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 Planet’s Most Powerful Zionist is a Puppet
    Kweli Nzito
    The Planet’s Most Powerful Zionist is a Puppet
    26 May 2021
  • Alex Saab v. The Empire: The US Tries to Extradite a Venezuelan Diplomat for Securing Food for the Hungry
    Roger D. Harris
    Alex Saab v. The Empire: The US Tries to Extradite a Venezuelan Diplomat for Securing Food for the Hungry
    26 May 2021
    “By controlling the international financial system, Washington can demand banks in foreign countries to accept US restrictions or face sanctions themselves.”
  •  Black Agenda Radio for Week of May 24, 2021
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of May 24, 2021
    25 May 2021
    Community Control of Police Advocates Poised to Win in Chicago
  •  Black Rebellions Less Frequent, But Police Response More Violent Than in Earlier Decades
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Rebellions Less Frequent, But Police Response More Violent Than in Earlier Decades
    25 May 2021
    “The rebellions of the Sixties were not the same as we witnessed last summer,” said Elizabeth Hinton, author of “America On Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Re
  •  Corporate Philanthropy Erodes Black Lives Matter Movement
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Corporate Philanthropy Erodes Black Lives Matter Movement
    25 May 2021
    Oppressed communities and political movements need money, but “I don’t believe that corporations can become partners” in people’s liberation, said Imani Wadud, a doctoral student a
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us