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
šŸ–Øļø 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 ā€˜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 Ā© 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


  • Letters from Our ReadersĀ 
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our ReadersĀ 
    12 Jun 2019
    This week BAR readers discussed the Central Park Five, US support for jihadism, and Black Lives Matter.  Strong comments arrived for ā€œ
  • Some Critics Argue that the Internal Colony Theory is Outdated. Here’s Why They’re Wrong
    Patrick D. Anderson
    Some Critics Argue that the Internal Colony Theory is Outdated. Here’s Why They’re Wrong
    12 Jun 2019
    The internal neocolonialism thesis is not ā€œrace-centricā€ but anti-colonial, and explains Black elite behavior. 
  • BAR Book Forum: TherĆ­ Pickens’s ā€œBlack Madness :: Mad Blacknessā€
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: TherĆ­ Pickens’s ā€œBlack Madness :: Mad Blacknessā€
    12 Jun 2019
    This book is dedicated to the Black mad and the mad Black everywhere.
  • ā€œThe Black Godfather": Clarence Avant and the Ruling Class Use of Black Pop CultureĀ 
    Pascal Robert
    ā€œThe Black Godfatherā€: Clarence Avant and the Ruling Class Use of Black Pop CultureĀ 
    12 Jun 2019
    Clarence Avant mastered pimping out Black identity to normalize the functioning of a nation premised on the oppression of his fellow Black citizens.
  • After Massacre by Militia, Sudan’s Civilian Forces Reject Junta’s Legitimacy
    Pavan Kulkarni
    After Massacre by Militia, Sudan’s Civilian Forces Reject Junta’s Legitimacy
    12 Jun 2019
    Amid a reign of terror, the Sudanese Professionals Association called on the international community to recognize it as the sole representative of the people. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us