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


  • Africa Confronts the Food, Fertilizer, and Climate Crisis
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Africa Confronts the Food, Fertilizer, and Climate Crisis
    09 Nov 2022
    Food production in Africa is complicated by climate change and the use of fertilizers which increase food production but which also create green house gases and create other environmental harm.
  • A Football Fan's Lord Prayer
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    A Football Fan's Lord Prayer
    09 Nov 2022
                                                           …
  • “We Can Save Ourselves”: An Interview with Onyesonwu Chatoyer
    Onyesonwu Chatoyer , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “We Can Save Ourselves”: An Interview with Onyesonwu Chatoyer
    09 Nov 2022
    Onyesonwu Chatoyer of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and BAR Book Forum Editor Roberto Sirvent discuss how "We Can Save Ourselves."
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike
    09 Nov 2022
    This week’s featured scholar is Ayodeji Ogunnaike. Ogunnaike is an assistant professor at Bowdoin College where he teaches interdisciplinary courses on Africa and the African Diaspora highlighting…
  • A Revolutionary Lens on U.S. Elections
    Netfa Freeman
    A Revolutionary Lens on U.S. Elections
    09 Nov 2022
    The electoral system alone doesn't bring about change that benefits the people. People-centered political formations must be part of any political process.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us