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


  • Mali independence day
    Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    Mali Commemorates 64 Years of Independence Amid Security Challenges
    25 Sep 2024
    Terrorist attacks illustrate the character of neo-colonialism in the 21st century.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Eating elephant excrement’s a problem—solidarity’s a solution …
    25 Sep 2024
    "Eating elephant excrement’s a problem—solidarity’s a solution …" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • People holding signs in support of Moses Cemetery
    Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR Contributor , Ari Gutman
    Maryland Supreme Court Decision Favors The Bethesda African Cemetery: Desecrators Could Face Potential Lawsuits
    25 Sep 2024
    Government agencies in the state of Maryland are allowing real estate developers to disturb a sacred place of rest for enslaved people and their descendants. Organizers have continued to oppose the…
  • Jon Jeter
    How the Democrats’ Use Performative Blackness to Gaslight Blacks’ Legitimate Political Grievances
    25 Sep 2024
    The Democratic Party pulls out all the stops to maintain its base of Black voters - except push any policy that will improve their material conditions. Now that Kamala Harris has stepped into the…
  • David Hundeyin
    The Empire Finds An African Enemy: African Stream In The Crosshairs
    25 Sep 2024
    The state has put targets on the backs of left-wing independent media outlets it identifies as subversive. African Stream has been accused of being a Russian puppet in an age-old pattern of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us