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


  • Haiti: Beware of Washington's Trap!
    Berthony Dupont
    Haiti: Beware of Washington's Trap!
    24 Aug 2022
    The United States uses its puppet, the Organization of American States, to continue destabilizing Haiti.
  • J. Edgar Hoover’s Evil Brainchild
    John Kiriakou
    J. Edgar Hoover’s Evil Brainchild
    24 Aug 2022
    The FBI has not revealed all of the dirty secrets of COINTELPRO, the Counter Intelligence Program. Congressman Bobby Rush has sponsored legislation to bring this horrible history to light.
  • Letter from Republic of Mali to UN on French Aggression and Support for Terrorism in Region
    Abdoulaye Diop
    Letter from Republic of Mali to UN on French Aggression and Support for Terrorism in Region
    24 Aug 2022
    The government of Mali has accused France of numerous violations of its airspace and has requested that the United Nations Security Council investigate. French forces may have left Mali, but the…
  • In Brussels, Pan-Africanism Faces Eurafrica
    Amzat Boukhari-Yabara
    In Brussels, Pan-Africanism Faces Eurafrica
    24 Aug 2022
    This article was written on the occasion of the sixth summit between the European Union and the African Union which was held in Brussels on 17 and 18 of February 2022. These meetings are…
  • Black Agenda Radio August 19, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 19, 2022
    19 Aug 2022
    The history and significance of Black August, presidential elections and politics in Kenya, and reflections on the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us