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

Oh, what a night…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
21 Dec 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our poet shares a scene from a late nite NYC subway ride home from this years' holiday party of the National Writers Union.

Oh, what a night…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

“Oh, what a night…”

Red letters emblazoning big white cake

“Workers of the WORD, Unite!”

150 small, cloth flags hanging

from the ceiling, above our food,

Representing places, spaces

Working-class brothers and sisters gather

Breaking bread, sipping wine, gulping water…

Making memories, visualizing peace—better lives—

Not children’s, grandchildren’s broken, bloody bodies…

“Oh, what a night…”

Our NWU holiday party

Wild women of the WORD—

Friendships of fifty years

Talking “class struggle”, “socialism”

A woman, UAW leader, pops in

Announcing victory:

Research and Teaching Assistants

Won unionization at Columbia!

“Oh, what a night…”

Six bottles of sparking cider lighter,

On the A Train, heading

Home to Harlem in a hurry

Brothers behind me loud talkin’—

Not dissin’ or arguing—more like preachin’

To the choir

Brother One’s shouting ‘bout Cuba’s

schools and literacy compared to here.

Brother Two’s chimin’ in ‘bout the Bay of Pigs,

Allen Dulles, killing of Kennedy— just before

Brother Three jumps to billionaire appointees

Only in New York!

“Oh, what a night…”

Never mind three delays

between 34th and 125th

Couldn’t take it any longer—

Got up, got some of that WORD:

“Is this ‘The Friendship Train’

Listen to us—woop-woop—…doin’ our thing?

Y’all scaring me and folks up front with

that revolutionary foolishness!”

Smiling eyes, belly laugh betrayed me—but

Crescendo “Oooh!” response to my call:

“Hell, folks been asleep 8 years!”

Plus, pregnant pause, birthed this poem

Granting you permission to: pimp-slap, kick

fear-mongers to the curb; they squander

Seeds of struggle, rays of resistance… Listen to

Lil’ David’s lesson: Goliath’s gotta bring ass to kick ass…

Poet’s Note:

NWU is National Writers Union

UAW is United Auto Workers

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 All Rights Reserved

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Let’s Not Glorify the Law: The Slave Trade Used to Be Legal
    William C. Anderson
    Let’s Not Glorify the Law: The Slave Trade Used to Be Legal
    26 Feb 2020
    The law is a shaky foundation to rest on, particularly for Black people and other marginalized communities. 
  • Is Joe Biden Really More Electable?
    Thad Baltimore
    Is Joe Biden Really More Electable?
    26 Feb 2020
    Could it be that electability, as applied to Biden, is some form of racial dog whistle?
  • Building the New Antiwar Movement
    Russell Rickford
    Building the New Antiwar Movement
    26 Feb 2020
    Will a new wave of activism finally produce a real mass movement against “boundless” militarism?
  • The Expanded Moms4Housing Bill Could Change the Whole Game
    Broke-ass Stuart
    The Expanded Moms4Housing Bill Could Change the Whole Game
    26 Feb 2020
    Although the moms were evicted, their example inspired ground-breaking housing legislation for Oakland, California. 
  • From Peoples to Bynum: A Brief History of Jackson State's Leadership Struggle
    C. Liegh McInnis
    From Peoples to Bynum: A Brief History of Jackson State's Leadership Struggle
    26 Feb 2020
    Mississippi’s ability to sabotage Black public higher education is enhanced by the state’s power to choose compliant Negroes as administrators. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us