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


  • White Lies and Black Disbelief in a Fading Empire
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    White Lies and Black Disbelief in a Fading Empire
    18 Apr 2018
    “What would prevent Russia from attacking the United States because of all the people that the United States is killing in our communities.”
  • Why Don’t We All Vote to Commit International Crimes?
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
    Why Don’t We All Vote to Commit International Crimes?
    18 Apr 2018
    “Congress can’t authorize the unilateral use of military force abroad without violating the first principle of international law established by the UN Charter:
  • Freedom Rider: Syria and Press Propaganda
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Syria and Press Propaganda
    18 Apr 2018
    “Trump protects himself with war as Democrats and the rest of the ruling elite support his militarism.”
  • Independent Journalist Corner: A Conversation with Ajit Singh
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Independent Journalist Corner: A Conversation with Ajit Singh
    18 Apr 2018
    “China’s rise, which is at the heart of the multipolar trend, is the primary threat to U.S. international supremacy.”
  • Gun Violence Debate Needs to Include Police Militarization and Drug Prohibition Violence
    Megan Humphrey
    Gun Violence Debate Needs to Include Police Militarization and Drug Prohibition Violence
    18 Apr 2018
    “Any meaningful approach must address the war on drugs, its role in militarizing the police and the effect it has had on communities of color.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us