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


  •  Special US Punishment Reserved for Haitian Immigrants
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Special US Punishment Reserved for Haitian Immigrants
    03 May 2021
    In his first 60 days in office, Biden “had already deported more people to Haiti than Donald Trump deported in all of 2020, said Daoud Andre, a Brooklyn-based radio host and organi
  •  Biden Is No FDR, Just a Business-As-Usual Democrat
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Biden Is No FDR, Just a Business-As-Usual Democrat
    03 May 2021
    Far from the incarnation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joe Biden is the usual corporate Democrat, said veteran activist Margaret Flowers, of Popular Resistance.
  • Freedom Rider: No Justice Without a Movement
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: No Justice Without a Movement
    29 Apr 2021
    The changes needed are fundamental to a country which puts anti-black racism at the center of politics, law and economics.
  • The Russia-China Alliance: More than a Bulwark Against Imperialism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Russia-China Alliance: More than a Bulwark Against Imperialism
    29 Apr 2021
    China’s communist party-led government and enormous non-white population strikes fear in the heart of the hegemon in ways that Russia alone simply cannot.
  • EDITORIAL:ON THE MOVE: The MOVE Organization and the Teachings of John Africa, June 28 and July 1, 1975
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL:ON THE MOVE: The MOVE Organization and the Teachings of John Africa, June 28 and July 1, 1975
    29 Apr 2021
    The MOVE organization’s protests provoked some of the most intense forms of police brutality and repression witnessed in the country.  
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us