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


  •  Black Alliance for Peace: Fascism Born in the Colonies, Not Europe
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Alliance for Peace: Fascism Born in the Colonies, Not Europe
    06 Apr 2021
    Ajamu Baraka, the former Green Party vice presidential candidate and current national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace – a member of the Black is Back Coalition -- says E
  •  Black Is Back Coalition: When Colonialism Turned on Whites, They Called it Fascism
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Is Back Coalition: When Colonialism Turned on Whites, They Called it Fascism
    06 Apr 2021
    When capitalism turns vicious in its treatment of white people’s rights, Europeans and Euro-Americans call it fascism, according to Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black is Back C
  •  Two Black Martyrs' Mothers Confront Black Lives Matter
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Two Black Martyrs' Mothers Confront Black Lives Matter
    06 Apr 2021
    Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old killed by Cleveland cops in 2014, has teamed up with Lisa Simpson, mother of Richard Risher, the 18 year-old gunned down by Los
  • Freedom Rider: Andrew Cuomo and the Black Political Class
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Andrew Cuomo and the Black Political Class
    31 Mar 2021
    Black politicians shamelessly rallied to Cuomo, ridiculously comparing him to Emmett Till and the Central Park Five, in hopes that he will dispense patronage their way if he remains in of
  • Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
    31 Mar 2021
    The U.S. was founded in the belief that Black and indigenous people were a threat to the existence of a “democratic” and “liberty”-loving colonial and capitalist society.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us