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


  • COVID-19 Exposes Economic Misery as U.S. Capitalism’s “New Normal”
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    COVID-19 Exposes Economic Misery as U.S. Capitalism’s “New Normal”
    28 Oct 2020
    Neoliberal capitalism is incapable of containing the pandemic or facilitating an economic recovery for the masses.
  • Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
    28 Oct 2020
    Rhythms of red, white, blue ‘party’ lights flashing beneath screaming sirens; The rush of warm crimson drawing 2, 4, 6, 8, 10—and then some…
  • We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    Ameer Hasan Loggins
    We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    28 Oct 2020
    The carceral class is made up of persons of African descent who are systematically stigmatized as unfit for freedom and deserving of the dehumanization that comes with being incarcerated.
  • What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    Ashton Rome
    What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    28 Oct 2020
    The Democratic Party has seemingly accomplished the impossible – a revival of centrism in the midst of its collapse.
  • Black Bolivia and the Socialist Electoral Triumph
    Erica Caines
    Black Bolivia and the Socialist Electoral Triumph
    28 Oct 2020
    Indigenous and Afro-Bolivians spent every day resisting the coup to complete the socialist aspirations of their party. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us