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, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât 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 officersâŠ
Baby, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât 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 officerâs
FireâŠ
Baby, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât trust your lying eyes
Notice the suspectâs body refusing to
Stay still; notice the suspectâs body
bouncing, twistingâthatâs resisting
Notice the suspectâs body refusing to
Just dieâthatâs resistingâheâs resisting!
Baby, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât 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 âbleed outââa splitâsecond decision
this workâs hard enough without second-guessing
Baby, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât 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, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât trust your lying eyes
Videoâs two dimensionalâwhat you think you
See is not what you really seeâtake that hospital
Bombed
In Afghanistanâit wasnât really bombedâit only
Looked bombed. It only looks like splattered blood
on ICU walls. That head only looks like itâs detached
from its torso. It only looks like 32 people were killedâŠ
Videoâs two dimensionalâwhat you think you
See is not what you really seeâso repeat after me:
Baby, donât do it
Baby, donât you do it
Baby, donât dare do it
Donât trust your lying eyes
Raymond Nat Turner © 2015 All Rights Reserved
With Black is King, BeyoncĂ© and Disney have combined to sell audiences a lavishly fabricated Africaâone that is entirely devoid of class conflict.
White folks at the university decided to set things right on race â without consulting Africana Studies.
The East African country is a former German colony and lived under Belgian rule until gaining independence almost 60 years ago.
The NYPD has regularly failed to turn over key records and videos to police abuse investigators at New Yorkâs Civilian Complaint Review Board. â
Some Africans in America identify with people like Harris because THEY see their class interests, as she does, as being intertwined with the interests of the American capitalist system.
