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


  • 2nd Amend Meant
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    2nd Amend Meant
    26 Apr 2023
    2nd Amend Meant
  • US/EU/NATO Meet with Somaliland Secessionists
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    US/EU/NATO Meet with Somaliland Secessionists
    26 Apr 2023
    As Somaliland forces continue to fire on Somali nationalists in Laasaanood and the surrounding region, Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, US/EU/NATO officials held a joint call with secessionist…
  • BAR Book Forum: Nyasha Mboti’s Book, ā€œApartheid Studies: A Manifestoā€
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Nyasha Mboti’s Book, ā€œApartheid Studies: A Manifestoā€
    26 Apr 2023
    This week’s featured author is Nyasha Mboti. Mboti is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Science at the University of the Free State in South Africa.  His book is Apartheid…
  • Joe Biden’s Petroleum Puppetry is Pulling the Strings of War and Environmental Racism
    Anthony Rogers-Wright
    Joe Biden’s Petroleum Puppetry is Pulling the Strings of War and Environmental Racism
    26 Apr 2023
    Joe Biden is like all of his party's predecessors. He talks a good game on environmental policy, but he is the front man for the fossil fuel industry and is even waging a proxy war in Ukraine to help…
  • A Win for Sudan’s Armed Forces Good for Democratic Transition
    Dr. Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad
    A Win for Sudan’s Armed Forces Good for Democratic Transition
    26 Apr 2023
    The battle between warring generals in Sudan must end with a return to civilian rule.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us