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


  • Gov. Wes Moore
    Black Alliance for Peace Baltimore , Ujima People’s Progress Party
    BAP- Baltimore and Ujima People's Progress Party Denounce Maryland’s Unjust Juvenile Justice Bill
    20 Mar 2024
    Despite the messaging from politicians, the new Maryland "Juvenile Justice" bill is another attack on African (Black) youth and, by extension, the whole of the African masses.
  • Jamiles Lartey
    These States Are Once Again Embracing ‘Tough-on-Crime’ Laws
    19 Mar 2024
    Louisiana is one of several states passing punitive measures in response to fears stoked by orchestrated crime panics.
  • Highway flooding
    Adam Mahoney
    How Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Created a ‘Climate Time Bomb’ in Black Neighborhoods
    19 Mar 2024
    Half of the projects funded through the law have been allocated to expanding highways.
  • SNCC Newsletter
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Pan-Africanism and Palestine Solidarity, Then and Now (Part I)
    19 Mar 2024
    From the era of Malcolm X to the present, progressive forces have supported the Palestinian and Arab struggles against Zionism and imperialism.
  • Ujima People's Progress Party
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Maryland Extends the Carceral State to Children and Youth
    15 Mar 2024
    Gus Griffin joins us to discuss Maryland's new legislation which allegedly reforms juvenile justice, but is in fact an expansion of the carceral state to include young children.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us