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

Mengele Medicine… Free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Jul 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raynmond Nat Turner

This week our poet examines the links between the blankets settlers distributed among Native Americans and capitalism's reckless disregard of human, environmental and medica ethics.

Mengele Medicine… Free

by BAR poet in residence Raynmond Nat Turner

I.
My mom inspected
hell holes, City of
Angels,
ruled by devils.

Captured Angelinos
complained about
Not getting water.
Red punch, sí— water, no;
As the Founding Fathers,
The Framers—of warriors
and truth-tellers—intended…

Outside the city,
concertina wire veils
Loveless gray walls
keeping a grim gulag
out of sight, out of mind;
Concealing the work camp,
pharmaceutical
playground, infested
with sadistic torturers;
and Mengele medicine men
standing on skeletons—
suffering side-effects
of pulse-less persons,
$500.00 an hour lawyers.

Mengele medicine men,
practicing goober dust,
black cat dander, four-
leaf clover, rabbit’s foot,
aspirin for cancer quackery.
Experimenting with
effects of no water,
sugar water, fracked water,
black water, white bread
on diabetic shock subjects—
Side effects of remote-
controlled Death Panels,
posing as parole boards…

II.
Warriors, Freedom Fighters’
Sacrifices paved our way—
Heroic lamp-lighters
Long for light of day
And they gotta be Free, Free, Free
‘Cause they hold the Key, Key, Key

Resistance isn’t crime
When tellers of truth fight back
From cages of endless time
And peculiar tenure-track
And they gotta be Free, Free, Free
‘Cause they hold the Key, Key, Key

Torture arisoners, Prisoners of War…)

(1st stanza 1st time Rubato; Ballad feel;
1st stanza 2nd time to Groove)

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved

BAR's Ppoet in residence, Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. We'll have to put up a booking page for him here soon. Meanwhile you can find much 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


  • Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Fear is Still the Motivation for Black Voters
    27 Nov 2024
    Kamala Harris is now a historical footnote who is heading for the dustbin of history. Yet this harsh truth is avoided by many Black people, who cast aspersions and scorn when they should see the…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Without Including Biden and Blinken and the Issue of Genocide, International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants Are a Sham
    27 Nov 2024
    The International Criminal Court finally indicted Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, but this action is merely performative. If arrest warrants do not include war criminals like Joe…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Prospects for Fascism, Manning Marable, 1981
    27 Nov 2024
    Manning Marable reminds us that US fascism is institutional and normalized. The parallels of his 1981 essay with the present are obvious – US fascism remains ascendant.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Washington Post Attacks Eritrean Americans for Organizing in their Own Defense
    27 Nov 2024
    The Washington Post’s latest anti-Eritrea propaganda demonizes Eritrean immigrants defending themselves in the West.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    COP29 Summit Marked by Acrimonious Debate Over Emissions and Finance
    27 Nov 2024
    Annual climate gathering reflects divisions between the industrialized states and the Global South.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us