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


  • We Charge Imperialism: The International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism:  Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures
    Helyeh Doutaghi , Corinna Mullin , Nina Farnia
    We Charge Imperialism: The International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures
    14 Dec 2022
    The International People's Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism will convene in 2023. This position paper describes how sanctions are used as a tool of imperialism.
  • Zionism is Canada’s Sacred Cow
    Laith Marouf
    Zionism is Canada’s Sacred Cow
    14 Dec 2022
    The Canadian government has embarked on a project to disappear any anti-Zionist narratives and to discredit anyone who expresses them. The Zionist project is now treated as if it were a "protected…
  • Africa and the World Cup
    Gus Griffin
    Africa and the World Cup
    14 Dec 2022
    The quadrennial football World Cup is the focus of worldwide attention. But African nations have fewer opportunities to participate, and Morocco's success has made it favorite of the African diaspora…
  • U.S.-Based Africans Organize Events to Counter Biden Administration’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
    Julie Varughese
    U.S.-Based Africans Organize Events to Counter Biden Administration’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
    14 Dec 2022
    The African diaspora gathered for events in Washington DC to counter the claims of U.S. concern for African nations before the U.S. African Leaders Summit. 
  • Alex Saab, Venezuelan Political Prisoner on Trial in Miami, Refuses to “Sing”
    Roger D. Harris
    Alex Saab, Venezuelan Political Prisoner on Trial in Miami, Refuses to “Sing”
    14 Dec 2022
    Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab was kidnapped by the U.S. in 2020 and is still in custody. An evidentiary hearing is taking place to determine if the country that constantly speaks of a "rules based…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us