ALL votes
    27 Nov 2019
    POW…POW…POW…POW… My leaders were voted out of office with hot lead ballots: red runoffs in driveways, beds, ballroom floors, on balconies, and college campuses.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us