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

A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
31 Aug 2017
🖨️ Print Article
A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory
A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory

A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our white-bearded cannon
fell silent—
The day became grayer…
I know, I know, I know, I know…
He was my Mom’s favorite funnyman—
She bought his books, his vinyl
Speaking to her like Malcolm
(who she shared Turkish Coffee
with on his trips west, fishing for men)

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
Doubling us over,
splitting our sides, shaking our cores…

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
Piercing steel veils with X-ray vision
puncturing absurdities with barbed tongue—
Soul-ar powered bullshit detector
administering smell tests

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
while coming as close as we’ve come to
Having a Super Hero
putting his body
On the line running,
Marching, fasting, speaking,
Teaching us to follow
the money where the
bodies are buried…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Right Reserved

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Jeremy Miller
    The Republic of Mali Still Stands: A Sahelian coup d'état that almost was
    06 May 2026
    The attack on Mali was a coordinated international destabilization campaign, but as is usually the case, any coverage from the Western press hides the full story.
  • Wolfgang Bronner
    Entertainment as Militarization: The Spectacle of the Super Bowl & WrestleMania in Nashville
    06 May 2026
    The spectacle of major sporting events does not simply distract from a city's crackdown on the working class. It is a mechanism through which it is normalized and accelerated.
  • Gary Wilson
    Supreme Court attacks Black voting rights, Native nations
    06 May 2026
    The Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision has given state legislatures the green light to break up Black and Native voting districts.
  • Richard Medhurst
    How the US Pulled off an Armed Robbery of the World's Energy Supply and Created the Petrogas-Dollar
    06 May 2026
    A forensic investigation into how Washington leveraged the war in Iran to replace Nord Stream, save the dollar, and establish total command over the world’s fuel from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean.
  • Sherronda J. Brown , Tea Troutman , Aarohi Sheth
    May Day: Exporting the Southern Plantocracy
    06 May 2026
    The South has always been the region where the most exploitative labor practices are tested first.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us