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


  • The Validity and Usefulness of the Term “Black Misleadership Class”
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Validity and Usefulness of the Term “Black Misleadership Class”
    04 Jan 2018
    “It is both an actual and aspirational class, which ultimately sees its interests as tied to those of U.S.
  • Will Black Agenda Report Be Here Next New Year? That's Up To Our Readers...
    Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
    Will Black Agenda Report Be Here Next New Year? That's Up To Our Readers...
    04 Jan 2018
       
  • 3 Little Words (For 2 EGs)
    3 Little Words (For 2 EGs)
    03 Jan 2018
    One to three three on one Life hanging on tatted arms of a windpipe- crushing Nazi thug 3 little words 12 letters 11 times Not artful air escaping
  • Congolese President Attacks Peaceful New Year’s Eve Protestors
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor , Boniface Musavuli
    Congolese President Attacks Peaceful New Year’s Eve Protestors
    03 Jan 2018
    “While the rest of the world celebrates their hopes for the New Year, the Congolese suffer repression and death.”
  • Puerto Rico Homeowners Brace for Another Disaster: Foreclosures
    David Dayen
    Puerto Rico Homeowners Brace for Another Disaster: Foreclosures
    03 Jan 2018
    “Maybe they believe the land is worth more than keeping people in the homes.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us