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: We Fight for Haiti Because We Are Haiti
    Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD
    Black Alliance for Peace: We Fight for Haiti Because We Are Haiti
    17 Mar 2021
    “We stand with the Haitian people because it is our responsibility as believers in self-determination and people-centered human rights, to do so.”
  • BAR Book Forum: L.H. Stallings’s“A Dirty South Manifesto”
    L.H. Stallings
    BAR Book Forum: L.H. Stallings’s“A Dirty South Manifesto”
    17 Mar 2021
    Regulation of sexuality in the United States has been predominantly shaped by and largely dependent upon safeguarding or interpreting the First Amendment.
  • BAR Book Forum: Alison M. Parker’s Book, “Unceasing Militant”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Alison M. Parker’s Book, “Unceasing Militant”
    17 Mar 2021
    The author explores Mary Church Terrell’s long history of activism, to remind us that movements for social justice do not happen overnight.
  • Racial Capitalism and COVID-19
    Zophia Edwards
    Racial Capitalism and COVID-19
    17 Mar 2021
    States continue to reproduce inequalities based on race and citizenship through their COVID-19 relief and welfare programs.
  • Mumia Abu-Jamal's Health Emergency: The Only Treatment is Freedom
    The Jamal Journal staff
    Mumia Abu-Jamal's Health Emergency: The Only Treatment is Freedom
    17 Mar 2021
    An interview with Ricardo Alvarez, Mumia’s “movement” doctor. “The most important point of advocacy is for the release of all our elders in COVID prisons.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us