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

Bad Hombres
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
25 Jul 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Bad Hombres
Central American has the highest murder rate on the planet, thanks to 2 centuries of US intervention.

Miguel was a precocious
six-year-old. And Maria,
his mother, swore the
Sun’s shine started in
his green eyes. ‘Ojos Verde,’
she lovingly called him.

Blessed with perfect pitch,
Miguel’s music aptitude
was off the charts! He could pick
Melodies out on the tiny, beat up
guitar, his Grandpa rescued from
Rich folks’ trash and put in Miguel’s
small hands the moment he walked.
And the sky was the limit—before
Bad Hombres with
Badges kidnapped him…

Floods of florescent light, 24/7
and arbitrary darkness behind
blacked out windows…remind
Miguel that his world is flipped
Upside down like a car skidding out of
Control somewhere in Oregon or New York.
He misses his Mommy; He rocks and chants
staccato licks, “Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma…”

The sharp needle pierces his tender
Brown flesh. He screams, “Ma-ma, Ma-ma!”
Sunshine drains from emerald eyes into slo-
mo replays like red flags thrown through the
Rest of his life…

After 54 days Miguel’s reunited with his Mommy.
She searches scabies and lice for emerald sunshine,
Finding busted windows where a tortured soul and
Nightmares reside profitably: Childcare provided by
Bad Hombres—
drug dealers
and rapists…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Central America

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


Related Stories

John Perry
UN “Experts” Fueling Washington’s Attacks on Nicaragua
01 April 2026
The UN panel’s reports on Nicaragua recycle claims from U.S.-backed opposition groups, serving as a propaganda arm for Washington’s regime chan
Gerald A. Perreira
Turning Its Back on Cuba: Government of Guyana Sells Its Soul
25 February 2026
Cuba has provided Guyana with doctors, scholarships, and healthcare for nearly five decades.

More Stories


  • From Peoples to Bynum: A Brief History of Jackson State's Leadership Struggle
    C. Liegh McInnis
    From Peoples to Bynum: A Brief History of Jackson State's Leadership Struggle
    26 Feb 2020
    Mississippi’s ability to sabotage Black public higher education is enhanced by the state’s power to choose compliant Negroes as administrators. 
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 24, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 24, 2020
    25 Feb 2020
    Black Oppression is Environmental Injustice
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 24, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 24, 2020
    25 Feb 2020
    Black Oppression is Environmental Injustice
  • Mumia Speaks on the Cops Today’s and Deadly Economy
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Mumia Speaks on the Cops and Today’s Deadly Economy
    25 Feb 2020
    The nation’s best known political prisoner sees parallels between the plight of today’s low wage workers and conditions during the Great Depression, when workers were brutalized for seeking unioniz
  • Blacks Continue to Die on the Alter of White Womanhood
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Blacks Continue to Die on the Alter of White Womanhood
    25 Feb 2020
    Although Emmet Till and Trayvon Martin were killed 57 years apart, both of the Black teenagers died for the same reasons, said Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a dean and professor at
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us