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


  •  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