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

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jan 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Word is that president-elect Donald Trump still has performance openings for next week's inaugural. In the selfless and noble spirit of public service, our poet kindly offers his own services, and anxiously awaits a response from Rump tower.

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Bet you wonderin’ how I knew

Few are willin’ to perform for you?

I heard it through the grapevine

Also on TV, radio and online…

I ain’t A-list—

F-list, maybe?

Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the

Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoos—

Yet, I’m willing to serve, sir:

Call it Patriot Act III!

Willing to audition, practice, rehearse—gratis—

get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,

greasy fried chicken, like the good ol’ days…

Apply a plastic smile, applaud on cue, shuffle, shake hands with

Strong-arm Williams, Sheriff Stephen Judas Clarke, Thom-ass

Clarence, and other warlike Bassackwards Tribal leaders

I’m willing to get William Withers with you, sir:

It’s my appointed duty

To let you use me

Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to me—

‘Cause I wanna spread the news:

That if it trends this good gettin’ used

Come on, use me ‘til you use me up—

My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

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


More Stories


  • Somaliland
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Israel’s Recognition of “Somaliland” Is Destabilizing Somalia and the Horn of Africa
    18 Feb 2026
    I spoke to the Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin about Israel’s recognition of Somalia’s secessionist state, which is further destabilizing the volatile Horn of Africa. 
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    It will be about the survivors and about the Tao
    18 Feb 2026
    "It will be about the survivors and about the Tao" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Anti-Imperialist Imperative: Confronting Globalized Fascism
    18 Feb 2026
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, gave this presentation at the U.S. Peace Council Webinar on Iran.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    A Final Solution to The Human Surplus Problem (Or, How the End of EPA’s Endangerment Finding Also Ends the Farce of Trump “Populism”)
    18 Feb 2026
    Trump's EPA denies that greenhouse gases endanger public health. It is destroying public health protections and confirms that environmental policy serves corporate interests exclusively.
  • Booker Omole
    Statement on Zionist Plans to Create a Mini-State in Kenya and the Lessons from History
    18 Feb 2026
    In 1903, Britain offered Kenyan land to Zionist settlers. That scheme failed. Now, a new attempt is underway in Nakuru.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us