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


  • Newark’s Lead-Poisoned Water and the Contradictions of a “Radical” Mayor: How Do We Fight Back?
    Jay Arena
    Newark’s Lead-Poisoned Water and the Contradictions of a “Radical” Mayor: How Do We Fight Back?
    02 Oct 2019
    Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, widely viewed as a “radical,” has worked to deny, suppress, and minimize the existence of this public health crisis.
  • Obama, the Greatest War President: a Book Review 
    a review by Ron Ridenour
    Obama, the Greatest War President: a Book Review 
    02 Oct 2019
    Obama, the drone president, stood for seven aggressive wars at once, more than any other US president.
  • Shooting at Haitian Parliament Surprises Few as Anti-Government Protests Continue
    Jane Regan
    Shooting at Haitian Parliament Surprises Few as Anti-Government Protests Continue
    02 Oct 2019
    The country has been in a state of almost constant upheaval—or more accurately, “uprising”—for over a year.
  • Black Agenda Report’s 13th Anniversary: An Evening of Information and Inspiration for Liberation, and a Tribute to Co-Founder Bruce Dixon
    BAR staff
    Black Agenda Report’s 13th Anniversary: An Evening of Information and Inspiration for Liberation, and a Tribute to Co-Founder Bruce Dixon
    02 Oct 2019
    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-agenda-reports-13th-anniversary-tickets-72333259727
  • The Conservative Black Nationalism of Clarence Thomas
    Joshua Cohen and Corey Robin
    The Conservative Black Nationalism of Clarence Thomas
    02 Oct 2019
    Clarence Thomas most often votes alongside other reactionaries on the High Court, but he may be guided by different reasoning.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us