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


  • Opposing Occupation and Intervention in Haiti
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Opposing Occupation and Intervention in Haiti
    21 Jul 2023
    Dr. Jemima Pierre is a professor in the African American Studies and Anthropology Departments at UCLA.
  • Ending Legacy Admissions in New York
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ending Legacy Admissions in New York
    21 Jul 2023
    Johanna Miller is Director of Education Policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
  • Ending Death by Incarceration for Felony Murder in Pennsylvania
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ending Death by Incarceration for Felony Murder in Pennsylvania
    21 Jul 2023
    Quinn Cozzens is a staff attorney with Abolitionist Law Center who joins us to discuss the issue of sentencing for felony murder in Pennsylvania.
  • How the Climate Crisis is Most Detrimental to the Black Community
    Forrest Palmer
    How the Climate Crisis is Most Detrimental to the Black Community
    19 Jul 2023
    The earth recently experienced its hottest days on record. Here in the U.S. Black people face the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
  • Haiti 2023: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
    The Editors
    Haiti 2023: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
    19 Jul 2023
    Black Agenda Report continues its commitment to reporting on events in Haiti.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us