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


  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    30 Jan 2019
    This week readers decided to comment on the 2020 Democratic Party primary, the US role in the recent Congolese presidential election, and the correct understanding of the role sexuality in shaping
  • “BAR Book Forum: Tisa Wenger’s Religious Freedom”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “BAR Book Forum: Tisa Wenger’s Religious Freedom”
    30 Jan 2019
    “Religious freedom” has always been partial, aspirational, and constituted by the systems of power that shape the society as a whole.
  • “BAR Book Forum: Tavia Nyong’o’s Afro-Fabulations”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “BAR Book Forum: Tavia Nyong’o’s Afro-Fabulations”
    30 Jan 2019
    Nyong’o’s book seeks to “articulate the power of the critical and creative fabulation” of black social life.
  • When Politicians Use Marginalized People as Human Shields
    Teodrose Fikre
    When Politicians Use Marginalized People as Human Shields
    30 Jan 2019
    Republicans advertise their institutional bigotry, but Democrats obscure their malicious actions with identity politics.
  • The Diary of a Trumpy Kid
    Mark P. Fancher
    The Diary of a Trumpy Kid
    30 Jan 2019
    The formative years of the future Commander-in-Thief. “Hail, Comandante Idiota!”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us